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Just What I Was REALLY Hoping to do Today - Replace a Hot Water Heater

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July 02, 2017, 05:26 PM
LS1 GTO
Just What I Was REALLY Hoping to do Today - Replace a Hot Water Heater
I've been here 15 years and i know the previous owners, of two years, didn't replace it. Guess I've been lucky.

Anybody with some good lessons learned?

I know how to solder (98 percent prep, 2 percent heat) - anything else? (I got the code thing too, so no worries about that)






Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers

The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...



July 02, 2017, 05:29 PM
HayesGreener
1. Ice down cold ones
2. Call Plumber
3. Enjoy cold ones


CMSGT USAF (Retired)
Chief of Police (Retired)
July 02, 2017, 05:39 PM
Captain Morgan
I install ball valves on the hot and cold with unions right below them. Next I need a.water heater, I just close the valves and unscrew the unscrew the unions then replace the heater.



Let all Men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly: Men freely ford that see the shallows.
Benjamin Franklin
July 02, 2017, 05:42 PM
Floyd D. Barber
quote:
Originally posted by HayesGreener:
1. Ice down cold ones
2. Call Plumber
3. Enjoy cold ones





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Always remember that others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.
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It's nice to be important, it's more important to be nice.
Billy Joe Shaver

NRA Life Member

July 02, 2017, 05:47 PM
Woodman
No matter if it is gas or electric, I always make sure there is water in it before making the final connection.
July 02, 2017, 05:50 PM
sgalczyn
Had my start weeping night before a week long trip. Started a week after I replaced my parents unit - same age both electric. Nope...not rolling dice.

Called plumber who also had to install expansion tank and pressure reducing valve on house supply.All told cost me a $1000 (heater alone was $600).

Use a new T&P valve and the hot/cold block valves that come with it to prevent thermosiphon.

If yours is gas...may need to call a plumber.

Oh....get hepl to haul the old one out...despite flushing sediment still weighed alot.

Save money on a 10yr warranty....heater is same as a lesser year unit...you're paying for the warranty.


"No matter where you go - there you are"
July 02, 2017, 06:02 PM
Excam_Man
quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

Anybody with some good lessons learned?


Gas or electric?
#1 Bradford White
#2 State/A. O. Smith

**Shut the water off before cutting the water lines. Big Grin




July 02, 2017, 06:10 PM
Sig209
Just replaced ours - it was leaking. Rheem unit lasted 12 years. Gas.

New 75 gal unit was ~$1,250 installed - our neighbor is a commercial plumbing contractor so she had one of her crews do it.

Just one of the many joys of home ownership.

-----------------------------------


Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
July 02, 2017, 07:30 PM
sigcrazy7
I replace about two a year between my rentals. I never solder anything anymore. I'm a PEX man now. Easy, fast, and electrically isolated.



Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus
July 02, 2017, 07:44 PM
XLT
Hot's on the left, colds on the right.

why do they call it a hot water heater? if the water is hot why would you want to heat it? Razz
July 02, 2017, 08:59 PM
FRANKT
quote:
if the water is hot why would you want to heat it?

Every one I've ever owned heated hot water. Has absolutely nothing to do with me wanting to. It's the way they're designed, it's the way they're built, it's the way they work.
Odds are pretty high that yours does, also.


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"And it's time that particularly, some of our corporations learned, that when you get in bed with government, you're going to get more than a good night's sleep."
- Ronald Reagan
July 02, 2017, 09:03 PM
2PAK
Replaced gas unit last month. I have no shame, Plumber did it...
July 02, 2017, 09:07 PM
TomS
quote:
Originally posted by XLT:
why do they call it a hot water heater? if the water is hot why would you want to heat it? Razz


Yeah, can someone 'splain that?


Best regards,

Tom


I have no comment at this time.
July 02, 2017, 09:57 PM
cparktd
quote:
Originally posted by toms:
quote:
Originally posted by XLT:
why do they call it a hot water heater? if the water is hot why would you want to heat it? Razz


Yeah, can someone 'splain that?


LOL!
goes back a ways...
George Carlin...
skip to ~1 min. mark.

https://youtu.be/k4tPsUTxZd8



Endeavor to persevere.
July 02, 2017, 10:00 PM
cparktd
Just call the man!

A TRUE CLASSIC right there! I think I saw it first run.



Endeavor to persevere.
July 02, 2017, 10:26 PM
Oz_Shadow
A drain pan and drain if you do not have one.
July 02, 2017, 10:50 PM
DMF
quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
I've been here 15 years and i know the previous owners, of two years, didn't replace it. Guess I've been lucky.

Anybody with some good lessons learned?

I know how to solder (98 percent prep, 2 percent heat) - anything else? (I got the code thing too, so no worries about that)
Forget solder. Use Sharkbite connections and save tons of time.

Also, if you got more than 15 years out of it, I assume you're either doing proper maintenance (flushing it every 3 to 6 months) and replacing the sacrificial anode every 12 to 18 months, or you got very lucky.


___________________________________________
"He was never hindered by any dogma, except the Constitution." - Ty Ross speaking of his grandfather General Barry Goldwater

"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want." - William Tecumseh Sherman
July 03, 2017, 12:34 AM
Sgt Neutron
I had mine replaced last Thursday. My old one was 16 years old, and was starting to make the gurgling noises when heating the water. I decided that I was going to replace it on MY terms rather than IT'S terms.
July 03, 2017, 05:10 AM
LS1 GTO
So it's in. Everything which screwed in was able to unscrew.

Pressure relief was hard soldered, now there's an 18" piece of steel there connecting the tank to newly installed threaded fitting.

And the wife's idea of helping - sitting inside and complaining there's no hot water.

I'm a gonna go shooting alone today.






Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers

The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...



July 03, 2017, 06:16 AM
Warhorse
Congrats on making it a DIY project.

I've replaced more than a few in my lifetime. It's not to bad if you have an inkling of plumber's skills, and a strong back to get the old one out of the basement.

When my current WH goes, I will be hiring it out.


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