Water Heater flooded the shop

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Russianwolf

Russianwolf

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Joined
Jul 13, 2007
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5,690
Location
Martinsburg, WV, USA.
Anyone have a recommendation on a new one? I would love to go tankless, but the timing couldn't be worse. The only one I'd go for needs 3 40 amp double pole circuits and I'd have to hire someone to wire it.

Damage is minimal, water on the floor.
 
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If you are able to install it your self you can get a used one from some of the appliance stores. This will save you a bit of money. Then save up for the tankless units.
Mark
 
GE tanks work well, most tanks will last 10 to 15 years. I'm a little confused about the voltage requirements of the tankless unit. How many volts is it? And by chance is it 3 phase?
 
Te one I want is a 240v 120 amp unit. In Canada you can run it on a single 120 amp dual pole circuit, but in the States they want 3 40 amp dual pole circuits.

So for now, I'll get another 240v 30 amp dual pole heater and wait to change it to the tankless later.
 
I had a less than two year old GE break open and flood our place. Lotsa ruck getting GE to honor a warranty. They simply won't.
I ended up with a Marathon from our electric company. Very high efficiency tank, all plastic, will never rust out. I took the lease option, costs more over the long run but the elec. company will repair or replace if anything goes wrong.
My son has tankless at his place. Good only if you like taking 30 second showers.
 
I have a Kenmore Power Miser 12 and am happy with it. My wife and I can take back to back showers (she takes LOOOOOOOOONG showers) and have never run out of how water. It's a very high effeciency, 3 inches of foam around it. It was something like $230 brand new at Sears. I installed it myself, no prob (of course, that's electric, not gas).
 
Okay, whoever installed the old one was a moron.

This is a three bedroom house that has only had two people living in it at a time for the entire 20 years. The water heater was 58 gallons, enough for a 5 person family easily. When I checked the damage, the upper element was set at 130 degrees (a bit higher than the normal 120-125 recommended) and the lower element was set at........... 80 degrees (the lowest setting).

And we were wondering why we could only get enough hot water for one shower .

So the lower element was never coming on to do it's self-cleaning thing. As a result, the seal was eventually compromised and that's where the water was literally pouring out of. The entire terminal was in fact covered in rust.

I am looking at a Kenmore unit to replace it with, but Sears doesn't open until 10AM.
 
Tankless

I wouldn't go tankless unless you have gas. The tankless electric will actually make your energy bill go up a little (unless they fixed this in the last year or so). I have a good buddy who is a wholesaler for plumbing supplies and he says that the tankless electrics are kinda pointless. Some of the newer tank systems are more efficient. But if you have gas, the tankless is a TON more efficient.

My $0.02,
StatProf
 
130's not crazy high, they're made for up to 150 I think, but the lower one set that low is just stupid. I have a 55gal one (maybe 60?) which is big for my little house and more than my wife and I will need until we have a couple of teenagers taking 45 minute showers! I have the Kenmore and keep the temps set at their lowest positions and it's plenty of hot water for us. Unless you have a house of 5 people you don't need to crank that temp! Another thing I like about the Power Miser is it has the 'auto swirl' or something like that where it helps keep sediment from gathering on the bottom, which was precisely what killed our old one seeing how we're on a well, and a very sediment-happy one at that.
 
Whelp, old tank is out and new tank is in, both elements set to 120.

Replaced the torched fittings with compression fittings so it'll be easier to work on in the future if needs be. Filled the tank and bled off the air and waited a good 30 minutes to check for leaks. Nothing so hooked up the wires and turned on the power, should have hot water in a couple hours.
 
Congrats on doing the job yourself! But then we knew you could!

I haven't priced tankless in the States but I sure love them over here. But all of ours are gas, and unlike Frank's son's experience, shower for an hour or more in water too hot to handle in 25° weather - then pay the water bill. Our gas bill is very reasonable for Japan.
 
Ahhh...... a hot shower....... And I never moved the tap once started, used to have to bump it up until the hot water was gone.


Thanks Hank, the can I was never in question. I could likely run the wiring for the big electric tankless one, but I don't like messing with the panel. Same goes for Gas lines, too easy to get yourself killed with a little goof.
 
The Bosch tankless water heaters that are electric are not that great of a deal, their own sales brochures show only a 20.00 a year savings over a 50 tank water heater. The other thing to watch is they will only supply hot water to run one item at a time like a shower or dishwasher or washing machine not all at once. Tankless gas in my opinion is the way to go if you look that way.
 
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