Water Heater Problem

[RJSakowski]

It’s not ‘just because’. Ask many of my customers about not listening to me when I recommended replacing the water heater and how they enjoyed their flooded basement or house. Insurance claims, and misery, lots of them.

I have had a flooded basement from rain water numerous times in the past. As a result, I have a gutter around the entire inside perimeter and a gravity drain to the outside. I doubt that I would see a catastrophic failure of the water heater but rather a small leak to start. when that happened, I would take remedial action. If there was a catastrophic failure, I have a low pressure shutoff on my pressure switch for the well which will shut the system down in the event of a large scale leak. Thus, the maximum amount of water would be limited to that contained in the hot water heater and pressure tank or about 160 gallons.

 

[pdentrem]

I had the pressure relief valve stick open and turned the house into a sauna. No idea why it happened, the service guy said maybe the heater stacked? I had not been home for over 8 hours so who knows.
Pierre

 

[extropic]

snip>
I'll test the thermocouple later and report back.
snip>

A few days have passed and the water heater is still running as it should. I'm not going to wake that sleeping dog.
If it gives me more trouble, thanks to many contributors, I feel armed with good advice regarding what/how to troubleshoot it.
Thanks again.

 

[EricB]

Does it have a Honeywell gas valve?

 

[extropic]

Does it have a Honeywell gas valve?

It's still running.
I don't know the brand name of the gas valve.
I'll take note the next time I have to deal with it.
Is there a known problem with Honeywell gas valves?

 

[EricB]

It's still running.
I don't know the brand name of the gas valve.
I'll take note the next time I have to deal with it.
Is there a known problem with Honeywell gas valves?

They have a little computer in them and if the tank overtemps just a little it locks them off. They can be reset but I've had to replace 3 of the valves over the last few years. The thermocouple powers the computer and they have a flashing indicator on the front to let you know they are working.

Eric

 

[extropic]

They have a little computer in them and if the tank overtemps just a little it locks them off. They can be reset but I've had to replace 3 of the valves over the last few years. The thermocouple powers the computer and they have a flashing indicator on the front to let you know they are working.

Eric

Thank you. Excellent information. I don't think my unit has (or had) any blinking lights but I'll keep that in mind if I have more trouble.

 

[Dhal22]

I think virtually every water heater uses the Honeywell gas valve. My company installs +/- 75 water heaters a year and Honeywell valve issues are very very rare.

 

[extropic]

I wish that all major purchases would perform as reliably, durably and low maintenance as I've experienced with natural gas fired heaters.

 

[Dhal22]

I wish that all major purchases would perform as reliably, durably and low maintenance as I've experienced with natural gas fired heaters.

They are good for 15-20 years untouched..