Garn Water Sample

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bpirger

Minister of Fire
May 23, 2010
632
Ithaca NY Area
Time to send out my Garn water sample, so I opened the manhole and grabbed some 132F water. Water is extremely clear....can see everything inside the tank as if it was empty....maybe even better. I don't know what I am looking at, so I thought I'd try and describe what I see and learn from others with an experienced eye. So difficult to take pictures inside the tank! I tried a bunch, but none really are very good. Need to get out the non-automatic SLR I think.

All the firebox and HX surfaces appear to be whitish in color....is this "hard scale deposits" on these surfaces?

The outside walls of the Garn (inside the tank) appear to have some kind of a scattered brownish deposit....is this "sludge"? It looks like if I reached in with a brush it would all just float off....

My anode rod (only one in the 1500) is 98% gone....in 7 months. Not sure if this is normal....or if I just have hard water....which might go along with the question above....Will be replaced.

No obvious big build up of anythign on the bottom of the tank. When I cleaned it out before the PreCln and initial fill, there was a bunch of "metal strip" pieces, like long flakes, that were on the bottom. I assume this is from the building process somewhere down the line. I see a bit more of that laying on the bottom, but nothing else.

Truly is amazing how clear the water looks. I walk away feeling very happy, yet I don't know for sure what I'm looking at.....Sound normal?

Thanks!
 
How about an underwater camera?

Will
 
We both seem to have the same results after our first year
 
bpirger said:
Time to send out my Garn water sample, so I opened the manhole and grabbed some 132F water. Water is extremely clear....can see everything inside the tank as if it was empty....maybe even better. I don't know what I am looking at, so I thought I'd try and describe what I see and learn from others with an experienced eye. So difficult to take pictures inside the tank! I tried a bunch, but none really are very good. Need to get out the non-automatic SLR I think.

All the firebox and HX surfaces appear to be whitish in color....is this "hard scale deposits" on these surfaces?

The outside walls of the Garn (inside the tank) appear to have some kind of a scattered brownish deposit....is this "sludge"? It looks like if I reached in with a brush it would all just float off....

My anode rod (only one in the 1500) is 98% gone....in 7 months. Not sure if this is normal....or if I just have hard water....which might go along with the question above....Will be replaced.

No obvious big build up of anythign on the bottom of the tank. When I cleaned it out before the PreCln and initial fill, there was a bunch of "metal strip" pieces, like long flakes, that were on the bottom. I assume this is from the building process somewhere down the line. I see a bit more of that laying on the bottom, but nothing else.

Truly is amazing how clear the water looks. I walk away feeling very happy, yet I don't know for sure what I'm looking at.....Sound normal?

Thanks!

Put all that info on the form you send back with the water sample. There is no one that can better address your questions than Chemical Mike.
 
Thanks Steve. I did.

Is it typical for Garns to have a "whiteish" look on the firebox and HX on the inside?

We really need a gallery of photos with some desciprtions to help us understand what we are looking at.....An underwater camera would indeed be a useful tool for this job.
 
bpirger said:
Thanks Steve. I did.

Is it typical for Garns to have a "whiteish" look on the firebox and HX on the inside?

We really need a gallery of photos with some desciprtions to help us understand what we are looking at.....An underwater camera would indeed be a useful tool for this job.

I have seen more than a few that have had white deposits on the water side surfaces. I would guess it's a function of mineral content in the water. Mike will be able to pin it down and tell you if any adjustments have to be made when he does your test.

I looked at an 8 year old OWB this winter that had pin holes corroded through the top of the fire box. The welder hired to attempt repair cut open the top and we discovered about 1-1/2" of whitish powder and scale on top of the metal over the firebox. After cleaning it off, it looked like someone had hit it a few times with a shotgun. It was literally peppered with holes, none of which were more than 1/16" in diameter. The thing that amazed me was that the unit was advertised as being constructed out of stainless steel!!!
 
Thanks for the replies. Steve, you say you see many with a white deposits. Do you see many that have no deposits, just "plain" steel without rust and without presumably mineral deposits? I'm just curious.....
 
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