How old is your water heater?

[Terry]

I got a call yesterday, two gas water heaters, twenty years old.
Water leaking into the home past the garage wall in a Street of Dreams home.

Today, a home I plumbed twenty years ago, 65 gallon electric, leaking onto the carpet.

So.........How old is your water heater?

Some condo associations require replacement at 10 years for just that reason.
A water heater replacement is a lot cheaper than water damage.

[Scuba_Dave]

Maybe 3 years old
I'm not sure the age of the one it replaced
But it failed, bottom let loose
Luckily my wife was home & shut off the water to the tank

Unluckily she never went back downstairs after shutting off the water
Water was back feeding thru the tank & still leaking

[CarlH]

Mine is almost 15 years old and has been trouble free so far. Given its age I am already looking into getting it replaced. I've been taking my time on this though. Meanwhile my mother-in-law is set up in the basement where the water heater is located and that picture that master plumber mark posted a while back keeps coming back to me. I wonder if my current heater will start to leak while she is still staying with us... Or if it will leak and make the MIL stay that much more enjoyable.

http://joyerickson.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/mother-in-law-from-hell.jpg?w=300&h=239

[Redwood]

Mine is almost 15 years old and has been trouble free so far. Given its age I am already looking into getting it replaced. I've been taking my time on this though. Meanwhile my mother-in-law is set up in the basement where the water heater is located and that picture that master plumber mark posted a while back keeps coming back to me. I wonder if my current heater will start to leak while she is still staying with us... Or if it will leak and make the MIL stay that much more enjoyable.

http://joyerickson.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/mother-in-law-from-hell.jpg?w=300&h=239

That picture is a lot more pleasant than this one of my ex-MIL...

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2/Redwood39/deecaf4c8647278d9d0d4be960dde6a4.gif

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Less than 2 years old.


A customer and I both didn't realize his heater was under warranty, and I instantly turned it in and got a brand new one fee of charge! He had already bought a water heater from HD so I wasn't going to spill the news.

Getting a $450 water heater for free made me feel speshal. :D Got installed instantly as well before I came up with a plan to install it, collect off the cost of the heater. Serves a better purpose being in the home.

[maddog]

Original 50-gal gas water heater (cheap) that came with the house lasted 11 years before leaking. Replaced it with GE/Rheem.

[Macman]

Ours was in the house when we purchased. That was 23+ years ago and the only thing I've done is try to drain sediment. I never see anything come out. I hope I don't jinx it with this post. My mom and dad built a new home a few years ago. The water heater lasted 3 years.

[Gary Swart]

I installed a Reliance (made by Rheem) in 1996. This is a power vent model. I have had to replace the ignition control module twice, $100ish each time, and the dip tube once. Easy DIY repairs with some oin-line help from Rheem on the first ignition control. Other than those time, this heater has performed beautifully. Now, it does seem to me that the water in my area is less corrosive than in many other parts of the country. Galvanized pipe doesn't seem to corrode on the inside and water heaters seem to last a long time. Admittedly these are very unscientific observations, so let's not start a verbal war over them.:D

[Redwood]

Mine is a '98 with new anode in 2004 and I'll be putting in another soon.
Flush it twice a year.
It's part of a science project that will culminate in my homeowners insurance buying me a new carpet.

[sjsmithjr]

Our 47 gallon GE electric is at least 4 years old, but it's only been in service for the last 3. The stoners that owned our house before we bought it had been trying to convert the detached garage into an apartment (or a party room, or something), but never figured out how to get water out of it. I don't really worry about it leaking too much; it's located in the crawlspace just inside the access door. I flush it once a year on April Fool's Day.

[Ladiesman271]

Less than 2 years old.


A customer and I both didn't realize his heater was under warranty, and I instantly turned it in and got a brand new one fee of charge! He had already bought a water heater from HD so I wasn't going to spill the news.

Getting a $450 water heater for free made me feel speshal. :D Got installed instantly as well before I came up with a plan to install it, collect off the cost of the heater. Serves a better purpose being in the home.



Interesting story!

[hj]

quote; Getting a $450 water heater for free made me feel speshal. :D Got installed instantly as well before I came up with a plan to install it, collect off the cost of the heater. Serves a better purpose being in the home.

