Shouldn’t the elbows be copper??? I saw this and a question was raised in my mind. Isn’t it something that I should call out? The combination of metals is a no-no, correct? I’ve looked through the archives, on line, and through what literature I have and can not find an answer… I already called out the PRV not being piped to w/i 6" of the ground and did not want to send out the inspection before answering the question in my mind…Thanks for the help…
The bigger problem here is what appears to be the reduction in size of the TPRV drain
Galvanized to galvanized is okay…
It’s the galv to copper that needs to be addressed…that is where the corrosion will take place.
I can’t see in the pic if they used a dialectric connection or not…
Roger,
It’s hard to see the fitting that connects the copper to the elbow. It is probably a di-electric fitting which has a plastic bushing to keep the dissimilar metals from contacting one another. You can not see the bushing after it is installed. Some of the older di-electric fittings have a groove around the diameter of the fitting but a lot of them don’t.
The piping looks in better condition than the top of the water heater, well except for the crimped copper.
I read right over that in my #1 reference… “The discharge tubes have to be at least the same diameter as the relief valve.” Thanks…Makes sense…
The heater is 14 y/o. I would think there would be a sign of corrosion if they did not use the proper connector… So would the comment read something like, “The Inspector is unable to determine whether the proper di-electric connection was utilized with the installation of the galvanized elbows. If the copper and galvanized metals touch, the combination leads to corrosion via a chemical reaction. Recommend a licensed Plumber inspect.”
Thanks for the info… and yes, the top was pretty nasty… And I wondered about the crimped copper also… That answered another question…
I wouldn’t…if it is that old…I would mention that water heaters have a life span of 8-12 years and this one is at the end of that spectrum…so who cares about the connections 
That’s exactly what I am doing… I making a comment about the effective life of a water heater and how it would be feasible to replace with a new unit given the cost of repair for the current unit…