The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Water Heater Thermophile

One of my fundamental rules is that you should never, ever look inside the water lines serving your faucets. Having recently replaced a water heater, I had to violate that rule and discovered this growth inside the flex tube at the hot water outlet:

Growth in Hot Water Heater Tube
Growth in Hot Water Heater Tube

Anything that can thrive in 120 °F water gets my grudging respect.

Scrubbing it with a toothbrush produced gray sludge that rinsed right out, so I guess it’s all good now…

Comments

4 responses to “Water Heater Thermophile”

  1. Jason Doege Avatar
    Jason Doege

    And if you do, never, ever show your wife.

    1. Ed Avatar

      She thought it was interesting… she’s a tough lady! [grin]

  2. Jason Doege Avatar
    Jason Doege

    Did your interest extend to determining what kind of beastie that was?

    1. Ed Avatar

      Searching on the obvious keywords shows you can do science on them!

      More than that, I cannot say… [grin]