Why would you feel special? I ALWAYS get a free one when it is under warranty. If you charged him for your new heater, how did you get him to return his? Sounds like you "cheated" the customer, because HE was the one entitled to the new heater, not you.

http://terrylove.com/forums/images/misc/progress.gif

[Dunbar Plumbing]

quote; Getting a $450 water heater for free made me feel speshal. :D Got installed instantly as well before I came up with a plan to install it, collect off the cost of the heater. Serves a better purpose being in the home.

Why would you feel special? I ALWAYS get a free one when it is under warranty. If you charged him for your new heater, how did you get him to return his? Sounds like you "cheated" the customer, because HE was the one entitled to the new heater, not you.


http://terrylove.com/forums/images/misc/progress.gif



Interpretation for hj:


Customer calls, needs water heater replaced, calls saturday morning, already went to HD to buy his GE water heater, upset that his 6 year old heater is leaking and wants to get rid of his A.O. Smith tank because he feels it's junk.

I get there, new water heater is sitting next to old, I know the high water pressure in the area and BINGO!!! 100 pounds of pressure is partly to blame.

He opts for me to install a PRV/EXP tank along with his new heater. I do it, job done money in hand.


Get home, heater sits for 5 days because garbage day was 2 days ago. I look at the inspection sticker while I'm wrenching the scrap off the tank, and notice that the inspection says one thing, the heater's serial number is coding as "newer".

Sooooooooooooooooo, monday I call the plumbing supply house and run the numbers,

It's under warranty.

Water heater *GE* is already installed in customer's home, he's happy, I'm happy, so I'm heading to the supply house and I get my new water heater for bringing back a leaker.

Never told him about the tank, but I made sure him and his wife had VIP tickets to a fireworks celebration my plumbing company sponsors every year.


Something about that hot water feels so damn good, and I don't know why... :p

You owe me a water heater for having to splain' this out.

Send it Fedex from Arizona to Kentucky, save ya some ben franklins.

[Scuba_Dave]

Still sounds like the customer was cheated since it was under warranty

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Yeah,


But I charged $450.00 to haul away that water heater.


Now whatcha gonna do!

[Scuba_Dave]

http://www.lindamoran.net/blog/Surrender.jpg

[Dunbar Plumbing]

White flag would of done well,

but he just "threw in the towel"

I made a great impression on him with the VIP tickets for the fireworks show...


Free food, front row seats which was the best spot for watching them. Of course, I was feelin' a leeeeeeeeeetle guilty but that's okay. My hemmorhoids dragged for weeks pulling all that money Ahem* er, water heater up them steps out of the basement.


"touches self to see if swelling went down"


I'm back to normal!

[Cass]

I just installed a 50 Gal. State Electric 1 month ago... I hate state but the Price was free due to some one owing me so in went the State...maybe their Electrics aren't as bad as their gas models

[hj]

Now your second problem, since you are going to install the "free" heater in someone else's home. The new heater is registered to someone else, AND it only has the remaining couple of years on its warranty. IF it goes bad within a six year period, AND the customer knows it is under warranty, YOU will be buying a "not free" water heater to replace it, and that one will have a full warranty to the homeowner, instead of the unexpired portion of the bad heater. You didn't have to 'splain anything. I just wanted to be sure I correctly understood that you had "taken" the customer. And I guess you had. I check the heater's age IMMEDIATELY to see if it is under warranty, not two days later, because it is in the recycle bin within a hour of removal.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Now your second problem, since you are going to install the "free" heater in someone else's home. The new heater is registered to someone else, AND it only has the remaining couple of years on its warranty. IF it goes bad within a six year period, AND the customer knows it is under warranty, YOU will be buying a "not free" water heater to replace it, and that one will have a full warranty to the homeowner, instead of the unexpired portion of the bad heater. You didn't have to 'splain anything. I just wanted to be sure I correctly understood that you had "taken" the customer. And I guess you had. I check the heater's age IMMEDIATELY to see if it is under warranty, not two days later, because it is in the recycle bin within a hour of removal.



To hj, with love (http://zyya3w.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pdVIB2ebEwSbN-7zsOsqhxadok1Zo71ACncuEY4qIHn-ze3bUPoUaaiQvYUx1ExzX/RT%20016.jpg)


Gotta read my post above man! You even quoted me that I mentioned I installed it before I felt the need to put it in someone's home. I know how that warranty extension works.

