On Dec 20, 10:02*pm, Red Green wrote:
Steve wrote :
On Dec 11, 7:26*pm, Scott wrote:
Red Green wrote:
Scott wrote
:
I'm replacing my aging (34 year old) AO Smith 52-galelectricwater
heater. I looked at the GE brand at Home Depot. But since mywater
heaterfailed last night, I called a plumber, and he's installing a
50-gal Bradford White today ($360.00 + $250 installation) Is this
a pretty decent brand ofwaterheater?
It has a 6-year warranty. They want another $170 to extend the
warant
y
to 12 years. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Scott
...(34 year old) ...
Is that a typo?! You sure you weren't like in the hospital once and
to avoid worrying you because it went out someone had it replaced?
Red Green,
Honest! We live in Central Minnesota. We moved into this house in
1977. T
he
builder built the house in 1974 as his personal home. This is
thewaterhea
ter
that came with the house. We haven't touched it. Never even drained
the s
ediment
from the bottom. It just kept going and going...until last night when
the thermostat stuck on, and the relief valve opened up.
And that's the whole story. Wow, this must be a world record 
Scott- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Very interesting........... *Our 52 gallon "Rheem" water heater from
1978 (30 years old - but you still have the record!) just went on us
the other night. *Same thing with the thermostat sticking but luckily
I was able to catch it before the relief valve opened. *Good thing it
didn't open as it would have made a big mess because it was never
piped down into a floor drain or sump. *So we went to Home Depot and
bought a new 40 gallon GE (manufactured by Rheem) model. *So we got it
home and I installed it myself. *I was quite proud that when I got the
system filled back up there were no leaks in any of my soldered
joints! *I turned the breaker back on and waited, and waited, and
waited but the heater never made a sound and the water was just as
cold coming out as it went in. *So I double checked for power to the
heater and also rechecked my connections inside the connector box of
the heater and everything seemed to be right. *Still no hot
water...... *So I called the GE service line and the tech guy comes on
and says to troubleshoot I need a digital multimeter. *I told him I
have an analog multimeter only. *He says I need a digital meter to
troubleshoot. *He said we need to check for resistance on the top
element and only a digital multimeter will do this correctly. *Longer
story made shorter I finally asked him what about my warranty? *He
said on homeowner installs that they will mail me a new element if I
can prove that there is a bad one. *I said what about labor warranty.
He said on homeowner installs all they can do is mail me a new element
if I can prove there is a bad one. *So I am stuck with a new Rheem
manufactured for GE water heater that doesn't work and I'm expected to
go and buy a new digital multimeter to troubleshoot the problem????
So I called Home Depot and they said if it doesn't work, to just bring
it back and get a new one. *Fine, after all my extra care taking work
to install this one to just rip it back out and go get a new one....
I do know that things happen these days that aren't supposed to happen
but it just goes to show they don't make them like they used to.
Steve
Borrow one. You must know someone with at least a cheapie. If there's a
Harbor Freight nearby, they have super cheap ones not worth a damn. The
battery will probably cost more than the meter.
...but, it's digital. That's all he said you needed. Said nothing about
functions or impedence/resistance rating.- Hide quoted text -
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wow no one mentioned that the lifetime of a water heater is moslty due
to the sacrifical anode inside it. . Once the anode corrodes away,
then the tank starts to corrode. THe best way to extend the life of
the HW heater and save energy is to turn the temperature down as low
as you can. Set it so that the shower temperature is just right with
the hot alomst full on and the cold almost full off.