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Old 10-01-2016, 09:47 AM   #1641
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If it happened 8 years ago possibly they used cheap (not silicone) caulking, which has dried up and cracked allowing the water in.
Could be a very simple fix on the outside replacing the caulking.
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Old 10-01-2016, 09:48 AM   #1642
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Originally Posted by John Galt III View Post
Plumbing time. Have isolated it , I think, to the temp and pressure relief valve THREADS where they screw into the water heater.
I hope your repair plan works. It may be a long shot, just due to the age of the WH and the likelihood of breaking something else as you try to get the TPR valve off and then back on tight enough to prevent more leaks. I'd start that job with a fresh TPR valve at hand, the folks at Lowes are used to seeing me at the "return desk" after a job like this.

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Electrolysis or just plain corrosion of the threads. You are lucky to get 10 years out of a modern hot water heater these days.
I saw a "powered anode" product and think I might install in my 3 year old WH. It replaces the sacrificial anode that comes stock in the water heater, and it never wears out. It uses just 1/2 watt of electricity. The stock sacrificial anodes do not last long in my softened water, and that means I need to replace them (a PITA) or buy a new water heater every few years. Here's a FAQ on these powered anodes. At $250 they aren't cheap, but if I can do it once and get my WH to last 15-20 years it will be well worth it.

Disclaimer: I have no association with the above site/business. I also saw what I think is a similar product sold elsewhere for about $20 less, but since I learned of the thing at his site and he seems to provide a lot of info/support on his site, I'd probably buy from him.
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Old 10-01-2016, 03:12 PM   #1643
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60" LG plasma TV stopped answering the bell turning on even thought the standby light indicates it is getting power. Local repair shops estimated somewhere in the $250 range, and that's only if I bring the heavy monster in for repairs. No thanks to both the cost and the back strain.

Online troubleshooting sites indicate two possible causes, the most likely requiring the replacement of the "YSUS board" and suggested replacing two other associated boards at the same time. Worth a try and $90 later the boards are replaced - and the TV still won't turn on.

The set is less than three years old and I'm debating whether to spend another $50 to replace the power board indicated as the other possible cause or to cut my losses and move on. This is the second "brand name" TV I've had fail before their third birthday - not a good trend.
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Old 10-01-2016, 04:06 PM   #1644
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That is weird, I gave my 10 yr old Samsung plasma to my girlfriend when I bought a 50.

Now replacing the subwoofer amp amp in my office (computer) stereo. I was using a car head unit and car sub amp and the head unit died. Just going with a plate amplifier and building a little wood frame for it.
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Old 10-01-2016, 05:55 PM   #1645
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60" LG plasma TV stopped answering the bell turning on even thought the standby light indicates it is getting power. Local repair shops estimated somewhere in the $250 range, and that's only if I bring the heavy monster in for repairs. No thanks to both the cost and the back strain.

Online troubleshooting sites indicate two possible causes, the most likely requiring the replacement of the "YSUS board" and suggested replacing two other associated boards at the same time. Worth a try and $90 later the boards are replaced - and the TV still won't turn on.

The set is less than three years old and I'm debating whether to spend another $50 to replace the power board indicated as the other possible cause or to cut my losses and move on. This is the second "brand name" TV I've had fail before their third birthday - not a good trend.
How long is the warranty it came with, and if you bought it on a credit card, some extend the warranty automatically.

Sounds like rotten luck, or perhaps your electricity is fluctuating a lot, and having your tv on a $50 UPS would smooth out the juice and allow the tv's to last longer ?
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Old 10-01-2016, 06:22 PM   #1646
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floor standing fan

The blades would not rotate.

According to an "expert" on Youtube, 90% of this type of fan failure was due to the fan capacitor going bad.

Bought a new fan capacitor on eBay.

Still the same symtom.

I guess the motor went bad. Don't want to dissable that.
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Old 10-01-2016, 06:38 PM   #1647
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How long is the warranty it came with, and if you bought it on a credit card, some extend the warranty automatically.
Made me look. I purchased the set in Jan 2014 and it had a one-year warranty. The card (Visa) doubles the mfg. warranty up to a maximum of 24 months.

