Brown water (rust) in Hot Water Line

[ebaugh]

A few months ago, I replaced an old Raritan hot water heater in Panama. I should have done it sooner. But I did not replace it on the first signs of a problem a year prior in St. Martin. In Panama, it burst, where one of the water fittings screwed into the tank deteriorated to the point of the threads failing. To get us home, I replaced it with a tiny $99 3 gallon, electric only tank purchased in a Home store in Panama. It works, but the brown rusty water remains...never went away.

It only shows up only in the hot water, not the cold. We have stainless water tanks, a mixture of PVC and copper water lines.

The only thing I can figure is there are some bits of metal left over in low spots from the old tank stuck in the hot water lines.

But maybe someone else has some other ideas?

[sy_gilana]

Had exactly the same problem. Our old Raritan went the same way. What a beaut it was till then. Took a while for the rust to flush out. We also isolated our new domestic one electrically, including rubber joiners on the pipes. We then lifted the ground wire. They last longer this way.