LilBeaver Posted March 24, 2010 Share #1 Posted March 24, 2010 like a puddle of rusty water surrounding the base of your water heater with no obvious drips from the pipes, pressure relief valve, or the drain. I bet ya'll can guess what I will be doing tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eck Posted March 24, 2010 Share #2 Posted March 24, 2010 Guess you will be getting into "hot water" tomorrow huh... Hate when that happens.. Its not that big of a job to change out the tank, but some can be a Royal PITA, if you dont have the right tools... Good luck.. To help you out, while I'm out riding, I will think of ya OK... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venturous Randy Posted March 24, 2010 Share #3 Posted March 24, 2010 Water heaters, man that's all I mess with all day long. Actually, I work in the Product Engineering Lab for the largest water heater company around. It would be interesting to me to know what brand you have and what type it is. To be in manufacturing in the USA, this is not a bad business to be in. First of all, tank type water heaters are big, therefore we are not going to get over run with heaters from all over the world. Next, people have gotten used to having hot water, and when there is a serious problem, they go buy another one. For a major appliance that is used everyday, they are not very expensive. Of our business, 80% is replacement and 10% go in to new home construction. Therefore, the drop in new home construction has not had a major impact on our sales. And about 10% is shipped to China. Yep, shipped to China. Anyway, wished you lived closer and maybe I could have gotten you a test unit or something. RandyA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsigwing Posted March 24, 2010 Share #4 Posted March 24, 2010 My GE water heater went out 2 weeks ago. It was a 9 year old unit with a 12 year warranty. I called GE (the number on the water heater) and after about 30 minutes talking to 2 different people (both very nice and speaking english!) they told be to take it back to Home Depot to have it replaced under warranty using the seriel number as the return number. I called Home Depot and asked them if they really wanted me to bring it in and they said yes. I loaded it up and took it to Home Depot. The lady at the return line looked at me funny and asked if I had a receipt. Of course not. She called another guy over and they stood there looking. I told them want GE said and they called another lady over. She said hold on, and came back in about 5 minutes with a brand new 12 year warrantied water heat and said here ya go. I said thanks and high tailed it out of there. That was about my best experience ever with Home Depot and bought them some good will from me. Also saved about $500 on the water heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted March 24, 2010 Share #5 Posted March 24, 2010 A preventative maintenance thing many folks don't know about is to drain/flush your water heater regularly ... like once a year maybe. These things will build up sludge and shale in the bottom and eventually reduce the performance and cause them to fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMIKE Posted March 24, 2010 Share #6 Posted March 24, 2010 Last fall I had that happen to me. I got one in the attic in a 35 gallon emergency pan with a drain and another one on the ground floor near the kitchen... They were both installed when the house was built in 2001. Wouldn't you know it the one in the attic went out first. I tried to do all I could to find a spot for that one in the attic when we were building but could not so I opted to build a deep pan to catch any problems that could occur with this unit in the attic. It was a pain in the XXX to get it out of there and the new one back in...if it had not been for my 18 year old boy and his few years of going to the Gym 3 days a week...I am not sure we could have done it. So at least i got something for that money I have been paying to the gym. Good luck on swapping it out. I hope it is not as bad as mine was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilBeaver Posted March 24, 2010 Author Share #7 Posted March 24, 2010 ... To help you out, while I'm out riding, I will think of ya OK... Thanks Eck, I appreciate it ... It would be interesting to me to know what brand you have and what type it is. .... Anyway, wished you lived closer and maybe I could have gotten you a test unit or something. That would have been pretty sweet. I would have settled for some knowledge about what to look for in a new one too. The one I have, I believe is the original one that was put in when the house was built. There are no markings on it that I can find (I haven't looked closely at the backside yet) other than the 'energy consumption' sticker that has a copyright date of like 1994 on it. My house was built in 96. The home inspector took one look at it when I was looking at buy my home (2 years ago) and the first thing he asked was "you are getting a home warranty, right?". Anyways, long story short the inspector was amazed that the thing still worked and didn't leak but told me to make