If it goes bad it goes bad, I need to drain it as well. Seems like I give advice about draining them and can't take my own.

Something about that hot water make me all tingly and ****!

[Nate R]

Our 30 gal gas was installed in 01 or 02. Will be replaced w/ a 40 gal gas within a year or so.

A duplex my brother bought a few years ago came w/ a Water heater from the 70s. Still working, too! Of course, 2 years later it went out on him. :D

[Cookie]

Not as old as my furnace was, that was 55 years old before it was replaced in 05. So, the water heater has got a long ways to go before it sees the scrap yard. My cat is 21. I guess, I like old stuff.

[master plumber mark]

Today , we are changeing out a Rheem gas imperial
that is almost 10 years old, and still under warranty by a month.. $*00

Change out a 4 year old bradford white 50 gal electric $**0

change out another electric water heater unknown age $***

change out a whirlpool 40 gallon gas that is leaking...$***

another whilrpool heater $***

and their might be a wild card come in today I dont even know about yet

All heaters that I install,

I insist on a pan under the heater,
I dont care it their is not a drain within 100 feet.

5 years from now I am the S.O.B that did not offer them
a pan and now the heater is pissing all over the carpet...
and guess who they want to pay for the damages????..

if they dont want the Therm exp tank,
I cant force it on them., becasue LOWES installers
do not install them

but they will get a pan for an extra 30 bucks.


it feels like a manly day and I have not left home yet...




my 75 gallon gas bradford white is 4 years old.

[Cass]

If the system is closed it maybe a code requirement...I know here it is....

[master plumber mark]

jinked the day right out of the gate bragging about
how many I was going to do...

2 cancelled,
and one told me to go fu// myself for
reasons unknown....... (i think I am glad he did)

its all good

[gusherb94]

our house was built in 1990 the water heater is a 50 gallon ruud high recovery thats original to the house so that makes it 19 years old, my grandma had a 40 gallon ruud also from 1990 that worked up until just last september when her neighborhood flooded that was replaced with a bradford white :), the overtaxed 50 gallon water heater in our apartment bldg is from 1996. all three of these places are on city water which comes from lake michigan.

[Redwood]

Gusher, have you checked to see if the overtaxed 50 in your apartment from 1996 was one of the units that had a defective diptube?
It could explain the "over taxed"

[gusherb94]

Gusher, have you checked to see if the overtaxed 50 in your apartment from 1996 was one of the units that had a defective diptube?
It could explain the "over taxed"

well actually redwood its the only water heater serving 2 apts each with 1 bath 1 washer and kitchen with dishwasher plus the 1st floor store :eek: thats what i mean by overtaxed, though oddly it doesnt run out too often :). I dont think the dip tube in this one is defective though i see it was manufactured at the end of that whole fiasco.

[Redwood]

You could check the serial # against the list at this link.

http://www.rustylayton.com/htmlxtra/diptube.html

You are probably okay if you aren't running out though.

[gusherb94]

thanks redwood ille have to check the number when i go there next.

[Ian Gills]

About 80 years now.

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/whh/images/Museum/HumphreyAutomaticC1.jpg

[dx]

A water heater replacement is a lot cheaper than water damage.

The IPC has a paragraph that requires a pan when damage from leaks is possible, i.e. if it's not on a bare or tiled basement slab near a drain or in a crawl, etc. Don't know the paragraph number off hand, but someone showed it to me recently.

If you're under IPC, the installer may be liable if he omits the pan.

[Scuba_Dave]

Well, yeah most of them will last 80 years if they aren't connected :D


About 80 years now.

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/whh/images/Museum/HumphreyAutomaticC1.jpg

[jbclem]

As someone who owned a service business (auto repair) for many years, and knows something about honesty, I want to mention the obvious about this free water heater business. The honest thing to do would have been to tell the original owner about the free replacement water heater. Although it's not your fault that he went out and bought a water heater before the warranty fact came to light, it is still his warranty, not yours. All you had to do was call him up and tell him about it, and ask if he wanted to have the free water heater. There's probably a better than 50-50 chance he would have said no and you could have kept it guilt free. But maybe if he was a person who knows the value of money, and had extra space in his garage; he would have taken his free water heater and put it up for sale at half price and earned $200 plus to help pay for the Home Depot water heater he shelled out for.

