Whirlpool - Any Changes in 2008

[Thurman]

The Whirlpool "Energy Smart" are the electric units. I have one I bought and installed two years ago last December. Just last month (Jan.) it quit working. The little green light on the unit wasn't on and not hot water. I had power to the control board but that was it. A call to the 1-800-(help me Whirlpool) resulting in a techy telling me that even though my unit was registered and under a nine year warranty that ALL Whirlpool Energy Smart electric water heaters were warranted to the original owners if in the original installation (where else?) for as long as the original owner lives there because of a class action lawsuit. Remember now that the "Flame Guard" gas units have class action lawsuits against them in five (5) different states. The new circuit board was shipped out to me and came from "American Water Heaters" in Tenn., the manufacturers of the unit. NOTE: my original board had imprinted on it "revision J", and the new board has "revision S". Quite a number of revisions to me. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Thanks, David

[Gary Swart]

This a a bit belated, but I would answer the question with a question. Why would one take a chance with a proven loser? Maybe they fixed the problems, maybe they didn't, there are other choices where quality has not been an issue. The Bradford White is one such choice and the GE/Rheem is another.

[Scuba_Dave]

How far back do these problems go?
I had one (12 yr) installed in 04 or 05 (I think 05)

[Gary Swart]

If you already have one, and it is working for you, count your blessings. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But, if you are shopping for a new heater, then why risk your money on a proven loser. I'm willing to say that Whirlpool hasn't always been junk, but in recent times, the record speaks for itself.

[master plumber mark]

How far back do these problems go?
I had one (12 yr) installed in 04 or 05 (I think 05)

Whirlpool heaters were never a problem until they had to develope their FVIR unit for the 2003 mandate ..

iin fact they came out with the Flame Lock about 2-3 years earlier than they actually had todo this, and felt as though they had beaten all the competition to the punch... it was a rush to market

they had a big splash in all the news wires about their new Flame lock line..

of course the big issue is they used their own customers as guniee pigs to see how well their design was.... they never actually tested out this design in
laundry rooms with high dust and lint....

and of course it has been a total disaster....

the units will work perfect as long as they are in an absolutely sterile environment
no dust, lint, cat hair, dog hair, people hair.....ect





dust, lint, cat hair, dog hair, people hair.....ect



and for some reason now they refuse to admit any design flaws in this unit....

the newer improved model is actually worse than the one that originally gave them problems



I sell a lot of bradford whites and rheems and it is a slam dunk
and no competition when they just go to my web site and read
all the information about this awful brand ...

.I sometimes wonder how many people
have lugged that ...new in the box heater..
back to lowes and got a refund, after finding my site...


it is actually to my advantage that they keep messing up like
this,... but I am tired of trying to fix these dogs. .

and I am tired of watching so many very poor people
who thought they had found a bargain
take such a good stiff screwing ...


http://www.weilhammerplumbing.com/galleryiii/

[Scuba_Dave]

Ah, forgot to mention that mine is an electric