Hard water scale on heating elements, tried vinegar, then this worked

Had a customer in Wichita with a water heater that kept tripping the high limit. Pulled the element and it was caked with about a quarter inch of white scale. Vinegar soak softened it but didn't get it all. Tried a citrus descaler from the hardware store, still left chunks. Finally grabbed a plastic putty knife and scraped it off dry before the soak. Worked in ten minutes flat with no damage to the element threads. Has anyone else found a faster way to break down that rock-like buildup without replacing the part?

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stella2791mo ago

Wait, is scraping off scale with a putty knife basically just admitting I skipped arm day at the gym? Because that's exactly what I did last month on a similar element, only I used a flathead screwdriver and ended up poking a tiny hole in the rubber gasket. That was a fun phone call to the boss, let me tell you. But yeah, dry scraping first is the move, it breaks off those thick crusty layers way better than any soak alone. The acid just can't get deep enough when there's that much buildup, it only works on the surface stuff. I also found that hitting it with a wire brush after the soak catches all the little crumbly bits left behind, saves me from doing a second round.

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