Recent content by Mlang2000

See the two links in my first post with similar pics from others. It's apparently not uncommon. The color matches the adhesive tar on the backside of the insulation.

I saw brown marks on some Romex® in my basement. It was also on some spots where it touched insulation. I nearly freaked out until I Googled and saw similar stuff like this or this and people said it could be just warm enough to pull the tar from the insulation or could be sap from running...

It ended up being the main blower motor. The variable speed was the reason it didn't make the sound for A/C (full speed) but did for heat.

Thanks all, I have a guy coming this week.

This 17 year old gas furnace has made this sound at startup for as long as I can remember. At least 10 years if not always. It only lasts for 2-3 seconds then runs quietly until the next startup. It does not make this sound in the summer when the A/C comes on. Only the winter heat. A friend...

On the old unit, there's no rod hex head at all. The pressure release valve comes out the top in the same spot the new unit has the hex head. On the new unit the valve has been moved to the side.

I picked up a new Rheem at HD and after asking for local plumber recommendations on Nextdoor, I have a line of them willing to install & haul away for $450ish. Plus it looks like I can sell the old power vent blower on ebay.

Finally a couple reasonable estimates are coming in at under $1500 installed.

$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.

The replacement is $960 @ Home Depot - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-50-Gal-Tall-6-Year-42-000-BTU-Natural-Gas-Power-Vent-Tank-Water-Heater-XG50T06PV42U0/204318426 Called for an estimate and first company wants another $1400 to swap them out. Seems steep.

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...

It's never been touched. Never drained, never had the valve tested.

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.

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

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...