Bradford White get HORRIFIC reviews vs. Rheem? What?

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hj

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I do NOT install GE water heaters, so I only get them when they start leaking. But a plumber told me the other day, that he installed one and it srarted leaking the next day. He replaced it and that one lasted two weeks. That is a losing proposition when you have to "eat" the cost of removing it, returning it, (after holding with GE on the phone for half an hour to get "permission" to return it), and then installing the replacement.
 

hj

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ALL new heaters have the FVIR system which is what you call a TRD. The purpose of the FVIR is to prevent an explosion in case some "knucklehead" spills a can of gasoline next to the water heater.
 

ST1300Rider

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Point taken....Does that void the warranty? But that will void the warranty.

Thanks....

BTW...My plastic valve is plugged when wide open - so it is a big deal going forward.....I am going to use a washer fill hose connected to a hose and blast the sediment back.
 

Hackney plumbing

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ALL new heaters have the FVIR system which is what you call a TRD. The purpose of the FVIR is to prevent an explosion in case some "knucklehead" spills a can of gasoline next to the water heater.


Sorry but your mistaken, a TRD is exclusive to Rheem brands. Thermal release device. The Rheem units would still be FVIR without the addition of the TRD.
 

ST1300Rider

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I do NOT install GE water heaters, so I only get them when they start leaking. But a plumber told me the other day, that he installed one and it srarted leaking the next day. He replaced it and that one lasted two weeks. That is a losing proposition when you have to "eat" the cost of removing it, returning it, (after holding with GE on the phone for half an hour to get "permission" to return it), and then installing the replacement.


Two tanks leaking in two weeks...Sure it's not the plumber as what are the odds two Rheems leak in two weeks?

Hackney mentioned BW is having tank and valve probs(ICON)-so the top two MFGS are selling crap now...wow...Makes the decision process difficult when the top two brands are having serious probs.....
 

Hackney plumbing

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Two tanks leaking in two weeks...Sure it's not the plumber as what are the odds two Rheems leak in two weeks?

Hackney mentioned BW is having tank and valve probs(ICON)-so the top two MFGS are selling crap now...wow...Makes the decision process difficult when the top two brands are having serious probs.....

I mentioned the whirlpool heater that uses the honeywell smartvalve.....thats really stupid as it cant remember its codes.

I'd buy the GE with the 12 yr warranty and be done with it. They back their product just as good or better than anyone else. Infact if you had to order service poarts for the G.E. they ship from Rheem.
 

ST1300Rider

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I mentioned the whirlpool heater that uses the honeywell smartvalve.....thats really stupid as it cant remember its codes.

I'd buy the GE with the 12 yr warranty and be done with it. They back their product just as good or better than anyone else. Infact if you had to order service poarts for the G.E. they ship from Rheem.


Yes that would be Rheems 42VR50...Badged as the GE SG50T12AVG...

All this FVIR, Tank leaks and TRD talk...I'll pay HD the 99 bucks for the lifetime ( years 2-12) complete labor/parts/replacement warranty. Sounds like I'd spend over 99 bucks in the 2nd year with a FVIR/TRD failure.

That 100 bucks works out to 9 dollars a year for zero out of my pocket vs. 150 bucks for 1 service call from the Plumber.

~550 for the GE/ Rheem 12 yr SG50T12AVG+100 for lifetime parts/labor/replacement warranty= Peace of Mind!

No offense; but thinking of calling a plumber gives me heart palpitations.
 
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Ballvalve

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Around here, all the GE water heaters are made in mexico. So perhaps the American MFGRS have had to downgrade quality in order to survive and keep a few more Americans from living in a shopping cart or back with mom and dad.

There ARE real water heaters made in the USA, they say commercial, and they have 3 or 4 REAL anodes, not the little short piece of maybe aluminum rod in the home depression store. I DO buy the cheap electrics, but change to a full length magnesium anode and full port clean out. so for 50 bucks you have a 15 year heater.

Or spring for a 98% Polaris, stainless steel, condensing, and I stopped draining it after a year because NOTHING ever came out - the spiral heat exchanger never gets hot enough to take minerals out of solution, at least at my lower temps.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=iqIdT_noKeKYiQLAxZiHDw&ved=0CHAQ8wIwAg#

I would buy by the pound. This guy is 580 pounds - cheaper by the pound than those folgers coffee cans at Loweballs and homeydepression.
 
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Master Plumber Mark

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how much are you seeing??

quote; they are problematic
and are going to be a service nightmare down the road,,,

Never mind "down the road" they are a nightmare "NOW".



hj, how much of this are you seeing down in the arizona area??
I am wondering if this is a regional problem ... are you seeing
waves and waves of failures???...

I avoided this brand more because of a "gut feeling" that they
were gonna be trouble and I did not want to be their research or
"crash test dummie" to see how the valves do in the mid west....

they can be absloute hell to get lit, you have to have the patience of a saint..
and as far as trouble shooting them, if the light is not on, then
you are in trouble.... its just easier to strip it all out and change
everything....

of course with everyone going to them, Smith, sears, state, whirlpool,
its something I am going to have
to get more proficient at over time...
 
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