Water heater woes...

[rightpedal]

Re: Water heater woes...

I don't believe their is a difference between the 9 and 12 year warranty water heaters, at least not the lowes/depo version. That is probably my own little conspiracy/big business issue.

The reliance units are the good stuff. I put them in customers houses and the HD units in my houses

If you do it your self... a couple more tips... The feed/exit nipples on the tank will have plastic inserts that look like plugs. They are not plugs do not remove them, they minimize heat transfer.

The floor model may or may not be identical to the unit you buy. This is important when checking the size/male/female of the connection.

Fill the water heater before you fire it up. With a gas water heater there will be some condensation in the burner when it is first fired up. Don't freak if water is dripping on the floor it is temporary.

Good luck
Steve

[Monk]

Re: Water heater woes...

I don't believe their is a difference between the 9 and 12 year warranty water heaters, at least not the lowes/depo version. That is probably my own little conspiracy/big business issue.

The reliance units are the good stuff. I put them in customers houses and the HD units in my houses

If you do it your self... a couple more tips... The feed/exit nipples on the tank will have plastic inserts that look like plugs. They are not plugs do not remove them, they minimize heat transfer.

The floor model may or may not be identical to the unit you buy. This is important when checking the size/male/female of the connection.

Fill the water heater before you fire it up. With a gas water heater there will be some condensation in the burner when it is first fired up. Don't freak if water is dripping on the floor it is temporary.

Good luck
Steve

Correct on the warranty issue......you're just buying a longer warranty.

Also.....it's easy to 'dry fire' an electric heater if you don't open t&p valve to let
water flow all the way through

The hard water issue, in our area, can be fixed with a water softener.
Our area has areas bad with minerals and will eat up a water heater in less
than 24 months.
We used to sell a model that had a clean out door.

Reliance is our major supplier......and think there are only a few manufacturers
left.

[ls7gto]

Re: Water heater woes...

I have a well, extremely hard water and my Seisco electric tankless still works great. I had to replace elememts every two years with the old standard unit , not once with the tankless. Last year the sent me a updated circuit board to update it for better energy consumption. Its been in for 8 yrs !

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Water heater woes...

there is a real, quality difference between the 9 and 12 year hot water heaters. If you're on a well, don't get the tankless system. I am on a well, and we have high magnesium - found out while I was shopping the tankless (that credit is pretty nice) that the well water would really cut short the life of the unit... in fact the one I was looking at (cannot recall which brand) said that they won't warranty installations on well-water systems. You also want to consider if it's a water issue that caused your water heater to go, that would help you decide if you want to spend the extra money - if the water is going to destroy the heater in 8 years, why buy a 12 when you can get a 9 replaced?

Another benefit of a tank system - when the power blows out, it's nice having 50 gallons of fresh water stored so you can flush the toilet.

you have hot water going to the toilet?

doesn't everyone? ;D


seriously, though - one of those 'cool' things about living in the country where the power goes out when someone farts having a bit of water about to pour into the tank so that you can flush makes for a much nicer house...


ls7 - maybe it's something in my area, or they've resolved; but when I was looking a year ago - that was what kept me from changing. I keep trying to figure out a way of getting the magnesium out of the water and using it for some cool rims ;)

[Huskinhano]

Re: Water heater woes...

A couple of other tips. I just replaced my water heater on 3-30-10. My old one wasn't that old, probably less then 10 years old. I installed the new one and right off the batt water would come out of the safety relief. What I found out is now water heaters are coming with 150 PSI safety relief. They use to be 175 or 200 PSI. My water pressure is something like 140 PSI! I need to install a pressure regulator on the cold water line after the water meter. The plumbing supply house told me that the high water pressure kills water heaters and makes them fail early. This is what did my old water heater in. Also my new heater also required an expansion tank to be installed for the warranty. One last thing don't forget to install a grounding jumper between the hot and cold lines made out of #6 wire.

Ditto on the warranty, nothing more then an insurance policy that you pay a lot for. The supply house told me it was a waste of money!

[ch1ll]

Re: Water heater woes...

Some heaters with the better warranty may have a better heating element/burner. Ask the salesman.

Tanks are steel and leaks are usually a water problem, try an in line whole house water filter.

Definitely go with a flex type pipe fitting, you will save hours of time and cussing in hookup alone not counting your next changeout.

Only non ferrous scrap on the heater itself will be the safety valve and the drain spigot if its not plastic. Don't waste your time with the element or burner. Pullout the wire if you have to. (I do, all the wire you come across adds up and is over a $1 a lb as is.) The tank is about $10 at the scrap yard, take it to a yard that has a shredder for top dollar.


I found that Menard's and Fleet Farm have the best prices, I got a Richmond at Menard's. They will also have best prices on whole house in line filters.

[milner351]

Re: Water heater woes...

