Mine blew out last night, and punished me for being stupid and blocking the floor drains to combat sewer gas.

Disastrous mess, but I took the hit. Got the new higher model Rheem tank from HD and paid pro plumbers to put it in. Looks amazing. They left. $900 for the tank, $680 for the labor (it needed new valves and shut offs and hardline work). Fair enough,.. now to deal with the cleanup over the weekend. This to shall pass.

That's what you think motherfuCker! The new tank is leaking from the bottom.

I made it eight days without drinking.

Why are you heating hot water?

I hope you can work with HD on the warranty. I do taxes & other work for a HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical contractor. He told me to never buy a water heater from HD or Lowes as any warranty claim must be handled with the manufacturer. He replaced my gas water heater for $600. The heater is from a local manufacturer purchased at a plumbing supply store.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I found out how knowledgeable my CPA is because of his contacts.

I feel your pain. The very expensive gas tankless we had installed in January has been worked on twice in the last three days and is now back to flashing red wrench. I just went back to work and can’t take off and my wonderful cousin who lives behind me has been stuck waiting twice already. I haven’t told him yet that the SOB is still not fixed. Fun fun. Can’t cook for the week when you can’t wash dishes, and I don’t have a dishwasher…

quote:

Originally posted by BoatsNbullets:
Why are you heating hot water?

Never gets old.

20 yrs ago, Rheem produce good water heaters.

quote:

Originally posted by BoatsNbullets:
Why are you heating hot water?

I always find this comment interesting. I would wager that 99% of the time that the exchanger is in a heating cycle the water inside is hot. I would add that most people don’t use all of the hot water in the tank and that most of the heating is just returning the water to set point. So yes it is a hot water heater. Or maybe a hot water maintainer.

This morning, I see a steady trickle down the drain, so it's a pin hole somewhere. Likely at the bottom weld. I talked to Rheem and they said I would have to have a plumber uninstall, return it to HD and get a new one, put the new one in, bill me, and then I would submit that to them for a claim. Sounded ok to me, and she was going to email me the info.

Surprise! No email. So I'll have to call back through the phone tree this morning. Yay.

Modern day "durable" appliances should all just come with standardized slide in place fittings. Because all of this shit needs replaced on a VERY regular basis. Just did a dishwasher a few weeks back. Horrendous job. Ten pounds of shit in a 9 pound back with plumbing in AND out and electrical. All occurring behind an opaque impenetrable appliance.

Had no hot water 2 days ago. Phase III tank heated by my boiler. Luckily it was the zone valve covered by my service contract with my oil supplier.

Vette02 --- I had one of those indirect hot water tanks at my last house (heated by the boiler). The inside heating coil failed, and the higher pressure drinking water leaked into the boiler circuit and tripped the boiler over pressure valve. Took a while to figure out. Had to get a new hot water tank there (expensive as hell).

Moral of the story for you -- Check your cathodic sacrifice current flow per the manufacturers guidance and replace it ahead of time. It'll probably last forever if you do.

rOgue-Thanks for the advice. Had installed when I built my house 18 yrs ago. Knock on wood- first problem with it.

Went through this pain 3 weeks ago. The one we replaced was 18 years old. Hopefully the new water heater lasts that long.

I guess the good news is it will or should be easy to change out.... drain the leaky one... move it out of the way install the new one, fill it up and turn it one...

'somebody' should be able to take that leaky one back to HD and just exchange it.... 1-2 hours work.

What's the deal with the sewer gas smell... that should be easy to fix and still be able to have the ability to drain?

quote:

Originally posted by Vette02:
rOgue-Thanks for the advice. Had installed when I built my house 18 yrs ago. Knock on wood- first problem with it.

Move on that quickly! Mine failed in less time than that. Was also new. Mine was a German Buderus with a stainless and and heat exchanger.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
I guess the good news is it will or should be easy to change out.... drain the leaky one... move it out of the way install the new one, fill it up and turn it one...

'somebody' should be able to take that leaky one back to HD and just exchange it.... 1-2 hours work.

What's the deal with the sewer gas smell... that should be easy to fix and still be able to have the ability to drain?

They hard plumbed it in, but I agree, shouldn't take too long. They did all of the initial work in three hours with two guys.

As for the smell, I just didn't do the normal task of keeping the traps filled. Instead, I blocked them, because I'm a fuCking idiot. The 27 year old hot water tank held as long as she could for me to come to my senses. I thought the hot water tank was MUCH newer than that -- not that that is any excuse whatsoever for being a fuCking idiot.

What kills me with modern electric water heaters is the lack of anode rod maintenance.

In my existing water heater, they covered the anode rod end with insulation, and only after pulling the insulation away did I find that it's in so tight it couldn't be removed anyways.

I called their "support" line, only to be told it wasn't a serviceable part (even though the instructions state it is).

Been looking at the hybrid heat pump versions and they have the heat pump on top and covering the anode rod. Hit or miss on manufacturers giving an access tunnel though it all, most don't anymore.

Why offer a 15yr warranty knowing that you have a 3 year sacrificial part that you cant replace?

That really sucks. Was tankless not an option due to cost? I went with tankless after my last WH sprung a pinhole leak on a bad weld. I was glad that I put the hole damn thing in one of those draining pans. Changing anode rods was a PITA, too. The one I had was one piece and had to be extracted from the top. I had to use a hole saw in the ceiling to give it enough clearance to be extracted.

Had a Bradford White water heater previously, lasted one month beyond the warranty period.

Post Covid summer 2020 trying to get someone to replace it in a timely manner was futile, original contractor wanted 2700 bucks to replace it, they were the only one to commit to a time frame and they said one week time frame. Uhhh, no thanks at that price.

Couldn’t even get callbacks from a couple others. Finally my S-I-L and I tackled it as he and I were supposed to go off roading that weekend and we delayed our trip until the next morning, picked up a Rheem at HD that afternoon and had it done in a couple of hours.

PSA, water heaters are a consumable item and the average lifespan is 10 years. Don’t wait, if yours is over 10-replace it sooner rather than later.

If you don’t know there is an “anode” a rod inside the tank that is a sacrificial piece that is designed to wear before your heating elements do. https://www.plumbingsupply.com...ater-anode-rods.html

Check it annually, use a big socket, IIRC it’s a 1 1/16. It may take two people as they have a gorilla at the factory to install them. Don’t use Teflon tape or pipe dope.

I write on the tank with a sharpie:
Installed date
Flush date
Replace anode date

Don’t buy one from Ferguson supply-they overprice them you can get it cheaper from plumbing supply online for half the price.

Also, if you don’t DIY, make sure the plumber uses flex hoses for intake and outlet…makes the next replacement super easy.