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...perhaps your electricity is fluctuating a lot, and having your tv on a $50 UPS would smooth out the juice and allow the tv's to last longer ?
Possible, but I suspect the culprit was a couple of thunderstorms. Last year a nearby lightning strike zapped my DirecTV box and my router. I already have the TV, computer, router, DirecTV box and all other associated peripherals plugged into a substantial surge protector, which didn't prevent the damage. Probably came through the satellite antenna wiring.

I'm blaming it on bad karma. I should have been nicer in my youth...
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Old 10-01-2016, 07:18 PM   #1648
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...

Possible, but I suspect the culprit was a couple of thunderstorms. Last year a nearby lightning strike zapped my DirecTV box and my router. I already have the TV, computer, router, DirecTV box and all other associated peripherals plugged into a substantial surge protector, which didn't prevent the damage. Probably came through the satellite antenna wiring. ...
That probably was it. Knock on wood, but our TVs have all lasted far longer than DW wanted . I was thinking that the new flat screens, while they should be more reliable than CRTs, might be worse if they were just skimping on quality. But every flat screen that I know of in our extended family just keep plunking along. The small one in our kitchen is the first we bought, it's ten years old now and still going strong.

And these are mostly the 'value brand' Vizio TVs, not 'high end' Sony level.

I've had worse luck with low end receivers. The get flaky (turn on/off in the middle of the night, randomly change channels, inputs, volume), and no real way to fix them, everything is controlled by the internal computer. So now I just get a simple small switching amp, and feed it with a digital music player - simple, and it works.

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Old 10-02-2016, 06:22 AM   #1649
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I hope your repair plan works. It may be a long shot, just due to the age of the WH and the likelihood of breaking something else as you try to get the TPR valve off and then back on tight enough to prevent more leaks. I'd start that job with a fresh TPR valve at hand, the folks at Lowes are used to seeing me at the "return desk" after a job like this.



I saw a "powered anode" product and think I might install in my 3 year old WH. It replaces the sacrificial anode that comes stock in the water heater, and it never wears out. It uses just 1/2 watt of electricity. The stock sacrificial anodes do not last long in my softened water, and that means I need to replace them (a PITA) or buy a new water heater every few years. Here's a FAQ on these powered anodes. At $250 they aren't cheap, but if I can do it once and get my WH to last 15-20 years it will be well worth it.

Disclaimer: I have no association with the above site/business. I also saw what I think is a similar product sold elsewhere for about $20 less, but since I learned of the thing at his site and he seems to provide a lot of info/support on his site, I'd probably buy from him.

I think this WH is 20 years old. My warranty was only 6 years, so I'm doing OK, I guess.

Not much progress so far. Bought a 14 inch pipe wrench and am trying to get the TPR valve out. Soaking the threads in Liquid Wrench too. Won't budge. Plan A is to get the TPR valve out, clean the threads, wrap with teflon tape, reinsert and hope teflon seals up whatever corroded spots there are. I think the corrosion might be on the WH threads, and not on the TPR threads.

Saw another 50 gal Rheem WH at Home Depot for $368. Will have to find out what their contractor charges for installation. I used a HD contractor to install my current WH 20 years ago, and was happy with the price then, which I think was under $100 !

I never tried to replace the sacrificial anode. Apparently they are very hard to get out. The plumbing guy at Lowes said nobody ever replaces them.

I guess I could install the WH myself. I would have to cut 2 copper pipes and use sharkbites to connect them to the WH. I'm not familiar with copper pipe soldering. Very basic electrical wiring hookup. Seems easy, but....
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Old 10-02-2016, 07:46 AM   #1650
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When I did mine, I bought it at HD as I was going to do it myself. Ours was gas and I had issues with the black gas pipe. We cannot use flex pipe in IL. (dumb).

So I phoned couple of places for the install, telling them I already had the waterheater.
One was $500 , the other was $250
I had already searched and talked to HD, and they would not give a firm price since it's really sub'd out and the guy doing it wants the ability to up the charge for unexpected issues.

