Hot water heater kaput!

[Drowned Rat]

Hi guys. I have a gas hot water heater that has been struggling for a while and it finally quit altogether. A couple of questions. It's about 10 years old, is that a typical lifespan for a middle of the road water heater? I would like to replace it myself, but I've no experience with them. Is this a job better left for a professional? Aside from the bulk of the thing and "maneuvering" challenges, it looks fairly straight forward. Any comments?

 

[burroak]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Is this a residential unit? If so, it's about all you can expect. Anything beyond that is borrowed time. Is you water mineralized (iron, lime, sulphur, etc)? That kills water heaters sooner. Draining about a gallon out of the tank each month will quieten down the gurgling, if you experience that.

As to the replacement, it is straight forward. If the heater is the original and the house is plumbed in copper, more than likely you will have to cut the inlet and outlet pipes with a cutter and solder in dielectric unions. (I don't want to hear the old solder vs crimp argument)

Have you looked into the tankless water heaters? The prices have come down and their efficiency is remarkable.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Thanks. Yes, it's a residential unit. And it's the original. I've brazed those unions before, so I feel okay about that part. The water here is very hard so... I hadn't thought about the tankless units. Do they circulate the water so you have instant hot water? I'm not familiar with them at all.

Anyway, it's Phoenix in the Summer, we don't need the water heater for another 2 or 3 months anyway. That'll give me time to research it. Thanks for the help.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Go to Home Depot..buy a new one, let them install. Cheaper than a wet floor in your house just the day after ya leave on vacation..

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

In this area, 10 years on a water heater is about the life span of a gas fired unit. As mentioned, let the Home Depot or Lowes team install it. That makes them liable for any problems that occur plus it will be a whole lot easier getting any warranty work done if needed.

 

[rwise]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

water on the floor is not the worst thing with a GAS hot water tank, if you are not up on plumbing, let some one else do it, leaking gas pipes can be really bad!

Also if it has a flex line feeding it replace that also! Here you can not reuse them.

 

[burroak]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Free advice.

If you can't install a residential hot water heater, you have no business working on outboards.

 

[rwise]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

outboards wont blow up your house/home

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Great advice, thanks. I'll check out the Home Depot today and see what they want to install one. It's in the garage so the worst that could happen is I flood the garage. Okay I guess I could blow it up too. I'll make sure to replace the flex hose as well. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

I'm an idiot! The pilot light was out!! I guess that's $700 I'll keep in my pocket. Come to think of it, I'm sure I can find something at the Home Depot I can buy with the money I saved. Maybe that nice shiny red Honda lawn mower I've been eyeing for the last 5 years.

Thanks for the help, I learned something about hot water heaters anyway.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

I hadn't thought about the tankless units. Do they circulate the water so you have instant hot water? I'm not familiar with them at all.

Tankless water heaters only come on when they detect water flow through them. Although you can put a circulating system on your hot water system, doing so will void the warranty on most tankless units. It also pretty much ruins the energy saving advantages of them.

I installed one in my house and am extremely happy with it. I am on propane so the cost savings of propane vs the extra cost of the unit will be realized in 3 years or so.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Not bad. I'm assuming they run on 220V? I'd have to hire an electrician to wire that in if I got one. I did look at them today though and liked their size. Tiny.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

DR - Do you know why your pilot light went out? You may not be off the hook yet.

On installing a gas hot water heater - Ours let go a while back after almost 30 years service. I opted to have the new one installed and glad I did. It took two service men almost three hours to make the change. They had to install it to the current building code which was, of course, different than the original installation. We got a Rheem 50 gal unit and have been as satisfied as you can get with a water heater - I mean who really cares so long as it does it's thing.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

I don't know why it went out and it's the first time it's happened since we've been in the house (3 years). We did have a storm around the time it happened?? Maybe the gas service was interrupted temporarily? Although I thought the gas company was supposed to notify customers to re-light pilots when that happens. It lit right back up when I tried it though. I'll keep a close eye on it. I will for sure have it professionally installed when the time comes though. Thanks!

 

[aspeck]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

If you have lived there for 3 years, and the pilot light goes out again, you might want to get it professionally serviced, just to make sure the flame is burning correctly, etc.

 

[burroak]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

I'm an idiot! The pilot light was out!! I guess that's $700 I'll keep in my pocket. Come to think of it, I'm sure I can find something at the Home Depot I can buy with the money I saved. Maybe that nice shiny red Honda lawn mower I've been eyeing for the last 5 years.

Thanks for the help, I learned something about hot water heaters anyway.

Since you dodged a bullet this time, just remember that gas hot water heaters have thermocouples. When they go bad it shuts down the gas delivery system. It's a cheap and simple fix when it's needed. With ten years on the unit, keep it in mind.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

Will do, thanks for the tips.

DR

 

[rwise]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

lets see $700 to spend, must be time to take a fishing trip!

 

[Chief101]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

lets see $700 to spend, must be time to take a fishing trip!

Time for a new Ruger!

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Hot water heater kaput!

It time for something. I'll have to think about this one for a while. Hmmm, Trip to Vegas, whitewater canoe I've been wanting, hmmm. Man, I hope the hot water heater holds together.