Oh!! the joy of home ownership (NOT)

B

Blessed

Well-known Member
I had a new hot water heater put in last year. I go to take a shower and you know it, no hot water. I read the instructions on how to relit the pilot, did not work. Went to you tube, watched many videos and read numerous things about the procedure. Still would not lite.

I called and left a message for my plumber to call me in the morning. I currently have some big pots to boil water on the stove so I can have sort of a shower. I have two bathrooms with tubs.
I just cant get in down/up out of them. Will put the hot water in a big plastic tub with cold water. Should not be to bad, just a pain in the bottom.
 

Blessed said:
I had a new hot water heater put in last year. I go to take a shower and you know it, no hot water. I read the instructions on how to relit the pilot, did not work. Went to you tube, watched many videos and read numerous things about the procedure. Still would not lite.

I called and left a message for my plumber to call me in the morning. I currently have some big pots to boil water on the stove so I can have sort of a shower. I have two bathrooms with tubs.
I just cant get in down/up out of them. Will put the hot water in a big plastic tub with cold water. Should not be to bad, just a pain in the bottom.
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Be careful, @Blessed.
 
Well,yes it is electronic ingition but apparently the coupling when I hit the buttons is not hitting the striker as fas as I can tell. I have had it less than a year and have never had to touch it. I think it must have been faulty from the get go.
 
Jules said:
So darn frustrating. So many things are poor quality nowadays. Have you checked how long your warranty is.
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It should be covered as it is less than a year, according to the paper work. What bothers me is I got a faulty unit there will be future problems. I have never had a problem with a water heater until it blew. The last one was good for fourteen years. Never had the pilot go out, even if I lost electricity the pilot light never went out.
 
@Blessed Hope it is fixed very soon.

As for your bath, you may want to look at bath boards. I think Amazon may sell them but, if you are disabled you may be able to get one fitted for free. If you go onto YouTube and Google "bath board" you will be able to see what they are and how to use them. I know several people who have them and they seem a great idea for those who have difficulty getting into a bath. (y)
 
Blessed said:
I had a new hot water heater put in last year. I go to take a shower and you know it, no hot water. I read the instructions on how to relit the pilot, did not work. Went to you tube, watched many videos and read numerous things about the procedure. Still would not lite.

I called and left a message for my plumber to call me in the morning. I currently have some big pots to boil water on the stove so I can have sort of a shower. I have two bathrooms with tubs.
I just cant get in down/up out of them. Will put the hot water in a big plastic tub with cold water. Should not be to bad, just a pain in the bottom.
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If I ever have to get a new water heater installed, I'm going to get one of the new tankless kind. You should not mess with lighting the pilot, IMO. Call the gas company first and have them check the appliance. In my area they will check any heater or gas appliance for free because they don't want people dealing with those lest there is a leak you cannot smell.

You can get a temporary 3-day or one week gym pass at a local chain gym and go shower there. You can get them on the gym websites.
 
Blessed said:
It should be covered as it is less than a year, according to the paper work. What bothers me is I got a faulty unit there will be future problems. I have never had a problem with a water heater until it blew. The last one was good for fourteen years. Never had the pilot go out, even if I lost electricity the pilot light never went out.
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I agree. The standard tank water heater is a pretty dependable thing. Many have lasted for 20-30 years. I would be mad too at this one, less than a year old, malfunctioning. Can you call the manufacturer and get them to pay for a replacement or a repair?

Yes, and it's bad when you're not feeling well and would just like a shower in your own bathroom, but you can't. Because of a faulty piece of standard equipment. You should contact the manufacturer and bother them until they repair or replace this one.
 
Blessed said:
It should be covered as it is less than a year, according to the paper work. What bothers me is I got a faulty unit there will be future problems. I have never had a problem with a water heater until it blew. The last one was good for fourteen years. Never had the pilot go out, even if I lost electricity the pilot light never went out.
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Maybe you can get them to replace the entire unit.
 
The saga ends, plumber came and started it right up in about one minute. I was not holding one button down long enough. It was no charge!

I was so afraid of blowing up the house but now I know how to do it. He said it probably went out due to high winds we had.
 
VintageBetter said:
If I ever have to get a new water heater installed, I'm going to get one of the new tankless kind. You should not mess with lighting the pilot, IMO. Call the gas company first and have them check the appliance. In my area they will check any heater or gas appliance for free because they don't want people dealing with those lest there is a leak you cannot smell.
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We have had 3 LP gas tankless water heaters & love them. No water tank to deal with & as much hot water as you want without running out. Smaller footprint for in your house since they hang from the wall.

Each one was a better quality & lasted longer than the previous one. In 1992 when we built, there wasn't many on the market in the US & were hard to find, but that one lasted about 8 years. The next one was a Bosch & lasted 16 years. The new one is a Navien & has an electric igniter instead of a pilot light that comes on when you want hot water. The water temp adjustment is digital so you don't have to stand next to a faucet to get it to where you want it.

