Rclay
  • Rclay
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Saturday, March 17, 2012 9:34:35 PM
I can do many things to repair my home, but water heater diagnosis is not one of them. Never paid much attention I them. I am having an issue & hope someone has a knowledge base and can help.

Went into the garage today and noticed damp concrete around the water heater. It looked like a good about of water had been put down, but not a standing amount. Just enough I dampen the surrounding area. I can tell it came from the top of the unit because it now has a cruddy water residue around the power vent ontop and streaking down the sides. It was clean before.

However, we still have hot water and it's not leaking at the moment. The power vent seems to work and no pressure issues, & the electrical control box is functioning fine.

Any ideas?

DrafterX
Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:01:27 PM
Power vent.? Are you refering to the brass temp & pressure valve..?? If so just go to your local plumbing supply store and buy a new one... you can get them at a hardware store but just walk into the wholesale house and act like you know what you're talking about...😟
Rclay
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Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:05:04 PM
No. The vent ontop is not a passive conduit/duct. There is a powered fan unit that pushes it all out PVC conduit. The dude who owned our house before us put in a big money water heater.
engletl
Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:07:27 PM
Do you have a lot of sediment in your water? if so you really should drain the tank every couple of years to remove that sediment from the bottom.

If it is just the pressure relief valve going out...real easy fix

Numismaniac
Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:13:13 PM

No. The vent ontop is not a passive conduit/duct. There is a powered fan unit that pushes it all out PVC conduit. The dude who owned our house before us put in a big money water heater.

Rclay wrote:

Yea, that's a strange sounding set-up....explain, if not a big problem..

DrafterX
Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:20:23 PM
Is ther corosion on the water fittings..?? If so, replace them with brass... is it hard piped or flex hoses..??😕
Rclay
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Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:23:06 PM
Hard pipe No it appears to only be from the area of the vent and it does have a corroded appearance.
DrafterX
Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:42:09 PM
🤔

Roof leak..??

dubleuhb
Saturday, March 17, 2012 11:21:19 PM

No. The vent ontop is not a passive conduit/duct. There is a powered fan unit that pushes it all out PVC conduit. The dude who owned our house before us put in a big money water heater.

Rclay wrote:

Got the same setup, did you have high humidity ? Mine sweats sometimes and I get the same deal.

yardobeef
Saturday, March 17, 2012 11:34:18 PM
I had a similar situation which I thought was coming from various connections/pressure valve. It turned out that the heater itself had a crack in it. So, not having the money to deal with it, I let it go for a little over a year, at which point the top of my heater turned into a fountain. At that point I had to bite the bullet and replace it.

I would dry off everything really well and try to isolate the source of the leak.

Rclay
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Saturday, March 17, 2012 11:53:53 PM
No roof leak I can find.

Humidity is average for this time of year and never sweats.

I am tight on cash also. I will try to isolate, but plumbing companies out here are outrageous.

DrafterX
Sunday, March 18, 2012 12:11:33 AM
Hopefully it's minorr... but if the tank has failed check the warranty.. you can buy a map gas torch kit and a cuople couplings and replace it yourself easier than you think... duck soup...😟
RICKAMAVEN
Sunday, March 18, 2012 1:33:59 AM
DO ALL OF THE ABOVE, BUT FIRST IF THE WATER HEATER IS OVER T IS OVER TEN YEARS OLD. GO TO HOME DEPOT AND FIND OUT

HOW MUCH A NEW ONE IS AND WHAT WILL IT COST TO INSTALL A NEW ONE THE WHOLE JOB IS PROBALY

ABOUT $350 TO $450 including installation and hauling awaYFSSFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFSSSSF the old one.

watch how the plumber and his helper do it and ten or W15 year from now watch the new plumber (the kid that

used to be the apprentice) while he watches hiS APPENTICE BUST HIS KNUCKLESOPENING PIPES THAT HAVE

RUSTED TOGETHER AND GO INTO HIS TRUCK TO FIND THE FREAKY SIZE LENGTH OF PIPE HE HAS BEEN

CARRYING IN THE TRUCK FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS WAITINGF FOR THE DAY HE WILL NEED IT TO FIX YOURS

VERY TRULY YOURS RICK MILLER

FORMER ELECTRICIAN, FORMER PLUMBER, F0RMER GENERAL CONTRACTER FORMER HANDY MAN CURRENTLY.

