Ahh.. the joys of homeownership..
I wake up Tuesday morning to find a small lake in the backyard... Turns out the Water Heater tank decided to split at the top... Water everywhre.. and of course, there is no shut-off valve on/near the tank.. I have to shut off the water to the house..
Soo.. We go out and buy a new water heater, some tubing/pipe and a shut-off valve... Takes 2 of us to get the thing into the enclosure.. Hook up all the lines (2 water, 1 gas), check for any gas leaks (use windex for that) and try to light it.. No go.. After talking to tech support, turns out that the thermocoupler is "weak". I take the one off the old water heater and voila... it lights.
Now that it seems to be working, I call it a day (at least for now) and plan to come out a little later to pick up the tools...
1 hour passes.. I check the hot water (just to see if it is hot enough)... and find no hot water...
I head outside.. and look what I find...
Turns out, a factory fitting (gas line) wasn't tight.. actually, 2 lines were not tight (not even finger tight).. Looks like once the burner actually lit, the line started to leak, then caught fire and burned the gas control valve and the drain valve on the tank..
I replace the gas valve and the drain vavle (free parts).. Checked all the gas lines (not just the one I hooked up, but all of them).. Got it lit.. and then checked all the gas lines again.. Turns out I didn't see/hear/smell the first leak since there is no gas in the big line until it turns on the burner and that won't turn on until after the thermocoupler is working..
Soo.. lesson learned.. When dealing with Gas appliances, don't just check the lines you have to install.. check all of them you can get too.
~Mark
I wake up Tuesday morning to find a small lake in the backyard... Turns out the Water Heater tank decided to split at the top... Water everywhre.. and of course, there is no shut-off valve on/near the tank.. I have to shut off the water to the house..
Soo.. We go out and buy a new water heater, some tubing/pipe and a shut-off valve... Takes 2 of us to get the thing into the enclosure.. Hook up all the lines (2 water, 1 gas), check for any gas leaks (use windex for that) and try to light it.. No go.. After talking to tech support, turns out that the thermocoupler is "weak". I take the one off the old water heater and voila... it lights.
Now that it seems to be working, I call it a day (at least for now) and plan to come out a little later to pick up the tools...
1 hour passes.. I check the hot water (just to see if it is hot enough)... and find no hot water...
I head outside.. and look what I find...
Turns out, a factory fitting (gas line) wasn't tight.. actually, 2 lines were not tight (not even finger tight).. Looks like once the burner actually lit, the line started to leak, then caught fire and burned the gas control valve and the drain valve on the tank..
I replace the gas valve and the drain vavle (free parts).. Checked all the gas lines (not just the one I hooked up, but all of them).. Got it lit.. and then checked all the gas lines again.. Turns out I didn't see/hear/smell the first leak since there is no gas in the big line until it turns on the burner and that won't turn on until after the thermocoupler is working..
Soo.. lesson learned.. When dealing with Gas appliances, don't just check the lines you have to install.. check all of them you can get too.
~Mark