I hate hearing @Grampa Don you had problems with yours.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that we are on well water & have a very good water softener along with an iron filter. Those go a long way in protecting your appliances & water fixtures.
 
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Lilac said:
We have had 3 LP gas tankless water heaters & love them. No water tank to deal with & as much hot water as you want without running out. Smaller footprint for in your house since they hang from the wall.

Each one was a better quality & lasted longer than the previous one. In 1992 when we built, there wasn't many on the market in the US & were hard to find, but that one lasted about 8 years. The next one was a Bosch & lasted 16 years. The new one is a Navien & has an electric igniter instead of a pilot light that comes on when you want hot water. The water temp adjustment is digital so you don't have to stand next to a faucet to get it to where you want it.

I hate hearing @Grampa Don you had problems with yours.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that we are on well water & have a very good water softener along with an iron filter. Those go a long way in protecting your appliances & water fixtures.
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My first one had a copper heat exchanger that leaked after 6 years. I had it fixed and it lasted another two before leaking again. So, I bought one with a stainless steel heat exchanger. It lasted a little over one year before leaking. That's the one that cost me big bucks. It's been OK now for a couple years. Maybe I'll get lucky this time.
 
The new one I have is a Bradford White EF. I hope it is a good one, I had never heard of that brand. The same plumber that installed the one I had for 14 years. They have done most of the plumbing issues that I have had.

I hate to say it but I need to find another local plumber/family run. I think the one I have used for so long, she is getting older and well as the staff she had for so long. They have cut their hours and seem to be getting ready for retirement. She took over the business when he husband died. She went and got her master plumbers license while running the business. She sure knows her stuff but I don't think there are any children. If there were she would have had them working and preparing to take over.
 
Blessed said:
I know I had hot water last night when I did the dinner dishes. I have no idea why it stopped working but I am not very happy about it.
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Do you ever notice that things go wrong at perfectly the wrong time? Come to think of it, though. When things go wrong it never seems to be the right time, though, either. Like you when things go wrong I too am never happy. I just wish once it would happen that something went wrong and it made me happy. I wonder how that would feel. Would I be crazy if that happened?
 
Something for anyone to check into is their insurance coverage if the hot water tank fails. Some companies have cut back to 10 to 15 years. It’s not one of those little details you normally pay much attention to when picking an insurance plan.
 
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Jules said:
Something for anyone to check into is their insurance coverage if the hot water tank fails. Some companies have cut back to 10 to 15 years. It’s not one of those little details you normally pay much attention to when picking an insurance plan.
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Wow! 10 to 15 years? Not in the U.S.A. The last water heater I got installed is warranted for only 6 years. The one before that was 8 years. So wish they'd offer one with a 15 year warranty. Gone are the days.
 
Wes said:
Wow! 10 to 15 years? Not in the U.S.A. The last water heater I got installed is warranted for only 6 years. The one before that was 8 years. So wish they'd offer one with a 15 year warranty. Gone are the days.
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I’m talking about the insurance companies refusing to pay for a flood or damage caused by the leaking water tank. Some won’t pay if the tank is ten to 15 years old. Depends on the company.
 
Trila said:
Personally, I've never heard of that. Since Dio is an Engineer, I asked him about it.....he said that his Dad had that system in his house. Huh! The stuff I never knew!
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It is called 'hot water on demand'. It is now commonly installed in newer homes, and can replace the traditional hot water heater in older homes. Essentially the cold water pipe passes through a box which intensively heats the water in the pipe in seconds as it passes through. This means you don't have a tank that is constantly being heated and wasting heating by gas or electricity. Much more expensive to install, but makes up for that by savings in gas and electricity. That's progress.
 
Lilac said:
We have had 3 LP gas tankless water heaters & love them. No water tank to deal with & as much hot water as you want without running out. Smaller footprint for in your house since they hang from the wall.

Each one was a better quality & lasted longer than the previous one. In 1992 when we built, there wasn't many on the market in the US & were hard to find, but that one lasted about 8 years. The next one was a Bosch & lasted 16 years. The new one is a Navien & has an electric igniter instead of a pilot light that comes on when you want hot water. The water temp adjustment is digital so you don't have to stand next to a faucet to get it to where you want it.

I hate hearing @Grampa Don you had problems with yours.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that we are on well water & have a very good water softener along with an iron filter. Those go a long way in protecting your appliances & water fixtures.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have heard that about water softener systems. In hard water areas they can help your plumbing a lot. Thanks for mentioning the Bosch. No matter what system you choose, you do want it to last. I was flipping channels and saw a clip from "This Old House" and they were installing a Bosch something-or-another. Tech said it was the only brand he used.
 

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