WRITTIER OF CHECKS

Rclay
  • Rclay
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Sunday, March 18, 2012 1:54:16 AM
Thanks for the advice Rick.
watchurai
Sunday, March 18, 2012 7:03:49 AM

DO ALL OF THE ABOVE, BUT FIRST IF THE WATER HEATER IS OVER T IS OVER TEN YEARS OLD. GO TO HOME DEPOT AND FIND OUT

HOW MUCH A NEW ONE IS AND WHAT WILL IT COST TO INSTALL A NEW ONE THE WHOLE JOB IS PROBALY

ABOUT $350 TO $450 including installation and hauling awaYFSSFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFSSSSF the old one.

RICKAMAVEN wrote:

I'd like to find a plumber to do it for that. I'd sub him out aaaaaaall day.

I just did a water heater change-out for a friend yesterday. I can say with "some" certainty, to have a plumber come and do the work will cost you considerably more.

The 60 gallon, 6 year basic GE model costs about 280 clams at Home Depot all by itself. The needed fittings, materials, etc. will run you about another $65- $85. That's up to $365 just for the materials, and THAT is for a basic electric unit. The power vent, gas fired units are not cheaper, they are far more expensive. And material costs will run higher as well, since you add flue parts to it. None of this includes labor dollars, material mark-ups, and taxes.

You want to save coin, as drafter said, do it yourself. There are a ton of resources online for DYI stuff when it comes to plumbing. A Power vent unit is somewhat more complicated than a few couplings, but can be done if you are mechanically inclined.

lou2row
Sunday, March 18, 2012 9:54:58 AM

I'd like to find a plumber to do it for that. I'd sub him out aaaaaaall day.

I just did a water heater change-out for a friend yesterday. I can say with "some" certainty, to have a plumber come and do the work will cost you considerably more.

The 60 gallon, 6 year basic GE model costs about 280 clams at Home Depot all by itself. The needed fittings, materials, etc. will run you about another $65- $85. That's up to $365 just for the materials, and THAT is for a basic electric unit. The power vent, gas fired units are not cheaper, they are far more expensive. And material costs will run higher as well, since you add flue parts to it. None of this includes labor dollars, material mark-ups, and taxes.

You want to save coin, as drafter said, do it yourself. There are a ton of resources online for DYI stuff when it comes to plumbing. A Power vent unit is somewhat more complicated than a few couplings, but can be done if you are mechanically inclined.

watchurai wrote:

You have to remember; Captain Caplock's pricing was based from when a loaf of bread cost a nickle.

Whatever you do, DO NOT plug the pressure vent. With the advent of backflow preventers, these keep the heated, expanded hot water from creating a pressure explosion. Do you have a inline pressure regulating tank by your inlet to your house? Make sure there isn't an issue with that. It should keep this from happening.

teedubbya
Sunday, March 18, 2012 11:47:33 AM
Actually Rick is pretty close. I used home depot and had them do install. Very cheap. They used a b may. The a b may dude showed me his prices he charges when scheduled through a b may rather than HD and they were almost triple.

My guess is you couldn't hire an independent to install for anywhere near HD or lowes could do.

Lifetime parts and labor warranty on mine. Whatever that means.

teedubbya
Sunday, March 18, 2012 11:49:04 AM
It was over 350 though.

Need to read better.

critter2
Sunday, March 18, 2012 2:11:02 PM
if i read you correctly, you may have a relief valve that is leaking or weeping when the temp in the tank is max-at the end of the heater cycling. if it's bad you can replace it, but you will need to isolate, depressurize and turn off the heaters at the circuit panel. home depot, lowes, etc have replacements.