sure that warranty was paid up because it could go at any time. It is a beige unit, 58" tall, 18" diameter, 50 gallon capacity, 4500W elements, and runs off 240V at 30A. I replaced the elements in January because I was finding that the water was not seeming to stay as hot as long as it had in the past. When I replaced the elements, the old ones were ridiculously corroded and had a good coating of (what I assume was) calcium build up. While I had the elements out, I drained the tank and vacuumed out as much of the sediment as I could (since it was partially covering the bottom element). Yesterday while I was in the shower, I had about 3 minutes of nice hot water then BAM it went cold. I had assumed my housemate started the washer or turned her shower on or something. Last night I heard a strange noise in the garage, went to check it out, and my drain pan was filled with rusty water and draining, as it is supposed to. I turned off the water to the water heater then turned it back on to watch and I saw lots of bubbling around the metal ring on the bottom of the unit itself as well as watch the pan fill up. I looked over everything else and saw no obvious leaks anywhere. So here we are. Yee-haw. When I take it out (later today) I'll look around it carefully to try to figure out what kind it is - I assume there will be a plate somewhere with a serial number, model number or whatever, I just can't get my head around to the backside of the unit with the way it is setup in my garage. A preventative maintenance thing many folks don't know about is to drain/flush your water heater regularly ... like once a year maybe. These things will build up sludge and shale in the bottom and eventually reduce the performance and cause them to fail. Yup yup. This was one of the first things I did when I moved in. What did I find happen? the plastic (plastic, really plastic? what kind of design is that?) valve at the bottom of the tank shot out some really awesome looking water then stopped. Turns out the crap in the bottom of the tank (as mentioned above) is QUITE deep. Last fall I had that happen to me. I got one in the attic in a 35 gallon emergency pan with a drain and another one on the ground floor near the kitchen... They were both installed when the house was built in 2001. Wouldn't you know it the one in the attic went out first. I tried to do all I could to find a spot for that one in the attic when we were building but could not so I opted to build a deep pan to catch any problems that could occur with this unit in the attic.... Wow. I couldn't imagine trying to get one up to the attic. Yikes. I'll be doing it myself, so that wouldn't even be an option (short of mounting a winch in the attic or something). Sheesh! Sadly, with the way my schedule is today, I might be taking a cold shower tomorrow too I just needed to vent a little. Thanks for listening ya'll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyR Posted March 24, 2010 Share #8 Posted March 24, 2010 I had my water heater go out recently. It was a Rudd 40 gallon natural gas that was out of warranty. My house was built in 1992, so I got 18 years out of it. I've bought a Sears water heater with 12 year warranty, which I need to get installed. I put one in my previous house so know it isn't all that difficult, I'll probably just need a flexible gas pipe and some pipe putty to hook it up as the water in/outs are already flexible copper. The cast iron gas pipe doesn't quite line up to the new heater. I've been taking cold showers which is probably good for conserving water... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted March 24, 2010 Share #9 Posted March 24, 2010 Sadly, with the way my schedule is today, I might be taking a cold shower tomorrow too heh... I've had a few cold showers myself lately and there's nothing wrong with my hot water heater... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinfool Posted March 24, 2010 Share #10 Posted March 24, 2010 As long as we are talking about Water heaters, I installed mine 22 years ago so it is getting close to be time for a new one, even though I can still stand in a hot shower for 30 minutes and not run out of hot water. From a 40 gallon gas heater. I was thinking of putting in one of the gas tankless on demand type water heaters that does not need to vent up the chimney but will vent through the wall. The current water heater is the only appliance using the chimney and I would like to remove the chimney from the house to gain the space from it and the old water heater. Any one have any experience with going this route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailor Posted March 24, 2010 Share #11 Posted March 24, 2010 Had the same thing happen a few months ago. No visible damage. The tank was 15 years old. When I grabbed the inlet pipe to move the old tank out the entire assembly disintegrated. The iron pipe inside the tank was nothing but rust. A friend who is a plumber says that the new tanks should be replaced every 5 years. Another friend care takes a mansion which has 6 sixty gallon tanks. He says about every 6 years they have to replace them all. I had an old