water heaters
SMITH once was a great water heater,
if you got one 12 years old, yes you got a good one....
The problem with them is about 1996 they moved their all their operations to MEXICO and the QUALITY went to hell in a hand basket ---downhill from there.
Anyway , on average with Bradford White or Rheem you can expect a defective unit maybe 1 in 150 that is not too bad.
With Smith, you can expect a leaker right out of the box probably 1 in 20.
and you simply cant afford to warranty these units ,
The customers get pretty irate with you if only three year out you have to charge them to change the unit out.
I LOVE SMITH WATER HEATERS
Because I usually change out on average about 4 Smith water heaters a WEEK under warranty for people in my area....usually about 4 years old.
I charge them well for the service because no one else around here wants to mess with the paperwork.
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On a personal note......
I installed a 50 gallon Gas Pro Max Smith water heater in my own home in Feb 3, 02 just for fun to see how long it would last, this was a free one.
I would never buy one.
Just last week, on Tuesday night , it blew a large hole out the bottom and came close to flooding my laundry room. It was literally ROARING out the bottom into the floor drain about a foot away.
It Had a PRV valve on the water system set at about 70psi and a large thermal expansion tank on the unit too.....
I gave this unit every chance to change my mind about them.
fellas , that's only about three years old......... that's not good.
I took it out and installed a Bradford white 75 gallon at about 8.30 in the evening.
THEY ARE JUNK>>>