Another tip while you're there - if there are not valves to shut off the hot and cold near the water heater - now is the time to put them in - and USE BALL VALVES. Gate valves are cheaper and nearly always leak in a situation like this where they are rarely used. This way - if you have issues with the heater in the future - like the ease afforded by the flex lines - you can just shut the valves off just above the heater, unscrew the flex lines - and swap.

Yea - fill it before you fire it.

Never heard about the ground wire between hot and cold pipes?

Anyone had a noticeable difference from insulating the hot water pipes? That's on my long to do list that isn't done yet.

Another neat thing from my last house - it actually had mixing valves for each toilet supply! The hot and cold lines went into the mixing valve and the line to the toilet came out - someone must have really hated sweating toilets in the summer!

[Huskinhano]

Re: Water heater woes...

Another tip while you're there - if there are not valves to shut off the hot and cold near the water heater - now is the time to put them in - and USE BALL VALVES. Gate valves are cheaper and nearly always leak in a situation like this where they are rarely used. This way - if you have issues with the heater in the future - like the ease afforded by the flex lines - you can just shut the valves off just above the heater, unscrew the flex lines - and swap.

Yea - fill it before you fire it.

Never heard about the ground wire between hot and cold pipes?

Anyone had a noticeable difference from insulating the hot water pipes? That's on my long to do list that isn't done yet.

Another neat thing from my last house - it actually had mixing valves for each toilet supply! The hot and cold lines went into the mixing valve and the line to the toilet came out - someone must have really hated sweating toilets in the summer!

Good advice about the ball valves. I used them as well as unions so the next time it will be easy....probably for the next guy :

[Gary 351C]

Re: Water heater woes...

You can use the stove to make hot water until your bumpers come back from the chrome shop.

PRIORITIES Andrew! ;D

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Water heater woes...

lol @ priorities

the magnesium issue is just a nuisance, eventually the pipes get caked with magnesium and plug up. the brightside is water heaters rarely leak because the get a nice coating on the inside (picture a calcium buildup)... as for a filtration system, really, it's cheaper to replace a valve or two when it plugs up (last check it was 40k for a filtration system).

[Eliteman76]

Re: Water heater woes...

Thanks guys.
Tank is a 40 gallon unit.
The install on this...it's always freaking annoyed me. I want to move the water heater, but it's pretty much stuck in this spot in the furnace room.
Cold line is closest to the wall.
Scott- I appreciate the help, I spoke with my dad, and he is going to help me swap it out.
I did a lot of pipe work with him around 8 years ago on a house but I am so fuzzy on how to sweat pipes and solder them.
He is going to reteach me so I can fix this stuff.
Here are pictures of the install By the way, the water, when I touch on the top of the water heater smells of rust. Odd thing, the hot water does not.

I had the gas company come out, and check because I thought I was smelling gas. The tested, and I have a micro leak on the T fitting where it splits between the furnace and the heater.
Dad said we will end up doing a new gas line to make the install cleaner.

Flex lines were also mentioned, but thanks for the tips guys.

There is a shut off on the colt line, but I plan on cutting out the lines, and cleaning this mess up.

Here is the shot of the corrosion leak on the hot line:

Here is the shot of the top of the case, see the crap coming out?


Right now, we still have hot water, so I am biding my time till we get our taxes back, and I am going to go pick up a unit probably from Lowes or Menards.

[KeithTurk]

Re: Water heater woes...

another interesting Water heater problem is the Rotten egg smell...

The Anode's they put in these things emit odors and folks who use the hot water fully every couple of days will never notice it....but if you don't use much hot water..... it STINKS.....

The Fix is to put Peroxide in the heater and then flush the system through ALL the pipes....

I use flex lines too and still dont' trust the gator fittings.... ( it's a light weight o-ring seal.... hmmm )

[rightpedal]

Re: Water heater woes...

I have made a fair amount of money replacing shark bites. Mostly install error. They will leak if they are able to flex at all. I do like the caps to block off sink/toilet lines during a remodel.

Dad said we will end up doing a new gas line to make the install cleaner.

I like your dad already. ;D

Steve

[DanStokes]

Re: Water heater woes...

What you're seeing on the hot water side is called galvanic corrosion. If you put two dissimilar metals together they WILL make electricity (Google "Peltier effect"). Anyhow, there's an easy fix - install dielectric unions at the top of the tank. They have a gasketed connection so that it kills the electrical connection. I've heard that if you use brass nipples out of the tank it'll work, too but I've never tried that one. I recommend against using plastic nipples at the tank - I've seen those broken and it's a real PITA!

Dan

[milner351]

Re: Water heater woes...

Dielectric unions are code in most places aren't they?

There's all kinds of nightmare with that install - I agree with your strategy - cut all the pipes off as high up as practical and start over!

Your Dad sounds like a great guy.