Had you done this, you would have gained more PR than you can imagine, the home owner would probably have told all his friends how honest you were. And they would have told their friends. Also, you could have advertised that you were an honest plumber and it wouldn't have been the usual advertising bs. That's worth infinitely more than the money you earned re-selling the short warranty water heater. Not to mention what ever guilt you may be carrying around after taking advantage of two customers. And believe it or not, you would feel good about yourself for many many years, especially if you continued to operate this way.

I know it's hard to turn down free things, but this was a test...hope you've learned something from it.

jc

[Dunbar Plumbing]

As someone who owned a service business (auto repair) for many years, and knows something about honesty, I want to mention the obvious about this free water heater business. The honest thing to do would have been to tell the original owner about the free replacement water heater. Although it's not your fault that he went out and bought a water heater before the warranty fact came to light, it is still his warranty, not yours. All you had to do was call him up and tell him about it, and ask if he wanted to have the free water heater. There's probably a better than 50-50 chance he would have said no and you could have kept it guilt free. But maybe if he was a person who knows the value of money, and had extra space in his garage; he would have taken his free water heater and put it up for sale at half price and earned $200 plus to help pay for the Home Depot water heater he shelled out for.

Had you done this, you would have gained more PR than you can imagine, the home owner would probably have told all his friends how honest you were. And they would have told their friends. Also, you could have advertised that you were an honest plumber and it wouldn't have been the usual advertising bs. That's worth infinitely more than the money you earned re-selling the short warranty water heater. Not to mention what ever guilt you may be carrying around after taking advantage of two customers. And believe it or not, you would feel good about yourself for many many years, especially if you continued to operate this way.

I know it's hard to turn down free things, but this was a test...hope you've learned something from it.

jc


Who are you, Dr. Phil? Sounds like you got a guilty conscious for ram-rodding your customers for years and now it's a "come-clean" and point fingers tell all. Pfft!



When I got those tickets for him and his wife for the fireworks show,

They told about 5 different groups of people, and since I've done work for them as well, 2, maybe 3 have kicked off of those referrals.


I don't care what anyone thinks about it on the internet; I'd do it again in a heartbeat and not think bad at all of the choice.


BTW,

I spent $16,000.00 with auto mechanics last year. Paid more than some chump flipping burgers for the year. Tell me why an alternator is $200 more than what I can buy it for at KOI. Markup

It's always to dwarf the hourly rate; stick it to them on the price and core charges. Homie don't roll like that; I price it "fair".


Like I said; it happens again, I'll have whole basement full of free water heaters, and since I gots my own already, I'll sell those at "discounted price" which will have them worshipping the ground I walk on, giving me cookies, softdrinks, sugary snacks while I'm sitting in their basement playin' X-box while they're getting me some G-dam pizza dammit! Hurry back!

I can't work without a free meal in me!

Customer today offered me a small bowl of ice cream, fancy that ****!

[Ladiesman271]

I don't care what anyone thinks about it on the internet; I'd do it again in a heartbeat and not think bad at all of the choice.





Shame on you!

An honest plumber would have looked at the warranty code on the water heater on site and told the home owner that his tank was still under warranty. The home owner could then make the choice on whether he wanted the warranty replacement tank (installed or otherwise). The home owner could have always returned the newly purchased water heater.

There ought to be a law about that. Whoops, there already is. That type of behavior can lead to license revocation and criminal prosecution in all 50 states under the criminal code!







Customer today offered me a small bowl of ice cream, fancy that ****!





Hope that person liked you. Did you ever see the Sienfeld episode about that? George refused to eat the desert with "the boys", but the "boys" who ate the desert all got violently ill!

[Redwood]

Hmmm
A.O. Smith is one manufacturer I would be clueless about what the date code meant until I looked it up on their website or called it in...

Typical A.O. Smith S/N: MH************X

"MH" really does not translate into a date by just looking at it.

On the other hand some manufacturers are fairly easy like S/N: 1198******X for instance.

Perhaps Laddy Boy has the A.O. Smith date codes committed to memory but I doubt it...
Given the 64K RAM that he is equipped with and the amount of useless garbage he stores for spewing out it's hardly likely...

