|
|
|
|
#1
07-28-2020, 07:47 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
OT - Hot Water Heater died
Went into the storage closet in the basement and the floor was a little wet. Other side is the laundry room with all the plumbing. Sure enough, the 28 year old hot water heater seals failed on top and it was slowly leaking. This is good - the other possibility was a basement flood.
Next came the research. As much as I wanted a hybrid, NY climate and the size of the laundry room, not to mention connections at the bottom of the heater made it not feasible on short notice. I was able to downsize from an 80 gallon to 50 gallon. 80 was overkill. Also noted was we moved into the house in 2003 and the water softener was broken and hadn't been used in years. Given the hardness of the water here, I'm surprised we went this long. Given the above - hooking a hose up to drain the tank didn't work. I went redneck. Pulled the dryer out so I had room to work and then used some strips of hardwood flooring and a crowbar to leverage the heater out into the hall, where it was a straight run to get it outside. In comes the lawn tractor! 2 thule straps wrapped around the tank and tied off to the bumper and I was able to pull that monster out of the house and across the driveway. Its been draining ever so slowly since about 2:30 PM (it's 8:45 PM now and still going). The good news is once I ordered and picked up the new heater, it was a breeze to install and I have hot water. Also cleaned out the dryer duct and replaced its vent. Only regret: Not having one of my kids video the lawn tractor scene. 
|
|
#2
07-28-2020, 08:08 PM
|
|||
|
|||
That is a remarkable lifespan for the old water heater. You are a lucky duck!
Modern water heaters "recover" so quickly it is difficult to use all the hot water. My bet is your downsize from 80-gal to 50-gal will not even be noticed.
|
|
#3
07-28-2020, 08:28 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
haha excellent story.
i hope there were a significant number of keystone lights consumed 
__________________
http://less-than-epic.blogspot.com/
|
|
#4
07-28-2020, 08:41 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Glad to hear yours didn't fail like mine did after "only" 20 years. Mine soaked the central load-bearing wall in the house, did some drywall damage and warped a door frame below.
What made my heater replacement "interesting" is that I kept receiving heavily-dented units from Home Depot, went on for three weeks (of cold showers, fortunately in July) until finally I contacted Corporate. From there, in 24hrs I had a good, new 50-gal unit that works/performs SO much better than the old one. Funny thing is that I'm back to taking cold showers this summer after finding the practice quite invigorating. Climb in, start dancing and count to ten, then comfort, just like jumping into a pool on a hot day, yeah!
|
|
#5
07-28-2020, 10:24 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
We've had to replace water heaters twice over the years. Our local water pretty much just kills them in 8-10 years. The first one was a surprise and caused some flooding damage. The second one we got lucky with because I happened to go into the utility closet and noticed the wet floor. That one I was able to keep from going bad until it was replaced a couple of days later.
The plumber was concerned with the space UNTIL I showed him the second door straight out to the garage and no need for stairs.
|
|
#7
07-28-2020, 11:13 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
A few months ago I replaced my 22 year old functioning water heater because the water for the first shower of the day wasn't at the temp it should be (probably the thermostat). Feeling like a dummy now as it could've had so much more to give.
|
|
#8
07-29-2020, 05:16 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Lived in an apartment complex where the manager would only replace water heaters when they flooded the rooms. Multiple failures within months ruined unit after unit. Told the manager that if mine fails and ruins all my belongings my insurance company will sue for full replacement value.
|
|
#9
07-29-2020, 05:25 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Your new one prolly wont come close to lasting as long as the old one. I have a 32 year old central air unit my hvac guy wants to service. I told him not to touch it.
__________________
chasing waddy
|
|
#10
07-29-2020, 05:45 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Good thinking on the lawn tractor...
One of the first projects on this house was replacing the water heater. Oh, and the floor underneath and the wall next to it because of water damage--slow leak from the heater plus serious roof leaks. Good thing you caught it early. I had to set it up temporarily and work around it, with some temporary props running down to the dirt in the crawl space to hold it up for a time. 
|
|
#11
07-29-2020, 06:16 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Our hot water heater is also 28 years old. My wife keeps saying we should replace it. It still works fine, so I haven't bothered with it. This makes me think I should listen to my wife and replace it.
|
|
#12
07-29-2020, 06:21 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
 
__________________
“A bicycle is not a sofa” -- Dario Pegoretti
|
|
#13
07-29-2020, 06:46 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
I drain my hot water heater annually in a vacation home.
A utility pump ($50) does a good job of emptying the tank. Another way is to hook up an air compressor to the system (which I do to drain the pipes. Gravity alone takes too long.
|
|
#15
07-29-2020, 07:20 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Put it in your calendar with an annual reminder. It's too easy to forget... I have one of those heater dryer thingies with the multiple 3 foot extension pieces. It's amazing how much crap comes out of the vent line.
__________________
Colnagi Seven Sampson Hot Tubes LiteSpeed SpeshFatboy
|
 |
|
|
Linear Mode