For the single price of $250 they took the old tank with them.

Without a tank the $500 place said normally it's $1,000 and the $250 place said it's $800 so separating out the work and the tank paid off for me.

Be sure to measure the width and height of your old tank as they now come in various sizes.
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Old 10-02-2016, 07:51 AM   #1651
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Saw another 50 gal Rheem WH at Home Depot for $368. Will have to find out what their contractor charges for installation. I used a HD contractor to install my current WH 20 years ago, and was happy with the price then, which I think was under $100 !

I guess I could install the WH myself. I would have to cut 2 copper pipes and use sharkbites to connect them to the WH. I'm not familiar with copper pipe soldering. Very basic electrical wiring hookup. Seems easy, but....
It will be a lot more than $100 to get Home Depot to install it. I purchased a water heater from them last year and they quoted me close to $1k (including the water heater). I ended up installing it myself, not too difficult, makes it easier if the new water heater is the same physical size. There are youtube videos on soldering, practice doing a couple joints beforehand or maybe get a plumber to come out to do the final connections and check everything out.
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Old 10-02-2016, 08:04 AM   #1652
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We had quality problems with the Big Box store brands with the last two water heaters (our house and daughter's). Bought Bradford & White brand units and they have been great for years now.
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Old 10-02-2016, 08:32 AM   #1653
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Was looking at Rheem in HD yesterday. Discussed the hot water heater with my HVAC installer. The echonet module is available for the water heater, meaning controllable schedules. Ours is natural gas.

I expect an installation to cost $250 today. Have to see what local rates are.

The old water heater probably went in 20 years ago. The previous started leaking on New Years Day. Next day I went to HD and bought GE Profile 50 gal. Kid and I dragged it to basement. I was able to make the flexible water connections, but called the local gas co. to make the gas connection.
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Old 10-02-2016, 09:14 AM   #1654
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It will be a lot more than $100 to get Home Depot to install it. I purchased a water heater from them last year and they quoted me close to $1k (including the water heater). I ended up installing it myself, not too difficult, makes it easier if the new water heater is the same physical size. There are youtube videos on soldering, practice doing a couple joints beforehand or maybe get a plumber to come out to do the final connections and check everything out.
My inlet and outlet copper tubes are soldered on, but I'm more comfortable with going the sharkbite route, I think. Seems easier and less mistake-prone for me than trying to solder it.

I have to figure out where to cut the copper tubes, for the different lengths of sharkbite.

To get rid of the old water heater, I'd list in on Craigslist free, for a recycler to take.

Might have to buy a dolly, these things are heavy.
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Old 10-02-2016, 09:27 AM   #1655
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You probably want to check your State code regulations.
For example in IL you can go and buy flexible water connections similar to the type used on toilets in IL, and gas connections just like the type used on stoves in IL.
However, in IL the the water heaters have to be hard line connected. Meaning copper water pipes soldered, and the gas pipe has to be the black iron pipe.

Since earthquake prone CA (as far as I know) use the flexible connections, it seems IL makes it hard simply to ensure plumbers get work.

My IL HD sells any kind of connector you want, even the non-code ones, so just because it's in the store does not mean legit.

I went the legit route, because I didn't want insurance to be able to deny a claim years down the road.
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Old 10-02-2016, 09:36 AM   #1656
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All this talk of water heaters, I may as well add some of my experience, recent and ancient.

We just had our water heater replaced when I got the furnace and A/C done this season. This water heater was the original in the house, mfg date of 1986! I meant to replace it 15 years ago, thinking it was at end of life, and could go any day. Procrastination paid off once again!

I recall we had a strong rotten egg smell after we moved in (1992). We are on private well with water softener. I don't recall the details, but this problem can be triggered if the house has been unused for a few weeks (which it was), and I'm pretty sure I replaced the anode with the one recc for this problem (aluminum-zinc rather than magnesium?). I also decided to replace it many years later, realizing that they do get eaten away over time (they are called sacrificial anodes), but the old one was sooooo tight, I decided I might break something if I torqued any harder on it, so I left it.