[Cass]

.jbclem...Did you honestly inform your customers, when you had the auto repair business, that there were lifetime guaranteed parts that were available for and extra cost so that when their brakes wore out they didn't have to purchase pads or rotors or drums again....that way all you would charge for was labor....when the time came for replacement and the customer wouldn't have to spend the $$$ over and over again...on parts...

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Shame on you!

An honest plumber would have looked at the warranty code on the water heater on site and told the home owner that his tank was still under warranty. The home owner could then make the choice on whether he wanted the warranty replacement tank (installed or otherwise). The home owner could have always returned the newly purchased water heater.

There ought to be a law about that. Whoops, there already is. That type of behavior can lead to license revocation and criminal prosecution in all 50 states under the criminal code!








Hope that person liked you. Did you ever see the Sienfeld episode about that? George refused to eat the desert with "the boys", but the "boys" who ate the desert all got violently ill!


You can lock me up, handcuff me with e-cuffs, I'll take the soft pink fluffy ones. You all are a bunch of thread wreckers.


A leaking water heater when a customer commits to me straining my hemmorhoids to pull it up 13 steps and over a couple others, then into my truck straining to get it in the bed, carefully without damaging carpet or tile, linoleum,

That water heater is now my property as I'm being told to haul away the old water heater.


I don't care if the customer used it as a makeshift safe and shoved $100 bills in it,

That's my property when the customer commits me to remove it, haul it away.

Honest plumber is the one who put this exact scenario up on the internet, not giving a flying **** what anyone thinks...got that?

What makes me think now is I bet I've been in this boat before and didn't check enough of them, thinking I might of passed up quite a few opportunities this way.

This makes me sad, and I could have a basement full of warrantless water heaters to keep me in the balance for every water heater replacement that turned out harder than expected.


Ehhh-yup!


Everyone please continue while I eat my bowl of ice cream waiting for more replies.


Not one person asked me how many times I've told a person that their tank is under warranty, and saved them a bundle, with them thanking me profusely and generating work because I was a plumbing commando from my office chair. Go put that in your pipe and smoke it!


(feels backside to see if swelling went down from yesterday's water heater replacement)

Oooohe, it's bad, real bad :D


Music while you're enjoying your wait for an apologetic response, NOT! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gu6EnpsDBc&feature=related)

[dx]

Very interesting thread.

Rugged, the ethics of it are between you and your conscience. The legal part is simple: if you sold the original AO Smith, you committed fraud. If you didn't sell the original AO Smith, you're guilty of nothing. You simply discovered value in someone's garbage.

What I find amusing is all the whining about having to schlep the heater up the stairs. Pretty simple, either
1. You got paid for it, did it willingly and presumably you know how much to charge for your labor, or
2. You did it for free, in which case I'd like to hire you AND sell you some swamp land... :)

Didn't read anywhere about the HO putting a gun to your head to haul it away.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Very interesting thread.

Rugged, the ethics of it are between you and your conscience. The legal part is simple: if you sold the original AO Smith, you committed fraud. If you didn't sell the original AO Smith, you're guilty of nothing. You simply discovered value in someone's garbage.

What I find amusing is all the whining about having to schlep the heater up the stairs. Pretty simple, either
1. You got paid for it, did it willingly and presumably you know how much to charge for your labor, or
2. You did it for free, in which case I'd like to hire you AND sell you some swamp land... :)

Didn't read anywhere about the HO putting a gun to your head to haul it away.



GRADE 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxw5s4Qzbk) And yes, I always charge $60 to haul away water heater. Never installed the original.

I was no different than the junk man checking the mfg. sticker.


Me? Have a conscious or morals? Never. I'm perfectly immoral and enjoy the stardom.

[master plumber mark]

RUGGED

it is well known throughout the industry about
water heater warranties...

I went through this yesterday with a customer....

perhaps good will is a good thing when you install a brad white under warranty for what someone else wanted over twice for....
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know of another greeedy slob that literally tried to take 5 warranty tags into a Smith dealer and try to claim that he had 5 customers with bad waterheaters all going out at once... is that nerve or stupidity??

he even had bogus names and addresses out of the phone book for each tag.

they told him to take a hike and kept the tags....

and of course they wont let that dumbass back into the place either...
------------------------------------------------------------------
RUGGED
of course at this time , it is possible to fill up your whole home with them if you so choose....and you can sell one to a little old lady at a steep discount...or whatever you choose to do

eventually you will ruin it for everyone out there that
perhaps does this only on rare occasion as a favor to someone .....

