StoneClaw
New Member
Last photo shows the newest modification. The new piping install was just modified today by the original installer, after 34 months, by one of their field supervisors. The three piping photos show their order respectively from original 21 year old water heater through today.
The performance problem began about 2 weeks ago when I had to keep turning the thermostat control knob up two or three times a day to get the water to a sufficiently heated temperature. The pilot wasn't going out- I would just press on the temperature control knob and that would fire it up as I increased the temp setting. Last week, their tech came and said there was a problem with the thermostat/ gas valve and he replaced them with a different thermostat model, and brand the next day. They told me they had a matching thermostat from a new water heater in their shop that they would remove and install on mine but it turned out it was different from the warrantied replacement part that arrived on my doorstep 3 days later from the original manufacturer (I can live with that. The office girl is the one who gave me the misinformation and I did not see the repair until the day after it was completed when I noticed it was a different thermostat). I was convinced that that was the the problem but their field tech told me today that it was not. The new thermostat is more basic but I lost faith in the original model that was installed 34 months ago so I'm fine without a souped-up replica that would malfunction again.
The new thermostat started underperforming within a week. I eventually increased the temperature all the way up to the "B" arrow on the knob, almost to full blast. The max temp it would heat to was 110°F at nearly the highest setting.
When the field tech arrived today he took one look and told me within 5 seconds that he knew what the problem was and he changed the piping that his guy put in 34 months ago. He said cold water was mixing in with the hot water because of the piping error but I'm wondering why it worked well for the first 34 months and then all of a sudden it didn't. The results have been pretty spectacular so far. After one hour the temp is @125•F. This water heater also provides heat to my house through the AC handler via pipes and a fan.
I'm hoping a professional here can see the obvious mistake in the old/new photo from the install 34 months ago and to help me understand how it could have worked without incident for so long and now all the sudden the deficient piping is the culprit.
Sorry I know this is lengthy. TY.
The performance problem began about 2 weeks ago when I had to keep turning the thermostat control knob up two or three times a day to get the water to a sufficiently heated temperature. The pilot wasn't going out- I would just press on the temperature control knob and that would fire it up as I increased the temp setting. Last week, their tech came and said there was a problem with the thermostat/ gas valve and he replaced them with a different thermostat model, and brand the next day. They told me they had a matching thermostat from a new water heater in their shop that they would remove and install on mine but it turned out it was different from the warrantied replacement part that arrived on my doorstep 3 days later from the original manufacturer (I can live with that. The office girl is the one who gave me the misinformation and I did not see the repair until the day after it was completed when I noticed it was a different thermostat). I was convinced that that was the the problem but their field tech told me today that it was not. The new thermostat is more basic but I lost faith in the original model that was installed 34 months ago so I'm fine without a souped-up replica that would malfunction again.
The new thermostat started underperforming within a week. I eventually increased the temperature all the way up to the "B" arrow on the knob, almost to full blast. The max temp it would heat to was 110°F at nearly the highest setting.
When the field tech arrived today he took one look and told me within 5 seconds that he knew what the problem was and he changed the piping that his guy put in 34 months ago. He said cold water was mixing in with the hot water because of the piping error but I'm wondering why it worked well for the first 34 months and then all of a sudden it didn't. The results have been pretty spectacular so far. After one hour the temp is @125•F. This water heater also provides heat to my house through the AC handler via pipes and a fan.
I'm hoping a professional here can see the obvious mistake in the old/new photo from the install 34 months ago and to help me understand how it could have worked without incident for so long and now all the sudden the deficient piping is the culprit.
Sorry I know this is lengthy. TY.
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