Whirlpool Flame Lock water heaters, reviews, troubleshooting, repair and support.

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Redwood

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The GE's sold by HD are made by Rheem. They may be an extra cheap version or not but they will not have the problem that these whirlpools have.
 

rbarton

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I will likely perform the tcouple test on Monday to see how that works out.Thanks again.

Just finished this test and wow...what a shocker...the replacement tcouple setup failed their own test. :mad:

I hate to even waste a phone call to these people to report it but I know the company will not spring for a new water heater when this one is only 2 years old.
 

Redwood

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Apparently they feel that your time has no value.

Ah what the heck you have to be there for 8 hours anyway...
 

rbarton

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Apparently they feel that your time has no value.

Ah what the heck you have to be there for 8 hours anyway...

Ha! The sad thing is you may be right. I am salaried! I have to get my work done regardless of what other issues I deal with. If you knew what my actual job title is, this would make it even more humorous or sad, depending on which side you are looking at it from. Systems Analyst / Data Services Manager....now doesn't that just scream qualified to work on plumbing :confused:
 

Master Plumber Mark

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8 whirlpool water heater calls this week

hard to believe , but I have had 8 calls for
whirlpool water heaters this week..

all acting up due to the thermal fuse on the side of it.....

all of them are the newer units under 2 years old.

I am wondering if the change of the water temp has
something to do with the high of calls on them this week...




I got one in my shop that I am going to tear apart
to take a better look at next week.....,,.

.I dont get a good feeling about any of this either, its like
every last one of the " new improved ones "
are going to fail soon and all at once.......

that would be very bad for Lowes.....very bad....,


send out a sunami alert......

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


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

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hard to believe , but I have had 8 calls for
whirlpool water heaters this week..

all acting up due to the thermal fuse on the side of it.....

all of them are the newer units under 2 years old.

I am wondering if the change of the water temp has
something to do with the high of calls on them this week...




I got one in my shop that I am going to tear apart
to take a better look at next week.....,,.

.I dont get a good feeling about any of this either, its like
every last one of the " new improved ones "
are going to fail soon and all at once.......

that would be very bad for Lowes.....very bad....,


send out a sunami alert......



.




Take some C-4 explosives and blow it up, post the pictures,

That'll really promote sales of them heaters.


What we need is someone to photoshop a picture of a few hundred of these orphaned heaters in a parking lot at Lowe's, then make sure it becomes fodder across the internet for all it's worth.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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cehck out my new web page about Whirlpools

Rugged....

I Decided to upgrade my web site with more information than
you really want to know about this piece of junk

enough to choke a horse....


tell me if you think its pretty http://www.weilhammerplumbing.com/galleryiii/

mark_wh_wp_01.jpg


mark_wh_08.jpg


dust, lint, cat hair, dog hair, people hair.....ect
mark_wh_02.jpg
 
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JMH3

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I wish I had known...

Hi Folks!

I wish I had known about all this before I bought 1 of these from Lowes last week! I thought it was odd it included a complete separate burner unit.
It was installed last Tues and the pilot light would not stay lit all day, I would have to light it every nite after work. Lucky for me there is a 3" floor vent coming up under the unit so I think it's getting sufficient air.
The pilot has been working ok since I adjusted the vent at the top I had to shorten my vent pipe for the hood to fit correctly.
The only thing that is troubling me now is the loud pop when the burner fires up, it's louder than any other w/heater I ever heard.
Is that normal for this unit? If not how should I go about fixing it?
Thanks! John
 

Master Plumber Mark

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a loud pop??

a loud pop is not a good thing...

too much gas and not enough air in the mix ????


also , what are they giving you now with the unit

when you purchase it....a complete seperate burner unit???

were you supposed to take the unit apart and to install this new burner unit??

maybe you ought to call the "experts at lowes"

and ask about this...




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


I got to go out tomorrow and look at one of these peices of junk

its such a waste of time
 
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JMH3

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Yes, a complete burner assembly was in the box. There was no note,etc., to tell one to replace the installed unit with the other one. Maybe I should install the extra one and see what happens but I am tired of messing with the *&^%$ thing. I was told that maybe there was too much air going in and the loud pop was delayed combustion but from what I have read here I don't see how that could be.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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That is absolutely unreal

Yes, a complete burner assembly was in the box. There was no note,etc., to tell one to replace the installed unit with the other one. Maybe I should install the extra one and see what happens but I am tired of messing with the *&^%$ thing. I was told that maybe there was too much air going in and the loud pop was delayed combustion but from what I have read here I don't see how that could be.

Tell me it aint so,

they sell you a water heater with an extra burner
assembly along with the heater, but dont tell you to change it>???

SO They just give you an extra one in the box
cause they already know you will need it.......LOL.....

I would consider takeing the thing out and marching down to lowes with it... and asking for my money back... piss on them


AMERICAN WATER HEATERS has gone into
TOTAL COMPLETE DENIAL


http://www.weilhammerplumbing.com/galleryiii/
 
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JMH3

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Well I took the old one out by myself, put this one in by myself. I had to do some changes to my cold water line and other things to get it hooked up and no leaks.
I really hate the thought of doing all that over again, lol!
If I could just figure out the loud BAM when the burner fires up I could live with it, I think. The first time it fired up my dogs barked.
 