It would not be hard for every water heater comapny to simply require an address and registration for everry water heater ser# , that must be mailed in by the original customer
state water heaters already does this ...and so does American...
(both are junk and probably get tons back)....

but I think that they would just rather trust the plumbers.

at least untill they hear a bunch of them bragging on the
internet about how they steal them blind every day..........


I sort of remember some saying about


"greedy pigs getting slaughtered". ........someday......


oink, oink... aaawwweeeeeeeee!!!

[Ladiesman271]

Very interesting thread.

Rugged, the ethics of it are between you and your conscience. The legal part is simple: if you sold the original AO Smith, you committed fraud. If you didn't sell the original AO Smith, you're guilty of nothing. You simply discovered value in someone's garbage.




The legal part is simple, except you even got that wrong. Rugged is not the original owner of the water heater.


Quoted from the A. O. Smith Warranty

"THIS WARRANTY IS APPLICABLE TO THE ORIGINAL
OWNER ONLY. In accordance with the warranty terms and
conditions specified below."

[Dunbar Plumbing]

We gottem jed!


http://www.voice2page.com/info/internet_police.GIF




Here's the response from the water heater police when they found out a garbage water heater was found to have a warranty, and turned in for a new one,






http://jamessw.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/police-at-work.jpg


RUN FORREST~~!!! F**KING RUN!!!!!

[Dunbar Plumbing]

RUGGED







Sounds good but I has no internets feelings. Don't care if people do this daily, all I know is I don't have to do JACK **** when I find out after the fact that the tank is under warranty and I find opportunity to provide myself hot water for the next 6 to 10 years, thanks to me. :D


But since everyone made a point of wrecking Terry's thread chasing me over a heater, I think I'm going to end up with a basement full of water heaters just to be as guilty as ya'll trying to make it.

Win win for me, time for a junior western bacon chee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ON7YmYaks8&feature=related).

[dx]

The legal part is simple, except you even got that wrong. Rugged is not the original owner of the water heater.


Quoted from the A. O. Smith Warranty

"THIS WARRANTY IS APPLICABLE TO THE ORIGINAL
OWNER ONLY. In accordance with the warranty terms and
conditions specified below."

Are you having trouble with reading and comprehension? What I said was "if Rugged sold the original heater to the customer".

Or, how about this: I did't say Rugged was the original owner, I said "if he was the original installer".

If you're still failing to comprehend, let me know and I'll try a third way of 'splaining it to you :)

[Cass]

Typical A.O. Smith S/N: MH************X

"MH" really does not translate into a date by just looking at it.



Actual A.O. Smith #s

Mod#FSG 50 248

S/N GK02-1062974-248

The K would stand for November the 11th month corresponding with K the 11th letter in the alphabet and 02 would be the year it was manufactured.

[AL_2007]

Actual A.O. Smith #s

Mod#FSG 50 248

S/N GK02-1062974-248

The K would stand for November the 11th month corresponding with K the 11th letter in the alphabet and 02 would be the year it was manufactured.

I have an A.O. Smith and found the age after following this link:

http://www.rootermd.com/water-heater-age.htm

The link also shows how to find the age for few other water heater makes.

My 40 Gallon gas fired water heater is 20 years old installed by previous owners. I moved into the house a year ago. It seems to work fine, but it takes rather long time for the hot water to reach the shower in the morning. I wonder if there is any way to speed this up?
Also, what could go wrong in a heater of that age? Is there an age limit for such water heaters?

[cwhyu2]

I have an A.O. Smith and found the age after following this link:

http://www.rootermd.com/water-heater-age.htm

The link also shows how to find the age for few other water heater makes.

My 40 Gallon gas fired water heater is 20 years old installed by previous owners. I moved into the house a year ago. It seems to work fine, but it takes rather long time for the hot water to reach the shower in the morning. I wonder if there is any way to speed this up?
Also, what could go wrong in a heater of that age? Is there an age limit for such water heaters?
Yes
Tank rupture.
20 yrs is maxed out.
New water heater will save you a lot of bucks.If you replace it now,it may seem costly to install a new one ,but it will solve all of the above.Peace of mind.

