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Hot water heater

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jp_2
jp_2 Member Posts: 1,935
in THE MAIN WALL
was the burner under water? was the flood water clean or real muddy?

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  • Howie_5
    Howie_5 Member Posts: 7
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    Flooded: Sealed Hot water tank - Help

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    Date: April 18, 2007 11:07 PM
    Author: Howie (howiesherman@cs.com)
    Subject: Flooded Sealed Hot water heater

    well the recent Nor'easter flooded my basement really good and the new AO Smith hot water tank got to sit in about 5" of water. The label on the tank says if any part gets wet the whole unit is shot. Well being the stubborn fool that I am I noticed that the exterior starter/pilot unit didn't get wet so I thought I'd give it a try. I got the pilot lite started but if I bring the temperature up higher than low it blows itself out.. So I'm trying the slow approach. It's ben sitting on low for an hour or so... what should I do? keep inching (milimetering) it up or shut it down? ... Is it really shot? With watery basements here in NJ quite common one would think that they would install it well off the ground. or at lesat ask if it was a wet basement .. then again, as monty python said: no one ever expected teh spanish inquisition... or a spring time Nor'easter... Anyway, anyone with experience with these units...??? Thanks

  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    If I were you

    and the manufacturer who put the stickers-on in the first place say this,,, then I would heed their warning! A flooded gas train could kill ya!! I wonder if John Cleese ever said that,,but then they were into comedy, nothing funny about this!!

    Dave
  • Howie_5
    Howie_5 Member Posts: 7
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    Why

    What is a flooded gas train? How would I know if.. The pilot has been on for 4 hours with temp on low... does that tell us anything? My CO monitor near the unit ( on the ceiling 3' in front of it) and the one in the kitchen are quiet.
  • SVDW
    SVDW Member Posts: 80
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    If you have insurance this should be covered & I personally would have it checked by a pro or replaced. If it has one of the new electronic gas valves & the IC board corrodes due to moisture will it safely shut down the unit? Will the safety sensors work correctly after they get wet? Are the wire connectors going to rust & lose contact? Are you willing to chance the safety of your family? We recently had a homeowner who turned on a heater with a bad gas valve. A service tech had checked it & told him he needed a new gas valve & shut the heater down. Homeowner decided it was no big deal & fired it up after the tech left. After the LP explosion all that was left was a foundation. HO & his wife killed & neighbors windows blown out. A neighbor's shed was pushed off the foundation. This happened about 2 years ago. I personnally would not sleep real well knowing there was a problem with any gas device in my house. Take out a loan & fix it if you have to.
  • Charles G.
    Charles G. Member Posts: 113
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    WATER HEATER

    You referred to this as a new sealed A.O.Smith water heater. What is the Model #? Newer A.O.S. units have a flame arrestor built into the bottom of the floor pan. If it gets wet the surface becomes clogged, shutting off the air supply to the combustion chamber. The pilot outage is the manufacturer's way of protecting you from yourself. READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL then decide if life and property is worth the price of a water heater...

  • Howie_5
    Howie_5 Member Posts: 7
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    Thanks All

    Thanks for the advice. Am ordering the new unit. Maybe I'll try to have it installed up on cinder block/patio blocks
  • Howie_5
    Howie_5 Member Posts: 7
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    I'not sure if the burner & or pilot were under water. Possibly. But the pilot does relight it's just the burner that blows it out when I rasie the temp from 'pilot' to the low hot setting. It's a shame that the whole unit gets tosses for this fairly common problem... (floods). Design flaw. Probably should start a class actions suit, if only I was a lawyer :-).
  • Dem
    Dem Member Posts: 2
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    flooded water heater

    These new water heaters have an air filter that when it gets wet it cannot pass combustion air into the chamber. I have been told that after cleaning the water out of the burner and pilot (if they were affected by the flood) and running the heater with the access door ajar (to supply combustion air) the air filter will eventually dry out, allowing you to reassemble it according to design. Of course if running it this way make sure they're are no flammable liquids and/or fumes in the area.
  • Dem
    Dem Member Posts: 2
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    burner flame

    the burner flame is going out because it is starved for combustion air
  • jalcoplumb_2
    jalcoplumb_2 Member Posts: 172
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    Get a new one.

