They said they could overnight a valve to me and have a plumber install it for me, both at no charge. Couldn't hurt I figured, so I had them overnight the valve. I called the plumber to set up an appointment but he didn't want to do so until the parts arrived. The parts didn't arrive early enough today for me to schedule with the plumber, so it would have to wait until after the weekend, and I happen to be traveling next weekend.
I'm convinced that the "fixes" such as promptly sending new gas valves is a stall tactic without solving the root problem.
I didn't hear any responses to my question about how to keep the water heater "limping along" - so I assume the only solution is to light the pilot right after getting out of bed, have breakfast first, and then take my shower.
Ask almost anyone nowadays who sells water heaters, and likely the only places they will come up with are the big box stores. For many of us in newer suburbs, the big box stores are indeed the only option - unless we want to drive a long ways to a place we've never shopped at before. So it's not just a question of price, it's a question of (perceived) availability.
Sunday I went to my local Lowe's, without the water heater and explained my situation to the lady at the returns desk. She said if I had the water heater with me I could return it if I wasn't satisfied with the product. I mentioned that I had to go home and get it, so I was back with it about an hour later. There was a different person at the returns desk when I returned. She had to call a manager in the plumbing department to authorize the return. The conversation went like this:
Manager: "Are you going to exchange this for a new water heater?"
Me: "No."
Manager: "Why not?"
Me: "Because it's a piece of crap."
Manager: "You know, the other ones across the street (i.e., Home Depot) are the same ones made by American Water Heater Company."
Me: "No they're not."
Manager: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes, they're GE water heaters made by Rheem."
At that point he said nothing else to me, turned the cashier, and authorized the return. Finally, success!
The return process was less painful than I had expected. I felt a bit bad for the manager because it was obvious that he knew of the problems with these water heaters, but he probably had instructions from above to do some token push back on the returns.
My parents were visiting this weekend and I mentioned that I was planning on replacing my water heater soon. He then tells me that he had recently stopped at Lowes to look at water heaters. I told him not to bother with that junk and told him to contact a plumber in his area to get a Bradford White.
Hey. This thread that will not die has saved yet another person from frustration...
I just had my flame lock kit installed. Within four hours, it quit working. By the way, the plumber charged me $465.00 to install that little piece of junk.
I am going to have that same plumber replace the kit with a second one Friday. I can only hope it works. I have other problems, like a major leak from the in nipple. That cost $250.00 to replace.
Is this heat that bad??????
Did the plumber overcharge me for installing it????
I just had my flame lock kit installed. Within four hours, it quit working. By the way, the plumber charged me $465.00 to install that little piece of junk.
I am going to have that same plumber replace the kit with a second one Friday. I can only hope it works. I have other problems, like a major leak from the in nipple. That cost $250.00 to replace.
Is this heat that bad??????
Did the plumber overcharge me for installing it????
I just had my flame lock kit installed. Within four hours, it quit working. By the way, the plumber charged me $465.00 to install that little piece of junk.
I am going to have that same plumber replace the kit with a second one Friday. I can only hope it works. I have other problems, like a major leak from the in nipple. That cost $250.00 to replace.
Is this heat that bad??????
Did the plumber overcharge me for installing it????
It may be the gas valve that is bad and not able to read the millivolts coming from the thermocouple...
I just found this thread two days ago. I wish I would have found it sooner! We have 5 of these units at my office. Ironically, a couple of them are still working with the original thermocouple. One had a replacement put in 2 months ago and it is still working. Then my boss decides to volunteer me to check on the last one to stop working. While searching for parts by model number, I came across this thread. Unbelievable!
I received a retro-fit kit from American Water Heater through Whirlpool on Wednesday and installed it yesterday. This particular water heater is located on a platform about 30 feet in the air in a warehouse. The kit consisted of the new manifold/door assembly, thermocouple adapter, and gas valve/thermostat.
I followed the instructions to the letter, just to ensure that nothing was overlooked. As I attempted to light the pilot light, it caught on the first push of the igniter. I held the pilot button down for about 60 seconds and released it. The pilot went out immediately. So I tried again 3 more times. When that didn't work, I detached and replaced the wire leads for the resettable thermocouple and made sure everything I had replaced was in order. Still nothing. Out of frustration, I held the stupid red pilot button down for 5 minutes and it went out as soon as released. Out went the pilot.
I have not contacted AWH or Whirlpool yet concerning this matter but I wanted to see if anyone else here has has this issue after installing their kit? I noticed that some of the kits mentioned seems to have different components than what mine came with. I could have easily overlooked this in reading over 18 pages of posts on this subject. There is a test in the instructions concerning checking the resettable thermocouple with a meter that I have not done as yet. I have to be lifted by forklift in order to gain access to the area the water heater resides in and have not been able to do that yet today. It seems to me that it would have to be either a faulty thermocouple setup or the gas valve/thermostat they furnished.
If any of you has seen this same thing with the new kit, please let me know. Thanks!
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