[AL_2007]

Yes
Tank rupture.
20 yrs is maxed out.
New water heater will save you a lot of bucks.If you replace it now,it may seem costly to install a new one ,but it will solve all of the above.Peace of mind.

Thanks for the info.
I am about to get a new tank from Lowes.
They are also doing an optional gadget for instant heating. I think this device works on electricity and is attached to the gas heater. But I am not so sure if I really need it. It costs an extra 200 bucks. I thought this device might be useful only if there is lack of hot water in the tank. But I am not so sure.

[kingsotall]

Thanks for the info.
I am about to get a new tank from Lowes.
They are also doing an optional gadget for instant heating. I think this device works on electricity and is attached to the gas heater. But I am not so sure if I really need it. It costs an extra 200 bucks. I thought this device might be useful only if there is lack of hot water in the tank. But I am not so sure.

Are you nuts¿!! Have you not read this (http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4362&highlight=lowes) thread¿ I even have "Lowes" highlighted for you wherever it has been mentioned in regards to the water heaters they sell.

[SewerRatz]

Thanks for the info.
I am about to get a new tank from Lowes.
They are also doing an optional gadget for instant heating. I think this device works on electricity and is attached to the gas heater. But I am not so sure if I really need it. It costs an extra 200 bucks. I thought this device might be useful only if there is lack of hot water in the tank. But I am not so sure.

Go to a local plumibng supply and buy a quailty heater.

[brother]

Ive actually put some in myself in my home before. I learned from a plumber that its good to put a 'date' in black permanant ink on the heater so you know the life of the heater.

The funny ones Ive seen is the ones that were 'installed' up in the attic, so when they leak, its a BIG MESS (ie ceiling). I told one guy that he had better get that heater moved/replaced before something happens. He says he has a leak detector, oh well.

[kingsotall]

Go to a local plumibng supply and buy a quailty heater.

Would you believe one of the plumbing supply houses in town only sells American water heaters¿ I asked if they knew about all the problems and they acted suprised. Then recanted and said, "oh yeah, we had some reps talk to them about it and they (American) have since fixed that problem."

[AL_2007]

Are you nuts¿!! Have you not read this (http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4362&highlight=lowes) thread¿ I even have "Lowes" highlighted for you wherever it has been mentioned in regards to the water heaters they sell.

Thanks for the link. I agree that there are some serious pilot and ventilator issues to be considered. But I think the criticism against Lowes is a little too harsh. I consider them as nothing more than a middle sales agent. Some of the high end water heater they have are of more superior quality than that Whirlpool.

[kingsotall]

If you have a link share it! I'd be interested to see them.

[SewerRatz]

Would you believe one of the plumbing supply houses in town only sells American water heaters¿ I asked if they knew about all the problems and they acted suprised. Then recanted and said, "oh yeah, we had some reps talk to them about it and they (American) have since fixed that problem."

There was a supply house that carried them as well. After all the issues and headaches they switched to Bradford White.

[kingsotall]

One can only hope they do the same here.

[CHuntMD]

Rheem Fury NG 70gallon 17.5 years old

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Found out today that the fellow that I replaced his water heater and later found out his junk heater had a warranty, and the new one ended up in my house?


The guy's wife died of cancer last august. She couldn't take it anymore and it spread through her body. I was working directly across from his house today and wanted to strike a convo with him to let him know that he needs to drain his water heater to keep it in good shape,

I made the mistake of asking how his wife was doing, and then he told me.


It's of my nature to ask these things as I have personal reference to this disease and him and I spoke to some length about this when I was replacing his water heater.

I felt bad for him, knowing the pain has got to be rough, they was together over 35 years.

Makes a water heater under warranty found by accident pretty damn insignificant at this point.

I plan on sending a condolence card since I'm just now finding out about it. I couldn't go to funerals of my customers anyway; I'd be in a suit every damn week, there's that many I know at this point in my community. Know of 5 in just the past 5 weeks. :(

[Cookie]

Why not buy a box of donuts and stop over visit him sometime, maybe he would put on some coffee, I bet he is really lonely after losing his spouse, company is really nice.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Why not buy a box of donuts and stop over visit him sometime, maybe he would put on some coffee, I bet he is really lonely after losing his spouse, company is really nice.



Can't impose myself like that onto others. Their home is their domain and I don't show up unless invited to spend their money fixing plumbing. :D