Reply With QuoteUnless it is in a closet with no source of air, the problem may be with the gas control. This unit should still be under warranty. Call Hotpoint.
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hotpoint gas hwt won't stay lit??????
my neihbor has a new ( 2 months old ) hotpoint 40 gallon gas hot water tank, my question is that with the new FVIR technology does the combustion air get shut off if the flame burns outside of the combustion chamber, his HWT will not light, the pilot is lit but goes out as soon as the main flame comes on. It seems to be starving for combustion air. Any suggestions?
Last edited by Sparky; 10-11-2005 at 12:21 PM.
Unless it is in a closet with no source of air, the problem may be with the gas control. This unit should still be under warranty. Call Hotpoint.
Thanks jimbo, it is under warranty the owner wanted to make sure that it was a problem with the HWT before tearing it out and returning for warranty, we did take the screws out of the burner cover and pulled it out about an inch, the burner then works fine, when the burner is put back it dies out immediatly. The HWT is in an open basement, should have lots of combustion air.
wh
Ah, the joys of furnishing your own water heater. Put it in, try it out, take it out, return it, get a new one, install that one, and hope you do not have the same problem. Makes having a plumber furninsh and install it almost worthwhile, doesn't it?
The burner access on an FVIR WH should normally only be removed by a trained technician. Specifically, they are not designed to ever be operated with that door open. Not seeing it, I cannot quite grasp your problem, but something in the safety circuit is not working.
the hot point
probably not getting enough air.....
where is the intake for this unit???
around the sides or up from the bottom????
if it is on the bottom it is probably
sucking up lint like a wet vac
who actually makes this unit anyway????
if it is AMERICAN WATER HEATER,
then you got a sister to Whirlpool
and basically they are junk
if it is like the Whirlpool, then
it is just sucking up lint into the
air intake from the bottom
you arent supposed to leave the front lodjed open
because it makes the unit basically just
like the old ones were ....not totally %100 fire safe...
but it works ok that way , dont it???
it just voids the warranty and you arent spposed to do that..
I get the feeling I am going to be seeing a lot of these
units where the fire saftey seal is basically torn off over the
nextfew years...
people are not going to just keep fixing these over and over
I went out on a whirlpool last september to install all new parts
and the guy called me again today for the very same repairs!!!
you just cant keep them clean
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go to my web site and look at the pics at the
bottom of the page and see if the air intake isnt like the one
you got....
their is also a link to the instructions on how to clean a
whirlpool unit...
good luck
http://www.weilhammerplumbing.com/products/
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on another note.....they arent just going to give you
another water heater ... not without a fight....
I would not advise just takeing out that unit without
permission from the hardware store......
they should have a plumber in the area that is suppoosed to
warranty that hotpoint brand....
they should be allowed to look at it first, and attempt
to make repairs---
even if that is 15 days from now....
if they cant repair it, then you are entitled to a new one..
aint it grand??
Last edited by master plumber mark; 10-11-2005 at 08:31 PM.
Hotpoints are made by Rheem.
From the homeowners standpoint, there are 2 issues with buying from HD:
(a) You have to install it yourself. In this case it seems he chose to do that and saved himself a few hundred dollars. Can't hate him for that. He understood that he was shouldering the "labor" portion of the warranty.
(b) It is absolutely TRUE that he can slug that water heater up to the return desk at the depot and they will give him a new one, no questions asked. That's why people shop there.
(c) I still would like to bring up that at 2 months of age, Hotpoint should service this ON-SITE. Call 1-800-GE CARES
Master Plumber Mark - Great Info, as I have one of these heaters and It all makes sense about the flame arrestor. I see that the instructions which I printed from the link mention a Filter accessory kit 6910609 or 6910610. Do you know what these look like? Prior to reading the bulletin I already had started thinking about putting a ring of furnace filter around the base so the intake air gets filtered some. Any other ideas? I am assuming the air comes from the floor below the heater. Many thanks, Dick Wells
I have not specifically seen a Hotpoint ( as opposed to the GE brand,which I am familiar with). For the Rheem and GE brands, one of their "talking points" is that their units are resistant to lint and dust problems. They specifically spec that the units require NO cleaning of the baffles for the life of the unit. Other brands specify some periodic maintenance requirements. The Rheem and GE units sit flush on the floor. All air comes in around the sides.
Does any of this sound familiar to your Hotpoint unit? Is it possible you have an older unit which is not even FVIR? Did you have to remove a lot of screws to access the burner compartment?
The hotpoint I have is less than 2 months old and is a 12 year unit. It sits on legs so it is about 2 inches off the ground and the link seems to show the flame screen in the bottom so maybe it can be cleaned from both above and below. I am thinking I better find out about the add on filter, whatever it is. Thanks for the thoughts, RW
need more info
I cant find a hotpoint, I did find a picture of
one and it did not appear to have a side screen
like the RHEEM units do.......
So I get the feeling its some sort of "new improved" bastard
cheaper unit that Rheem is selling in the hardware stores
The good Rheem unit DOES NOT have a screen
to clean or needs any type of filter change
the air ....it is sucked in from the sides
and goes through an inner burner chamber
the design is ok but I feel that it is overkill
and is almost too safe..
If it ever overheats, it commits
sueside and cant be re-started once that
safety vial is broken.
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I guess I am gonna have to go to the HD to see for myself
exactly what new kind of dog doo they are pushing now.....
in my opinion , any unit that needs to have a sceen changed
every so often is a piece of DOG. doo.....
because of lint from the laundry is just
bound to make this a monthly ordeal...
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1-800 GE CARES now that is a joke..
the GE is a off shoot of RHEEM and has the air
holes around the sides of the unit just like the RHEEM unit does
but it still is an absolute living HELL to get it serviced
check out this link for a good chuckle
http://www.complaints.com/september2...ember23.29.htm
I am curious to see what exactly it is you got
could you please send a digital pic of the unit to me???
maybe open up the front of it and take a pic??
thank you
Last edited by master plumber mark; 10-12-2005 at 05:43 PM.
The heater looks like the one in the link that was in the weil page you posted. They are from Lowes. The air enters through the screen that is mounted in the flat bottom of the heater. I actually looked at the manual and it shows using a pivot mirror to look at the screen from the bottom and says to use a vacuum to suck the lint off of it. Guess I will have to rig up an angle head small tube for my shop vac in order to keep it clean. Seemed like a good idea at the time. RW
then its an american water heater??
if it is identicle to the the dogs I
got posted on my web site you are in for
years of fun....
The biggest problem is that wehn it gets smothered
and I guess overheats because of not enough air,
that fat chubby thermocoupling (with the reverse threads)
must some how just short out and its $15.00
then the t stat is another 60 and its best just to change
them both out at the same time...
they will e-mail you free parts...in about 3 days...
but it is best to simply find a way to get more
air into the unit
and how you do that is your business.
It amazes me that we could put a man on the
moon in 69 and today you cant even figure out
how to make a decent product to heat water
without screwing it totally up .....
"american water heaters"
Last edited by master plumber mark; 10-12-2005 at 07:35 PM.
Are you sure this is a Hotpoint? I don't know if they are available at Lowes. In this area, Lowes has Whirlpool and Maytag. These units do I think have the air inlet on the bottom, with the screen that clogs. They are also famous for burn-out of a limit switch built into the thermocouple. Check the thermocouple connection on the gas valve. If it is left hand thread, this is what you have.
A thousand pardons..........It is a whirlpool. I think I will try putting an air filter "prefilter" like for my Honeywell air filter around the base. They are cut to fit so It shouldn't be too hard. RW
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