Now I'm reading in these sources, that softened water aggressively eats away these anodes. But, I had the same anode from 1992 to 2016, surely it was gone for many years, and no problems?

So after the new one was in for 3 months, we suddenly got strong rotten egg smell. Hmmm, I'm thinking the installer should have asked, and installed the aluminum-zinc one to avoid a call back on this? But I figured since it happened so suddenly, I would try the 'quick fix' of adding bleach or hydrogen-peroxide to the tank, and see if that helps. I just used bleach, and to avoid unscrewing the anode or inlet/outlet, I just shut off the cold water valve at the inlet, and then opened the COLD water tap at the laundry sink (which was conveniently on the water heater side of the shut-off valve). Next, I held a cup directly up to an upstairs faucet, poured a bleach water solution into that, and opened the HOT water side. This sucked the solution into this faucet, and into the tank. I used about 1 cup of bleach total (probably too much), and after a few minutes, followed up with a couple quarts of clear water to get all that out of the pipes and into the tank. Closed the faucets, opened the valve to the water heater, and did a quick flush of all the faucets in the house to get the air and any loosened gunk out.

So we had a pretty strong bleach smell (like going to a swimming pool) for a day, and no rotten egg smell. Just to be sure I followed up again with 1/2 Cup bleach two days later. It's been 2 weeks now, and no return of the rotten egg smell, so maybe we are OK?

Reading about the T&P valve here, I realize I could probably suck bleach water in through that while opening the drain valve - then I wouldn't need to run up/down stairs or enlist DW to open close the faucet. Would need to open the valve first into a bucket to get the air out so it could siphon back.

On a semi-related note, these 'rotten egg' references also mentioned that if you have a bad smell at one faucet, it could be 'nasties' in the drain. Well, I have had intermittent issues like that at one drain, and never really find the source. Then one of them mentioned the overflow drain - of course! That gets gunk in it, and rarely ever gets flushed out. So I've been getting some bleach solution down the overflow port, and I think that is doing the trick there as well.

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Old 10-02-2016, 03:55 PM   #1657
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All this talk of water heaters, I may as well add some of my experience, recent and ancient...........
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I went through this and even made a gizmo out of pipe so I could treat the tank with bleach through the drain valve. Bottom line was it only works for a while, then the problem returns. The permanent fix was to remove the anode altogether. It may have shortened the heater's life, though, as it only lasted 20 more years.
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Old 10-02-2016, 06:36 PM   #1658
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Be sure to measure the width and height of your old tank as they now come in various sizes.
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I ended up installing it myself, not too difficult, makes it easier if the new water heater is the same physical size.
Yep, be sure to measure the actual size. A 50 gal tank made 20 years ago will likely be smaller than a 50 gal tank today. The latest round of mandated insulation standards have led some people to go down a notch or two in capacity so they could still fit the WH in the same closet. Doesn't matter that you'd prefer a different, slimmer one like you used to have, and the manufacturer and retailer would both like to sell you one--they can't be sold.

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Reading about the T&P valve here, I realize I could probably suck bleach water in through that while opening the drain valve - then I wouldn't need to run up/down stairs or enlist DW to open close the faucet.
Don't the T&P valves have a gasket? Depending on what it is made of, it might not do well with a concentrated bleach solution, even if it is okay with typical chlorine levels in municipal water. Those bleach toilet bowl "fresheners" sure destroyed the rubber parts in many toilets.
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Old 10-02-2016, 08:47 PM   #1659
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Don't the T&P valves have a gasket? Depending on what it is made of, it might not do well with a concentrated bleach solution, even if it is okay with typical chlorine levels in municipal water. Those bleach toilet bowl "fresheners" sure destroyed the rubber parts in many toilets.
Yes, but the strong bleach would be sucked up in less than a minute, then just like I did from the faucet, I'd follow up with a few quarts of clear water, maybe a few gallons in this case. I would think that would be fine.

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Old 10-02-2016, 11:33 PM   #1660
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