Overheard a contractor say they never use dielectric unions on commercial water heaters

I was picking up a new circulator pump at the supply house in Tacoma yesterday and heard a guy telling another plumber he skips dielectric unions on big commercial heaters to save time. He said the brass nipples and steel tanks are fine without them. That made me stop and think, because I've seen what happens after a few years without that break. Has anyone else run into this mindset on bigger jobs, and what's your take on cutting that corner?

3 comments

3 Comments

haydenp952mo ago

Gotta wonder how many callbacks that guy gets for leaks lol. Seen too many rusty tanks to skip it.

mia_park2mo ago

It's that same mindset everywhere, trying to skip the basics to save a buck now. You see it with home repairs, car maintenance, even just cleaning stuff. People patch the small leak instead of fixing the pipe, and then they're shocked when the whole wall is ruined a year later. That cheap shortcut always costs more in the end, in money and in stress. It's a lesson you only learn after you've paid for it a few times.

wesleyburns2mo ago

Man that's wild. I had a client's whole system fail from that exact shortcut. The repair bill was way bigger than the union would've cost. Just not worth the risk.