GE Hybrid "Run Cond C"

[Tail]

I have been an owner of the GE Hybrid now for 1.5 years and went through the failed compressor issues because of the defective evaporator coil about a year ago and since then it has been running fine up to this morning.

We keep the unit always on EHeat mode but this morning when I went downstairs to get my coffee while the wife showered, I did not hear it running as usual, so I went to the basement to check and could hear the unit sizzling as if the elements were on and sure enough scrolling through the diagnostics showed the lower element on, compressor off and both fans off. So I toggled the fans "on" which turned them on, but not the compressor. Cursing the unit, I went up to shower only to return to find the heat pump part working now and the elements off. Once again I scrolled through the diagnostics everything looked normal except in the "Faults Log" menu screen I saw that I had picked up (1) "Run Cond C" fault code.

I know that was not there before because the wife has recently mentioned that she thinks the unit has been running more than normal the last couple of weeks, so I have been through the Diagnostic menu a few times over the past few weeks and all "Run Cond" counts were at 00. Once again I run it on EHeat mode which should keep both elements off unless there is a failure of the heat pump system.

I have called GE and as usual they have been responsive and our sending a tech out, unfortunatly these tech's know about as much as I do on these units. Is anyone familiar with the "Run Cond" codes and know what each means, especially "C". Also has anyone else experienced or diagnosed a similar issue?

Thanks all for any help you can offer.

[Tail]

Well right after I made my OP my GE GeoSprings Hybrid Water Heater seemed to return to acting normally and was heating the water with the heat pump only so I canceled the service call. But in a matter of only 2 weeks the problem with it switching out of heat pump mode to electric was occurring again. So I called service and had them come out and now I am even more frustrated. While the service tech was nice I just watched him press a couple of buttons, the same ones I press, to view the diagnostics and then he said he needed to go to his van to call tech support. About 10 minutes later he comes back in and says this is normal and while he couldn't tell me exactly what happens to cause the "Run Cond C" fault he did mention that if the water heater senses that it can't recover in heat pump mode it will switch over to electric, excuse my language but this is BS, I have had this unit for over a year and a half and never seen it do this before and at the amount it is doing it there has to be a bad sensor but unfortunately as the service guy said the field personnel don't know much about these units. I plan on gathering data over the rest of this week and then try to contact tech support to try to find someone in GE with knowledge on the product they are selling.

If anyone has any information on the fault codes especially 'Run Cond C" or has experienced a similar problem I would be most appreciative to hear from you. I will also keep this post up to date for others that might find themselves with this issue.

[ballvalve]

Code "C" means China and Ca-Ca. If a water heater has an IC board, except for a Polaris, run from it.

Sabotage in your house from overseas or overborder. Take it out in the yard for target practice or use it as a well tank, and get a electric tank water heater for 200 bucks, wrap it in R-30 and turn down the volume on the hot water in the kitchen and sink valves to a nice pencil stream so the kids cant use up 40 gallons of water washing their hair brush and hands. Or give them a airport style sensor valve. Now you will have a lower electric and water bill and you wont need a tech to change an element for 5 years or 10. Billy bob can do that.

Sue GE in small claims court for 30 bucks and they'll be a no-show and you will have an instant judgement for your cost. Don't forget stress too.

I hope GE builds better jet engines than water heaters. They can design failure INTO a water heater but not an engine, I suppose. Never flew on a water heater.

And I wonder why those irons and toasters they made here in the USA for 80 years cost more now coming from Asia? Corporate greed and moral bankruptcy. And now the head of GE is Osama-bama's adviser on US manufacturing! fox in the henhouse. At [y]our cost.

[bobbrewton]

Apparently the new GE Hybrid water heater has a real service problem.
I was told by the GE service center supervisor, that in order for the high efficiency portion of the heater to be serviced, the technician needs get behind the water heater. Almost impossible, when the heater is installed in a closet or even up against a wall. Note neither the marketing information or the installation instructions documented this. I was told that even though the heater is still under the GE warranty, I would have to pay a plumber to uninstall the heater and put it in the middle of the room in order for the technician to have full access to the rear of the unit, before they would honor the warranty. After the repair pay the plumber for another visit to reinstall the heater. Loosing 4-5 days of hot water in my house. I paid $1,730.92 for this “high efficiency” heater. When a normal heater would have cost around $450 and now the high efficiency portion will not work unless I pay an additional unknown hundreds of dollars for two plumber visits. What good is the GE warranty, plus I wasted $1,280.92.
If this was my product I would want to know.
Unhappy GE customer

[Dana]

By "...the new GE Hybrid water heater..." are you referring to the Geosprings currently being built in Kentucky?

Or are you just beating on the (now thoroughly dead-horse ) ill-fated early Chinese versions?

(Seriously, I'd like to know, since scuttlebutt has it that the Louisville versions have far fewer issues.)

Installing a heat-pump water heater in a closet is an installer-literacy problem (RTFM!), not a functional, manufacturing, or design problem with the unit. Anything that uses an air source heat pump needs access to it's source- the air!

Whoever installed it in a closet in the first place should be paying to rectify the situation, unless the customer had forced them to install it there even after the installer explained why it was inappropriate, in which case it's the customer who is at fault, not GE's, not the installers.