    Are you willing to risk everything for a few hundred dollars? It is not about the fact that it will work; it is the fact that if something happens your insurance company will not cover anything period. How close is your neighbor’s house? Burn it down along with yours and you are really up the creek. Have someone die in the process and it just gets worse. Check out this bulletin put out by GAMA, it is one of many on the subject.

    http://www.gamanet.org/gama/news.nsf/vAttachmentLaunch/672A6B3F7399281185256ED200531607/$FILE/Flood-Damaged Appliances Should Be Replaced.pdf


    What stinks is the plumber who installed it will end up getting sued for something he didn't even know about.

    Call your insurance company. I have been involved in water damage cases. For a lousy deductable they covered replacing the water heater, furnace, property, clean up cost and more than you would think.

    If you don't have insurance and can't afford to have it fixed then call the manufacture, local supply house, local plumbing contractor, guy down the street and ask for help. There are plenty of folks out there that would step up to the plate and help.

    Set up a fundraiser for all the folks in your area who need to get there equipment replaced.

    You could end up in jail or broke for the rest of your life. If you like to take chances sell everything you own and put it on black at the roulette table, there you can only hurt yourself, and you have a chance to win big.



    Good luck,
    Joe


    P.S. If I put the water heater in call me. I will come and replace the burner, controls, and/or water heater for you. I don’t want to get sued for something I didn’t do.
  • Dean_7
    Dean_7 Member Posts: 192
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    water heater

    I'm just a homeowner here but this to me is a ridiculous question. While it is possible to repair flooded apliances it usually isn't practicle. And why would you want to? An improperly functioning gas appliance can kill you and your family. How much is your life and the life of your family worth. Replacing the unit is really the only safe and in the long run cost effective option.
  • Howie_5
    Howie_5 Member Posts: 7
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    Drying out

    The water was 'clean' as an unfinished basemntcan be.. it wa not muddy etc. & as Dem above writes, the air filter got wet so blocks air.. I opened the door to let in air for combution and it ran fine. it just needs to dry out. if this was the mississippi and mud got all over the place ...ok that you can't clean it out. butthe only water that got thru is the water tha passed thru this filter no? so its got to have been clean water. As soon as thewater went down, that night, thenext day the pilot starts up ... no problem... just no air thru the filter so the burner can't breath. crack open the door and viola hot water. Isn't this just using your your brain to problem solve a design flaw?
  • Don \"Grumpy\" Walsh
    Don \"Grumpy\" Walsh Member Posts: 184
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    No design flaw!

    It isn't a design flaw at all. It is a measure taken to protect stupid people from themselves. The whole issue arose in the first place from lawsuits whereby dumb folks stored combustible liquids (Gasoline, varnish, paint, shellac, etc.) in the same area as the water heater. Now we have folks trying to fiqure out a way to circumvent these safety designs. I'm sure someone will, and another round of lawsuits protecting the morons will result.

    I'd be concerned about the mold issue as well, if your tank insulation got wet, it will wick water up into the jacket and soon begin to convert itself into black iccky stuff all over the place.

    Bite the bullet and replace it. All the potential dangers expressed by the above posters are real possibilities. Why endanger everyone in the household for the sake of a few hundreds of dollars?

    Anyone that you might hire to "repair" the existing one is asking for a potential career ending lawsuit. Of course if you find someone, then maybe the trade will be better off if they do lose their business via stupidity.
  • Howie_5
    Howie_5 Member Posts: 7
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    The question is not to replac or not. The Issue was/ is can I use it till i replace or are we takiing cold showers, till I figure out if a tankless/ on demand unit is better given the basements proclivity for water. And thoug they are trying ot save stupid people from themselves as you say, they are doing sme pretty stupd things themselves... a non recoverable system -from the very common wet basement problem is also stupid.. or designed to sell more units and take up more sace inthe landfills... etc.
  • Don \"Grumpy\" Walsh
    Don \"Grumpy\" Walsh Member Posts: 184
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    Thwaaack, Thwaaack, Thwaaack!

    That is the sound of my head beating against the wall.
  • SVDW
    SVDW Member Posts: 80
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    This thread proves the old saying: "no system is foolproof to an adequately determined fool." I guess there is a design flaw in the safety controls of this heater. The manufacturer should make the gas valves out of something that shuts off the gas & then dissolves when submersed in water. Then there's no possibility it would be restarted & endanger the occupants & their neighbors. Hopefully no ethical supplier will then sell a homeowner a gas valve & they won't find one in a scrapyard;). Any bets this heater will never be replaced unless it eventually fails? I don't mean to insult you Howie but I hope you're right the heater will be OK. If you're wrong I hope no-one gets injured by your actions.
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