tank in my cabin. I have no idea how old it was but I know it was already old when I bought the cabin 30 years ago. When I tore down ( it collapsed) the cabin last year the tank was still working fine. When I hauled it to the scrap yard they said it was bronze and gave me $100.00 for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsigwing Posted March 24, 2010 Share #12 Posted March 24, 2010 As long as we are talking about Water heaters, I installed mine 22 years ago so it is getting close to be time for a new one, even though I can still stand in a hot shower for 30 minutes and not run out of hot water. From a 40 gallon gas heater. I was thinking of putting in one of the gas tankless on demand type water heaters that does not need to vent up the chimney but will vent through the wall. The current water heater is the only appliance using the chimney and I would like to remove the chimney from the house to gain the space from it and the old water heater. Any one have any experience with going this route? The only gotcha with gas instant heaters is the size of the existing gas line. Find the instant one you want and check to see how big a line it needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEW47 Posted March 24, 2010 Share #13 Posted March 24, 2010 Had two uncles that were barbers and they had the orignal hot water heater in their shop till they retired. Lasted 47 years. tew47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted March 24, 2010 Share #14 Posted March 24, 2010 Had two uncles that were barbers and they had the orignal hot water heater in their shop till they retired. Lasted 47 years. tew47 Check the small print on the Hot Water Heater .... "if you want this product to last 3 times as long...become a barber" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest seuadr Posted March 24, 2010 Share #15 Posted March 24, 2010 Last fall I had that happen to me. I got one in the attic in a 35 gallon emergency pan with a drain and another one on the ground floor near the kitchen... They were both installed when the house was built in 2001. Wouldn't you know it the one in the attic went out first. I tried to do all I could to find a spot for that one in the attic when we were building but could not so I opted to build a deep pan to catch any problems that could occur with this unit in the attic. It was a pain in the XXX to get it out of there and the new one back in...if it had not been for my 18 year old boy and his few years of going to the Gym 3 days a week...I am not sure we could have done it. So at least i got something for that money I have been paying to the gym. Good luck on swapping it out. I hope it is not as bad as mine was. what does the one in the attic supply? for just a bit more than the cost of a normal water heater you could get an on demand water heater and put it under the sink in the supply area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eusa1 Posted March 25, 2010 Share #16 Posted March 25, 2010 NOTHING SAYS GOOD MORNING LIKE A................. LILBEAVER Maybe i'm the only one that noticed the way all this was posted in blue highlighted letters. got my attention anyway?? sorry about your waterheater:scratchchin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotsy Posted March 25, 2010 Share #17 Posted March 25, 2010 Like someone else, mine went out last year and I built the house in 93. Call Lowe's and they said bring it back. Gave me a new one and I was happy. If you plan on being somewhere a lifetime, a lifetime warranty works. Of course, I would have been happier if they had installed it as well. LOL The one thing that surprised me. From 93 to 09, I took the lines loose and tightened the lines up on the new one. No changing anything. Can'y remember the last time that happened. usually after 6 months you have to redo everything. Spotsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilBeaver Posted March 25, 2010 Author Share #18 Posted March 25, 2010 Alright. Got it all done. I guess I can't complain too much, considering this one lasted ~15 years. I definitely was not worried about the warranty on my new one, since I will only be here for another 2-3 years, max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradT Posted March 25, 2010 Share #19 Posted March 25, 2010 We rent ours and it was acting up one night so I called for the service. First thing next morning they showed up and advised it was rusting bad so they would replace it. It was jsut over 10 years old. They were there the next day to do the work. Kichener has a bylaw that makes us install a temp restrictor valve which is suppose to be set at 120f. Had a member crank it to 131 which is max. They also had to change the venting as it was black ABS and the code is changed to a white plastic piping. Cost me 40 bucks and 1 dollar a month rental on the restrictor that I really did not want in the first place. Randy can not remember the make but it was 50 gal high eff. Most of my neighbours all had theirs changed as well. This was a new subdivision 10 yr ago. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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