Can I just wait until my water heater fails?

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Mlang2000

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We had this house built in 2003 and they installed a Rheem PowerVent 2 model 41VRP50NT

16 years later it's working just fine but I know it's probably due to die soon.

My question is when this particular model starts to fail, can we expect it just to no longer serve hot water and possibly start to leak a bit or is there a concern that it could "burst" causing a sudden rush of water that may damage the nearby finished area of the basement?

It's next to 3 sump pits so if it leaks a bit, it will just run into them.

I'd rather let it die of natural causes and deal without hot water for a day or two if there's not much chance of this doing damage vs. having it replaced when it could give us a few more years.
 

hj

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It is rare for a heater to "spontaneously" rupture and cause a flood, but it does happen occassionally, so it a judgement call on your part. If the sump pits will capture most of the water, then waiting until it fails may be the best option.
 

Phog

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I would like to add that you need to factor in Murphy's Law, which states that it will finally let go as you are preparing to host the extended family at your house in under an hour, or the morning after you tweak your back and can barely move. There's something to be said for doing it on your own terms. Personal choice of course, just wanted to point out that it's not only a matter of the amount & force of water coming out.
 

Terry

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My Redmond home water heater did start to leak so I pulled the water heater out and installed a pan with a drain into the crawl space. A month later it was gushing water through the 1" drain into the crawl space. I installed a new water heater at that time.

Forward 15 years on that water heater and I'm no long living there. The Ex calls me up and says that they don't have much hot water. As I'm walking down the driveway, I can hear water running. I check on the water heater and the water heater pan is nearly full and draining into the crawl space. This was in the furnace room at the same level of all the carpets on that floor. If I didn't have the pan, there would be damaged carpets and drywall. Thank God I had installed the drain pan. It saved a lot of damage to the home.
Any gas water with 15 years on it is living on borrowed time.

Just so you know, I could hear the water rushing out of the water heater when I was fifty feet from the house with all the doors closed.
 
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WorthFlorida

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I look at it this way, do you wait for the roof to leak before replacing it or replace the roof before it leaks?

A 16 year old gas water heater probably has a lot of mineral deposits lowering its designed recovery rate. More heat up the flue and less in the water causing a higher fuel bill. New water heaters must meet new energy standards, therefore, saving on fuel cost but they do cost much more than 16 years ago.
 

Mlang2000

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It would be my luck that it will leak forcefully in the wrong direction. Maybe I'll get some estimates.
 

Jadnashua

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It's one of those things that you never know. Once in awhile, one might last 30-years. The next one lasts 5. Average is probably in the 7-8 year range. As was said, though, it depends on your risk tolerance and what could be damaged if it does fail. WOrst case, it fails an hour after you go on a 2-week vacation, and by the time you're back, it had leaked 10's of thousands of gallons.

I'm a fan of the WAGS valve. It will shut the water and gas off if the thing leaks enough to get about 3/4" in the pan around it. If you don't have a pan, they do make one you can glue down around it to make a moat.
 

Reach4

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I would wait. I would put an alarm for the water heater pan so that it sounds off if water goes there.

"The Watchdog" water alarm http://www.glentronics.com/water-alarms/ is cheap, and the sensor can be remoted if you can splice the wires on this low power device. Replace the 9 volt battery maybe once per year as prevention.

If you don't replace, the present WH might last another 144 months or more. A new one might last 12 years.
 

Mlang2000

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I was told that with this type of "sealed combustion" water heater, it would first leak from the main chamber down into the combustion chamber causing it to no longer ignite far before it rusted through the combustion chamber. No idea how accurate that is.
 

Terry

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I was told that with this type of "sealed combustion" water heater, it would first leak from the main chamber down into the combustion chamber causing it to no longer ignite far before it rusted through the combustion chamber. No idea how accurate that is.

The water heater I mentioned above, I was troubleshooting over the phone.
Lift off the cover and tell me if there is flame there.

"I see lot's of flame."

Okay, I will come out and take a look.
The pan was full of water and the water was rushing out, but the water heater was in full flame trying to keep up with it.
 

Sylvan

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16 years?

When was the last time the T&P was tested and replaced? If not then replace the tank ASAP
 

Mlang2000

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I was about to go test the valve and read where several people posted that their WH never leaked until right after a valve test.

Since we're going to be out of town this weekend, I'll wait a few days.

I might even turn off the water to the WH before we leave since now I'll be worried about it. :rolleyes:
 

Reach4

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I was about to go test the valve and read where several people posted that their WH never leaked until right after a valve test.

Since we're going to be out of town this weekend, I'll wait a few days.

I might even turn off the water to the WH before we leave since now I'll be worried about it. :rolleyes:
If you test, and get a leak after, that is part of the thing you are testing for... the ability to shut itself back off once the condition ends.

Regarding turning off water, consider turning off the water to the whole house if that valve is good. That way even more leaks could be avoided, and somebody turning on your hose bibb would be thwarted.
 

Phog

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Don't let us scare you too much, usually you see warning signs of failure (such as weeping) instead of a straight blowout. And it's pretty unlikely you're going to have a rare blowout failure tomorrow or next week. But it's good to think about the risks you're willing to take and your tolerance for emergency repairs vs. preventive replacement. 16 years is a pretty good run for any water heater. And finally, turning off the house water service before a trip is good practice even if you have everything brand new. About the only risk you run there is wearing out your service shutoff valve. ;)
 

Master Plumber Mark

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Normally a Rheem 50 gallon power vent cost about 1800-1900 to be installed properly in a pan
with a thermal expansion tank on it.... thats total with the heater.....

Now really you dont have to do anything, just wait for it to fail....

if you want it to fail faster, just invite some out of town relatives to
stay over at your house for the weekend......

Then---- it will fail..... that is how it works....and you will have to
pay through the nose for the heater to be installed on the weekend...

sooo now you know
 

Mlang2000

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$1800-$1900 is at least more reasonable than the $2360 from the first quote.

Luckily I should have a couple weeks to get several quotes vs. being in an emergency situation.

Isn't this like a 2-3 hour job? You'd think $500-$600 for the labor would be enough.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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$1800-$1900 is at least more reasonable than the $2360 from the first quote.

Luckily I should have a couple weeks to get several quotes vs. being in an emergency situation.

Isn't this like a 2-3 hour job? You'd think $500-$600 for the labor would be enough.


We are not a socialist country yet and basically people in business have overhead , insurance to pay
and desire to make a decent living through their business... If you want it done dirt cheap find some hack
on craigs list.... No one out there lives with the sisters of charity in a convent and will do this for peanuts....


you can always get on google and tackle it yourself and hope for the best
 
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