ToUtahNow
07-01-2007, 08:22 PM
So I am out on the treadmill this morning and my wife comes in to asks me what I would think of a tank-less water heater. I explained to her I felt if she wanted more hot water it would be OK but that it was not necessarily a cost effective replacement. She then says something like “Oh well the garage floor is flooded because the other heater is leaking”.
So I go out and look at the heater and sure enough there is water leaking from the top of the heater. I cannot see where the water is coming from but it is coming up through the top of the heater. Just about then my daughter shows up with her family to pick up some binoculars on their way to vacation in Yellowstone. I asked my son-in-law to turn off the water, break the brass unions, and pull the brass nipples re-dope them and turn the water back on to make sure that is not the problem.
When I walk inside to my office there was a message from PlumberRick on my phone. I give Rick a call and he tells me how much he adores his lovely wife. I explained what was going on and Rick offers me a water heater. I explained I was hoping I would not need a heater but I would keep him in mind. As I am hanging up the phone one of my sons walks in to tell me the heater has a leak in the tank and it needs to be replaced. I told him it’s Sunday and I don’t want to mess with it today and asked him to help his sister get what they needed so they could leave for their trip.
When my daughter got everything together I helped her figure out what everything was and which items I was willing to take her life over (not really) and which items I didn’t care about. All of a sudden I hear a motorcycle pull in my driveway and it is one of my ex-plumbers. I said hello and asked what was up. He told me my son and called and they were going to change out my water heater (thank goodness I didn’t call the flat-rate company yet :eek:).
My water heater is a little tight as I have a 60-gallon air compressor sitting in front of and to the side of my 50-gallon water heater. Since I no longer have a shop full of water heaters I was stuck with getting a GE water heater from Home Depot :mad:. When the guys got there they called and asked if I thought my wife would like a 60-gallon heater instead. I told them she would love it but it would not fit. However, when they gave me the measurements for the new heater it was shorter than my existing heater, it had the same size vent and it was only ½” wider. Well we couldn’t figure how they did it but knew they would look like heroes to my wife if she could fill her Jacuzzi more than once a night in scalding hot water.
So they bring the heater to the house and I already have the area ready for them. They lift the heater up on to the platform and voila it doesn’t fit! I look at the markings which are silk screened on the box and they clearly say the heater is 49 ½” high by 21 ¾” wide with a 3” vent. I get out my trusty tape and find regardless of what the box says the heater is really 58” high by 22 ½” and it requires a 4” vent.
Of course we could make it work but it pissed me off to have to make it work because the printing on the box was wrong. So while the guys installed the heater I went online to look at the GE Water Heater Web Site. What a totally worthless piece of garbage their Web Site is. It contains little to no information and keeps trying to get you to go to Home Depot (exclusive distributor) for your answers.
Finally I fell for their trick and I entered the automated phone system at Home Depot. After choosing several different selections I finally got a real person who said she would have to transfer me. After quite a while she finally figured out where I needed to be and sent me to a number which said it does not take incoming calls and hung up on me. Out of frustration I decided to let the guys tell the plumbing dept. at Home Depot when they went back for the 4” vent.
As it turned out the guy at the plumbing department had some stupid reply about no one else complains about the misinformation so he wasn’t concerned. At that point I made a friendly call to the store manager and suggested they call GE and X out the markings on the box until they start getting the correct boxes.
I guess now I understand a little better how a DIY feels when they are limited to Home Depot for help. I also understand how important it is to have your kids living close by and having plumbers who remember who taught them what they know and don’t mind offering to give a little back. Overall it really was a great day.;)
Mark
So I go out and look at the heater and sure enough there is water leaking from the top of the heater. I cannot see where the water is coming from but it is coming up through the top of the heater. Just about then my daughter shows up with her family to pick up some binoculars on their way to vacation in Yellowstone. I asked my son-in-law to turn off the water, break the brass unions, and pull the brass nipples re-dope them and turn the water back on to make sure that is not the problem.
When I walk inside to my office there was a message from PlumberRick on my phone. I give Rick a call and he tells me how much he adores his lovely wife. I explained what was going on and Rick offers me a water heater. I explained I was hoping I would not need a heater but I would keep him in mind. As I am hanging up the phone one of my sons walks in to tell me the heater has a leak in the tank and it needs to be replaced. I told him it’s Sunday and I don’t want to mess with it today and asked him to help his sister get what they needed so they could leave for their trip.
When my daughter got everything together I helped her figure out what everything was and which items I was willing to take her life over (not really) and which items I didn’t care about. All of a sudden I hear a motorcycle pull in my driveway and it is one of my ex-plumbers. I said hello and asked what was up. He told me my son and called and they were going to change out my water heater (thank goodness I didn’t call the flat-rate company yet :eek:).
My water heater is a little tight as I have a 60-gallon air compressor sitting in front of and to the side of my 50-gallon water heater. Since I no longer have a shop full of water heaters I was stuck with getting a GE water heater from Home Depot :mad:. When the guys got there they called and asked if I thought my wife would like a 60-gallon heater instead. I told them she would love it but it would not fit. However, when they gave me the measurements for the new heater it was shorter than my existing heater, it had the same size vent and it was only ½” wider. Well we couldn’t figure how they did it but knew they would look like heroes to my wife if she could fill her Jacuzzi more than once a night in scalding hot water.
So they bring the heater to the house and I already have the area ready for them. They lift the heater up on to the platform and voila it doesn’t fit! I look at the markings which are silk screened on the box and they clearly say the heater is 49 ½” high by 21 ¾” wide with a 3” vent. I get out my trusty tape and find regardless of what the box says the heater is really 58” high by 22 ½” and it requires a 4” vent.
Of course we could make it work but it pissed me off to have to make it work because the printing on the box was wrong. So while the guys installed the heater I went online to look at the GE Water Heater Web Site. What a totally worthless piece of garbage their Web Site is. It contains little to no information and keeps trying to get you to go to Home Depot (exclusive distributor) for your answers.
Finally I fell for their trick and I entered the automated phone system at Home Depot. After choosing several different selections I finally got a real person who said she would have to transfer me. After quite a while she finally figured out where I needed to be and sent me to a number which said it does not take incoming calls and hung up on me. Out of frustration I decided to let the guys tell the plumbing dept. at Home Depot when they went back for the 4” vent.
As it turned out the guy at the plumbing department had some stupid reply about no one else complains about the misinformation so he wasn’t concerned. At that point I made a friendly call to the store manager and suggested they call GE and X out the markings on the box until they start getting the correct boxes.
I guess now I understand a little better how a DIY feels when they are limited to Home Depot for help. I also understand how important it is to have your kids living close by and having plumbers who remember who taught them what they know and don’t mind offering to give a little back. Overall it really was a great day.;)
Mark