Apply the 50 percent rule the trade uses: if the repair approaches half the cost of a new unit ($1,200 to $3,500 installed for a tank in published guides), replacement usually wins at that age, because the tank itself has four to six years of statistical life left at best. The exception is a cheap control part on a tank with no rust, no sediment roar, and dry fittings. A tank leaking from its body is not a repair conversation at any age; the body is the tank.
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