Dang Water Heaters

[blume357]

Waiting for SWMBO "she who must be obeyed" to get up so we can discuss the new plans for today and probably tomorrow. She had my day all planned out until I got up this morning and wandered over into our stowage area and heard a funny noise at first thought it was raining outside... Yep, water running out of the gas hot water unit.... dern thing is only just under 8 years old... last one made it 9 with an 8 year warranty... this one actually has a 9 year one... but I suspect when I read the fine print it will at the best be pro-rated probably with a credit toward a replacement of the same brand (of course) and type....

I just heard her get up and so need to go have an emergency meeting of the household committee....

 

[Colonialgirl]

Just remember,
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT !!

giggle giggle giggle

 

[Jeepnik]

Should last longer than that. Do you have dielectric fittings on the lines in and out?

 

[caryc]

Just remember,
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT !!

giggle giggle giggle

Yep, once you accept it, you're good to go.

 

[MADDOG 521]

Shut the water off

 

[Pat-inCO]

Better yet, replace it one year before the warranty expires.
That's what they are trying to do is to get you ready to spend money before you
should need to. - - - Besides which, YOU then get to choose when you handle it.

 

[redhawker]

Last time we replaced ours it decided to wait until I was in the hospital to "blow" so to speak. Of course, I was in no shape to do anything about it so the wife had to get one and pay someone to install it. Probably cost us twice as much because of that.

 

[caryc]

Better yet, replace it one year before the warranty expires.
That's what they are trying to do is to get you ready to spend money before you
should need to. - - - Besides which, YOU then get to choose when you handle it.

How do you justify replacing it one year before the warranty expires if there is nothing wrong with it? Are you saying replace it out of your own pocket?

 

[BearBiologist]

Ours went out a year or so after we bought our house. We had (have) a home warranty. They replaced it with a $900 new one. Cost us $75 for the service call.

 

[Tenbore]

My house was built in 1960. Still using the original water heater. Things were built better back then- though I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Kevin]

The first house I bought, the plumber was out fixing something per the inspection. I asked him if he could replace the water heater, and I would pay him of course.

This was out in the country, very small town.

He had a really sad look on his face like he wanted to cry. He asked why? He installed it 18 years ago, did he do something wrong?

So funny, 15 years ago, I’ll probably never forget it. We kept the heater and sold the house two years later.

 

[RCA1504]

Lat time my big, like huge, water heater (garden tub) Went Tango Uniform, I went down to get a new one, with my truck….nope, you got a permit…this is a water heater, yep, got to have a permit now $120 bucks.….I will be back. We own a farm, N property line is 1/2 mile from AL, I have a membership in the AL Builders Co-op…ringading, you got a water heater, yep, OK.
So, Somebody drove my truck to AL got a real big water heater and somebody installed it in my house…..Thank you somebody. It is good to have friends…..

 

[Mobuck]

I fought a 2 week running battle with our electric WH. But in the end, I won and WH hasn't spilled a tear since.

 

[blume357]

I had already decided what to do and knew what my wife was going to say.... It would have probably taken me about 2Hrs to replace the existing unit. HomeDepot right down the road and they had what I needed.. But of course I had to make it a tad more difficult. 10 hours later I got us hot water and only have about 2-3 hours left to finish it. (Oh and cost me about $500 more than a standard unit)

 

[ronto]

I moved here 18 years ago and the original electric water heater is still working. I drain it twice/year to flush out the sediments that form on the bottom.

 

[Jeepnik]

I went to tankless over twenty years ago. Haven’t looked back. I’m on my second.

The first one needed a small part but they aren’t available anymore. Put in my second and bought some spares.

Sad how things are obsolete only because the manufacturers want to sell more stuff.

 

[Mobuck]

No 'tankless' for me. We lose AC power far too often to go that route. Our 45 gallon electric heater holds enough for long enough to still have bath/shower water 12-18 hours after power fails.
My next WH will be propane for this reason.

 

[TestEngineer]

I went down to get a new one, with my truck….nope, you got a permit…this is a water heater, yep, got to have a permit now $120 bucks.….I will be back.

Yep. Same stupidity now here in Colorado. To top it off, the building inspector won't sign off on the installation if you don't have CO detectors within 10 ft of every bedroom. What's next - monthly radon tests?

 

[Jeepnik]

My first tankless did not need power. When I replaced it I wanted another. But the lead time was about three days so I opted for powered.

First time we lost power I just installed a UPS on it. Now I have a large genset but if I am out the wife wouldn’t bother to hook it up. And most importantly if my wife were in the shower the last thing I want to deal with is loss of hot water.