JMH3

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I just got off the phone with American Water Heater tech support about these issues and guess what?
The tech informed me that the heater I had was not supposed to be installed with indoor access due to HUD Regs., it was for an outside closet on a mobile home. He said if I leave it where it is I was supposed to seal the door.
I wish the saleman at Lowes had informed me of this! Can I use the thing where it is in the original w/h closet or am I going to have to move it outside, build a shed and re plumb the whole mess?
I can't afford to eat the $450 I already have invested and go out and buy a new heater.
Can someone give me some options? Thanks!
 

Sedin26

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If you've read through the thread, you already know that the only reasonable course of action is to take the heater back to Lowe's and go out and get a Bradford White or Rheem unit somewhere.

If you continue with what you have, it is highly likely that you will experience continuing problems.

Based on the posts from other members above, it appears that it is not a problem to return the heater to Lowe's.
 

dougmiceli

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whirlpool junk now what

Hey I've been following the threads about my whirlpool water holder(heater would be a misnomer). Last week my tenant called to tell me she had no hot water. I tried the usual things. Pilot wouldn't stay lit blah blah. Called Hodgy in India and he said they would send me the replacement part for free and then offered me a menu of prices depending on how fast I needed it. I thought at that moment how long would the wife of the president of Whirlpool put up with not having hot water. I took the two day delivery for 20.00. I figured out how to install it and vacumed the screen and also around the tank. That being said it's worked for 4 hours so far. That particular 40 gal. tank was purchased by my ex-wife for that house(whole nother story) ANyway I was upset because about a month ago I had a problem with a whirlpool water heater I bought at Loews(I know ugh). I had no idea! Anyway I called whirlpool because it was less than a year old. This time american chick on the phone sent a local plumber over N/C. He didn't even really look at it before he whipped out a new control box and just arbitrarily started to install it! I said "I guess they know the units are junk." Anyway now it seems like it doesn't give me a full tank of hot water. While I'm showering I have to keep turning down the cold water to keep the water hot. By the time I'm done showering the cold is all the way OFF! What the hell is going on now?? Two whirlpools two problems both junk. Uhm my bathtub doesn't hold 40 gallons of hot water. UNBELIEVABLE! Anyway who can help me with this new charming feature of american water world? Besides a bullet in the back of my head...Thanks Doug
 

Cass

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Did you check to see if he changed the temp at on the dial and didn't turn it back up...it sounds like it is set very low or the gas valve / thermostat is bad
 

firepro

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THanks

Wanted to thank everybody for the information. I have just expereinced this problem in one of our rentals and with the input, its a lot easier decision just to replace it then try to fix it. The unit was 2 years old and it was in a new house.

I do kind of take exception to Rugged. He makes the argument that because we picked a low price product we have no one to blame but ourselves.

I can tell you I hire a lot of contractors and beleive me there is no reason to trust anyone just because they happen to be a plumber. There are some honest, dishonest, Ignorant and smart plumbers. My experience in contracting is I have hired many plumbers and then had to have our crew go behind them to do the job right, many times.

I would think you could trust Lowes and Whirlpool as much as you could trust your average plumber. In fact it seems that Lowes in case after case has tried to take back units they were selling. Seems like the right thing to do.

In consumer reports they do scientific and extensive testing on many products and very often the highest priced product is not rated the best. Sure their results are occaisionally controversial but at least their based on science and most major products are tested.

Take for example, a plumber that might have a charge account with a plumbing supply company that handles one type of water heater or maybe only one type in stock so he gets that one, or maybe he gets a bigger discount on one brand than the other. How is this different than buying one as cheap as possible at Lowes.

Recently I went into Discount Tire and the salesman tried to upsale me on tires saying that the ratings on treadware were meaningless and essentialy I just had to take his word on it. He further stated that the manufacturers themselves give these ratings and therefore they could not be trusted. I told him let me think about it, I then went back to the office where I googled it and in fact he was wrong, the manufactures dont provide this information but that all tires are taken to the same test track and ran through the same course, to get these ratings. So much for trusting the Salesperson.

A lot of times products are priced according to who buys them. There is one major paint company that sells paint in Consumer Grade and Contractor Grade for 30% less, and it's the same paint.

You can pay the same amount of money for a top of the line cadillac and a similar featured lexus but if you think there is any comparison in reliability look at the April issue of consumer reports. This information comes directly from the consumers. There is no comparison between these two cars in reliability even though they might be priced about the same.

I do think that a company that doesnt stand behind their product should be put out of business by customers telling the whole world. This forum has at least helped me and now I know to stay away from American water heaters.

The bottom line is if your going to spend money on something that can burn your house down or blow up or flood your house or cost a lot of money its probably worth doing some reserach on the water heater and the plumber and that doesnt mean just asking the guy with a horse in the race.

By the way I have bought several houses over the years that have caught on fire becuase of water heater malfunction or improper installation.

Ray
 
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Flamelocksucks

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Another Flame Lock Sucker

I have a Whirlpool Flame Lock LP water heater. Wish I didn't. Model # BFG1F5040T3PV. Bought it March 10, 2008 from my local Lowe's in Newton, NJ. The unit crapped out last Sunday. Pilot won't stay lit. Whirlpool or American sent me a box containing an entire burner unit assembly. Only needed a thermocouple. Got the new TC off the new assembly and replaced my existing. This one lit once and won't light again. Whirlpool is disappointing.
 

Cass

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If it won't light with the new one it is because the Gas control valve is the problem not the thurmocouple...

wp_gas_control.jpg
 
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