bwjohnson

Thanks for the reply Don. I was able to stick a mini mag through the large relief hole and the inside looks good as far as I can see. I debated whether to1) clean as much of the sleeve out of the tube, put sealer on the fittings and shove w.h. back in place. or (2) cut the nipple from the tank and weld in a new one. Or (3) Buy a new w.h. and spend my effort to adapter it to fit the original hole and hook-ups. My wife is pushing for option 3 so we have a "new" w.h. I'll bet a new one won't last 42 years. Do you suppose anyone would want all or part of the unit I took out?
Brian

Brian, Not sure if this will get to you. This is the first time I've used this part of the forum. Our hot water tank is working fine. I'm not sure about the plastic fittings. If you can access the inside of the tank through one of the inlets, you can check the inside of the tank in the following manner. Take a small 12volt light and solder wires to the light. Next tape it off to prevent shorting it out . Connect it to a flashlight battery. insert the light into the tank. Next look through the other inlets to see what the inside of the tank looks like. This may not let you see everything, but it should give you some idea. I took my tank to a welder and had him cut the top off of the tank for inspection. After inspection he welded the top back on. I was being a purest and wanted to keep the original tank. You may find it cheaper just to replace the hot water tank with a new unit. Hope this is of some help.
Don