The AUPS runs for almost an hour.

 

[gregs45auto]

Just replaced the water heater that was 19 years old. Inspector said code requires a strap to keep heater from moving during an earthquake. My gun money stash has been plundered. Sigh. greg

 

[blume357]

I've always wanted one of those devises that tells how many amps is going through a wire... will probably have to get one to figure out how much battery back up I need to keep this critter running for a few days... then again... it's another reason to lean toward getting a natural gas generator..... as I think about it... that kind of defeats the idea of saving on natural gas usage with installing the on demand unit and then seeing a generator to run it.

 

[Mobuck]

A 'PERMIT' to replace a water heater????????????? Holy Crap

 

[Jeepnik]

A 'PERMIT' to replace a water heater????????????? Holy Crap

Sad fact is many can’t do it correctly anymore. The permit may just save a life. With a gas heater you have both gas and flame in close proximity. Usually in a relatively confined space.

Over the years I’ve seen gas lines with loose connections, cross threaded connections and ones without the proper tape or dope. I’ve seen dissimilar metals, plastic and even water hose used on gas lines.

Years ago I worked more than a few house fires from water heaters. You don’t hear about them as much these days. Perhaps it’s the permitting process or just that fewer and fewer folks are willing to do the work and hire it done. Sadly not by always qualified people.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I replaced my Water heater a year ago, with the help from my neighbor just to manhandle it into position etc. It is a gas 50 gal. heater. Two water lines and a flex gas line. Took nothing to hook it up, checked and rechecked etc. good to go. The Water heater was approx $500 for a good one. Everyone I called to put it in wanted $1500 bucks or more! Really? They wanted $1000 for an hours work. In addition, they all said new code required an "expansion tank." The hejj with that, since the original one ran just fine for 16 yrs without one!

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Sad fact is many can’t do it correctly anymore. The permit may just save a life. With a gas heater you have both gas and flame in close proximity. Usually in a relatively confined space.

Over the years I’ve seen gas lines with loose connections, cross threaded connections and ones without the proper tape or dope. I’ve seen dissimilar metals, plastic and even water hose used on gas lines.

Years ago I worked more than a few house fires from water heaters. You don’t hear about them as much these days. Perhaps it’s the permitting process or just that fewer and fewer folks are willing to do the work and hire it done. Sadly not by always qualified people.

I did mine. You buy a new connector, flex line, dope/tape etc read the instructions, and get it done.It is not expensive and anyone who is so cheap that they reuse parts is an idiot. It is not rocket science IMHO. Most of the so called "contractors" I have run into do not do the quality of work that I want done. They cut corners and are in a hurry to get to the next pay check!

 

[powder smoke]

I had already decided what to do and knew what my wife was going to say.... It would have probably taken me about 2Hrs to replace the existing unit. HomeDepot right down the road and they had what I needed.. But of course I had to make it a tad more difficult. 10 hours later I got us hot water and only have about 2-3 hours left to finish it. (Oh and cost me about $500 more than a standard unit)

Who the heck installed that? Wow that copper pipe us not fastened to the wall just hanging there!
Who ever did that installation is a hack! Fasten that copper tubing to the block or you may get a
surprise someday and make it plum while your at it!

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Who the heck installed that? Wow that copper pipe us not fastened to the wall just hanging there!
Who ever did that installation is a hack! Fasten that copper tubing to the block or you may get a
surprise someday and make it plum while your at it!

Some people never have the time to do it right but seemed to have the time to have to do it twice? Go figure!

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Blume357 you should be able to go to the manufacturer of your water heater and check for a battery back-up to run the heater when the power goes out. The controls run on 24v if I am not mistaken.

 

[blume357]

Who the heck installed that? Wow that copper pipe us not fastened to the wall just hanging there!
Who ever did that installation is a hack! Fasten that copper tubing to the block or you may get a
surprise someday and make it plum while your at it!

I installed it and was planning to secure the flex connectors but really need to actually secure the rigid copper not the flex...and to do that I'll have to space it out from the concrete block wall. The one item that the pros might call me on is the metal tape at the two connections on top of the unit... but the reality is I'm not worried about that. The amazing thing is the temperature of the exhaust coming off of this thing is less than 85 degrees.

 

[powder smoke]

If it were me I'd get a couple of lead shields anchors drill a a hole in a mortar joint
and bolt with a lag screw. That tubing will move when the demand goes off and on!
Not criticizing just sharing knowledge! That tubing moving over time will bite you in
the butt someday. YMMV good luck ps.