• Your Marathon tank is one of the lightest available. There is no need for special equipment or the Olympic Weight Lifting Team to get your Marathon installed.

• Unlike regular tanks, the Marathon can be shipped or moved on its side. Our super strong shell is unaffected by shipping on its side even over hundreds of miles!

• Do not solder directly against the tank! Solder your first connection and then attach it to the tank unions.

• Be sure to properly vent the water heater by opening a hot water faucet until only water comes out before energizing the elements.

• Flushing water mains, broken water mains, and many other water system operations can create extreme vacuums within your plumbing system. Your Marathon comes complete with a vacuum relief valve which must remain installed to protect your tank and system.

• If you have a unique application, or installation question, please contact our Customer Service Department at the toll free number below.
  

• In areas of hard water, better performance will be realized by using lower wattage elements. We encourage the use of 3800 watt or lower wattage elements in these applications.

• If you have sediment in your water, Marathon's unique "bowl shape" bottom will allow you to efficiently and easily drain the tank and sediment. Typically drawing off five gallons of water a couple of times of year will flush out the sediment.

• If you encounter severe sediment build-up, the Marathon element ports are oversized to allow a wet/dry vacuum hose to be introduced to clean out sediment. Be sure to turn off power and follow all safety precautions.

• Paint, ink, and indelible markers may be easily removed from the polyethylene jacket of the Marathon by using vandalism/stain removers
   

Water Heater Accessories

• Full Port Ball Valve: This replacement valve is available from your Marathon dealer and is a direct replacement for the boiler drain on the tank.  A boiler drain necks down significantly inside and can plug in applications with sever sediment or hard water.  A full port ball valve remains 3/4" throughout and will allow most sediment to pass right through.  Highly recommended for farms and other high volume applications.  Just ask for part # 330000
• Titanium Elements: Also available from your Marathon dealer, these can replace both upper and lower elements for applications with harsh water conditions (hard, corrosive, etc).  They have proven themselves to hold up even in extremely demanding applications.
• Drain Pans: Many municipalities and states require these.  They are also recommended for any water appliance located above a living area.  These are now available through most Marathon dealters
• Water Conditioning: Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems are effective at removing hardness, but their drawback is that they can create very corrosive water in the process.  This corrosiveness can be very aggressive to steel and even brass.  One option is to use a phosphate based system which basically just changes the polarity of minerals so they pass through a system without causing a scale buildup or staining. For more information, click on Scaltrol.
• Water Heater Timers: With Marathon's extraordinarily low heat loss, there is NO payback or benefit to adding one unless you are on a special utility time of use rate or want to switch to alternate energy sources such as heat pumps or solar.
• Water Heater Jacket: Marathon already has a super-thick layer of "Envirofoam" insulation, any further insulation would not provide significant payback.