MY last Water Heater Question (i think) :)

Ok guys first of all i want to thank you for leading me the right direction with my original post on the water heater problems i was having. I called a couple of places today to see how much they would charge to replace the dip tube and they said about $200. Umm well for that kind of money i have decided to replace the unit. I went to look at mynards today at the richmond WH. After looking i had a couple of questions which of course the teenage people they hire at these places could not answer. Well anyways here are my two questions:

1) The base 40 gallon unit was $289 (6 year warranty). I really wasn't interested in the (9 year warrant) one because i think your basically just buying an extended warranty but there was one feature of the 9 year unit that caught my eye. Its called "Everkleen Self Cleaning system" that is supposed to fight sediment buildup. The 9 year unit was $349. I guess the question is this self cleaning unit really worth the money and will it help the water heater to last longer?

2) I had the choice of the tall or short unit. The short unit they will have to special order but thats not a big deal because i have dealt with this for awhile and no reason i can't deal with it for a month more. The only difference in specs is the short unit has a higher First hour delivery. It is 72 compared to 67 which i don't know if it will make a difference but hey if you can get something for free why not. I wanted to go home and measure my tank too but unfortunatly it doesn't match either the short or tall tank. Mine measured 54'' and the short take measures 49-1/4'' and the tall 58. Should i go with the short unit?

Thanks,
Ncage

Oh ya btw, i decided to call around to local plumber places to see what they charge for a new unit installed and the quote i got was around $750-800

I wish you luck. An unknown brand selling for 1/3 the price of a known brand would have me awfully leery. I suspect it is out of mainland China or India. Me thinks you are letting the low price convince you that you are getting a good deal. I'd still get a $6 dip tube and install it myself and see if that didn't fix the problem. There's no way it's a $200 job. Whoever quoted that was looking for a sucker. It's about a 15 minute job requiring nothing more than a pipe wrench. I guess you're mind is made up, I wish you luck.

evercleen system

the 9 year water heater sounds like it was made by Rheem

the "everdlean system" is sort of a joke but I suppose it

will swish the sediment to the sides of the tanks....


as long as you stay away from Whirlpool or STATE you will be ok

Gary Swart said:

I wish you luck. An unknown brand selling for 1/3 the price of a known brand would have me awfully leery. I suspect it is out of mainland China or India. Me thinks you are letting the low price convince you that you are getting a good deal. I'd still get a $6 dip tube and install it myself and see if that didn't fix the problem. There's no way it's a $200 job. Whoever quoted that was looking for a sucker. It's about a 15 minute job requiring nothing more than a pipe wrench. I guess you're mind is made up, I wish you luck.

Click to expand...

Yes i know but three difference places quotes me around the same price with 2 hours of labor. Thats why i said screw it i'll just get a new one. What do you mean about an unknown brand? Richmonds are made by rheem:
http://waterheating.rheem.com/consumer/consumer_richmond.asp .

There is no plumbing supply type stores around my area so i would have to order a dip tube off the internet if i want one.

master plumber mark said:

the 9 year water heater sounds like it was made by Rheem

the "everdlean system" is sort of a joke but I suppose it

will swish the sediment to the sides of the tanks....


as long as you stay away from Whirlpool or STATE you will be ok

Click to expand...

Umm according to that link richmond = Rheem. I even got a pamphlet at mynards and it states "Rheem water heating".

EXCUSE ME! I read your were getting a Everkleen Self Cleaning system and misunderstood that to be a brand. Richmond is a good brand, it's made by Rheem. I still stand by my comment about a $200 dip tube. Having just replace one, I know how little work is involved, and it sure isn't a 2 hour job even for a novice DIYer!

OK damn these dip tubes are even hard to find on google to buy . Anyways now i have one of my questions answered is don't worry about that self cleaning system on the more expensive unit and just go with the cheaper unit now how about height? Should i go with the taller or shorter unit or does it matter?

water heater

The 9 year is a six year with a 3 year insurance policy. The self cleaning feature ONLY WORKS when you have something using a large volume of water, such as a bathtub or clothes washer. Richmond is made by Rheem, as is GE, but if you watch Home Depot for a while you will see many of these heaters being returned after they fail.

The box stores don't stock dip tubes, and I found that even my local Ace Hardware didn't have them. They are not a fast moving item. I went to a real plumbing shop and they had plenty of them in stock. If you drain the water heater once a year or so, you won't have any problems with sediment in the bottom. I actually made draining easier by replacing the OEM drain cock with a nipple and ball valve. I can dump 50 gallon of water in short order with that.