Today I inspected a water heater perfectly working since it was installed in 1984 !! No leaks, no rust, clean water! So it is possible!
TPRV discharge pipe appear to be of reduce size…
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That’s a fact !
Maybe they changed the anode and flushed it annually. I think it is a miracle! Good stuff.
(this is why age alone is not a defect I suppose)
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No water softener, and hard water is the worst enemy in FL but still works fine. Makes you want to buy it just to open it up and see what the inside looks like.
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I will try to find the oldest brass/copper NG water heater I inspected. 1930’s. A museum piece. Perfect condition.
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Now that’s some quality deterioration at its finest haha. Amazing ! I owned a house with a 1950 Oil water heater that took 4 guys to remove the monster. Was working at the time but an update was a must.
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All you need is fire and vessel to hold the water. 
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I got that old water heater beat: back in 2015 I did a Motel in Panguitch, UT that was built in the early 60s and then a second set of 17 modular rooms added in 1977. All of the 17 modular units had original, “State”, 17 gal, Electric WHs installed with sequential SNs All Dated April 1977.
In the older, original section of the Motel there were 2 “National Steel” Electric WHs dated 1974 and 1975. There was also an old house that was on the property with it’s own LP-Propane, WH. an old Day & Night and as far as I could tell from the SN it was most likely March 1965. It was one of those housed in what resemble a clothes washer.
Water Quality is the Main Factor on Longevity…me thinks. I know the city has won awards in the past for best tasting water. Panguitch is a small town at an elevation of …6,666 ft
Also did a set of 4 Condos in Brian Head UT (a sky resort town); Built in 1971 all 4, National Steel WH I’m sure were original since they must were installed within the concrete basement with no opening even close to large enough to R & R them. was not able to determine the date code as nothing matched up with cheat sheets of today.
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That magnetic flash light might be as old as the water heater. Both look in pretty darn good shape.
I do not see how it still works without a drip-leg…lol.
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Back in 2011 I inspected a 1958 home with the original 1958 gas water heater. Still working but beginning to leak a little.
Likely LP fired, (note the copper tubing).
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The copper tubing with NG must be a regional issue. We have it all over my area (Atlanta). Not on newer builds however.
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The oldest water heaters I’ve found have been on wells. I always figure it’s due to the lack of corrosive minerals in the water but that’s really just a guess. The same houses often have horrible brown staining on all the tubs and sinks so who knows…
We have copper tubing for NG on newer builds. Not an issue and not an LP only deal.
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