Need some help and advice

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v1ru5879

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Hello, new to the forums and in need of help. We have an add on garage bed and bath which the previous owner build. It has a dedicated electric water heater for this add on. It's a 30 gallon unit that keeps reseting the thermostat. I've tried removing the heating elements to replace but the hard water has sealed them shut. I was able to drain some sediment but not even close to all of it. The unit is from 1988. Should I replace with the same size unit or scale it down? The unit only provides water to sink in garage and upstairs bathroom I feel this is overkill. I'm open to all suggestions
 
It currently has a 30 gallon. I was curious if I could downsize but seeing as I can get a 30 gallon for about 300 I may just take that route.
 
It's not an apt it's a home with a gas water heater downstairs running everything and upstairs all this 30 gallon is running is the bathroom up here
 
20 gallons are not widely used and often cost more than a 30 gallon.

The sediments make it hard to drain. I replace the drain cock with a ball valve but if you have a plastic drain cock there is a big risk of it snapping off trying to unscrew it.
I prep the area with plastic. Just incase , have a rag and a screw driver ready to ram into the hole if it does break off. Best to disconnect water supplies on top and cap so no air can get in tank. then if you do break off the drain cock it just dribbles out.
Another way to drain it is use a long tube into the top hot side supply and siphon out the water.
 
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Lots of sediment drained when I replaced the cheap leaking plastic one. The elements were on so tight I was not able to remove them even with a breaker bar I think all the minerals have built up around the elements so badly at this point it's more reasonable to replace the whole unit. Would a tank less unit be a wise choice for this particular application?
 
if you have a dolly, strap it to the dolly, wheel it outside and dump it over
If I'm going to do that I'll just wheel in a new unit. I figure if the elements have so much buildup on them I can't remove them it may be time for a new unit
 

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