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Water Heater

The other day I got a call from home: there was no hot water.

As the house and hot water heater was less than 4 years old, I was hopeful it was something simple - like maybe the kids played with a controls or that the pilot light somehow went out. I had trouble with the pilot light going out about 3 times back in New Jersey.

When I got home, I hadn't remembered that the hot water heater was out. I remembered when I went to wash my hands with hot water. After I had just formed a bunch of hamburgers. Bad time to remember there was no hot water. I cleaned my hands as best as I could, and started warming some water on the stove.

After dinner I went down to check the water heater. As I opened the door, I could tell it wasn't a simple problem. I heard a hissing noise. I saw water on the floor. As I got closer, I heard water spraying on top, going up the vent. And there appeared to be no heat in the system.

I turned off the water and took off the top. At first I didn't see anything. I turned back on the water. The problem became pretty clear. There was a spray of water in the center of the water heater. Being near the top, I thought I might be able to solder the hole closed.

But before I started mucking around, I decided to check the warranty. I got my computer and went online. It had me put in the serial number. The web site said it was covered until sometime 2006! So I put the vent back on. I then tried to see if I could get some hot water with the water drained below the pinhole. But as I tried to light it, water kept dripping onto the flame. My guess is that there was another hole in the seem further down. So I drained the tank some more. I used a couple of plastic bottles to route the water directly to the drain.

We got it replaced the next day. It seems they don't make the same model anymore. I'm not surprised, with the weld going bad. But it cost $80 to upgrade. And up to $200 labor. And $35 for a town permit for the work. I guess that isn't as bad as having to buy a new one. The thing that bothers me the most is we went from a unit with middle efficiency to a model with worse efficiency.

Water Heater Pinhole in the Weld

Comments

Trinity said…
i don't get it why did you have to pay if it was still under guarantee? why pay the town? and why did you pay £80 to upgrade to a model with worse efficiency?
Mon Dec 06, 09:40:00 AM MST
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