John wood h20 heater leak

wrxz24

Our school just had to replace a John wood JW517 RF oil fired heater that was just 4 yrs old. They installed it on Jan 20, 2009. It started to leak pretty bad. Just curious on the possible reasons for the failure in just 4 yrs.

I told our principal that I knew of of a website that would shed some light on why? The heater had a 3 yr warranty.

Thanks in advance.

icesailor

Tank Leaks

Schools are usually considered Commercial Applications. The warranties are usually only for one year. A school is a very hard use for a water heater.

I have a "commercial account with two Bock 73E 70 gal. Oil fired water heaters that fail almost like clockwork every 5 years.

Not all water heaters are created equal. If it is in a school, it should (must) be ASME rated. I don't know if the ASME tanks are thicker but they cost a lot more.

Water quality plays a large part in tank longevity

I've changed six tanks. There are two tanks at the end of their service live and showing signs.

MikeL_2

tank longevity

Proper installation and maintenance can add years to a tanks life. The burner, flue ways, and smoke pipe should be inspected and cleaned yearly. High water pressure ( 80 + psi) should be reduced , and a thermal expansion tank must be installed to prevent pressure fluctuation.

The tank should be drained and flushed anually to reduce mineral deposits and sediment build up in the bottom of the tank. The anode rods should be inspected yearly ( every six months with softened water ); the relief valve should be exercised yearly as well............

MikeL_2

correction

Commercial water heaters should be drained and flushed every six month.........

heatpro02920

High use water tanks don't last long

I did a middle school with a Friend of mine ( he won the bid and then realized he didn't have the man power) . We had to install commercial tanks... They last about 7 years with that kind of use...

heatpro02920

High use water tanks don't last long

I did a middle school with a Friend of mine ( he won the bid and then realized he didn't have the man power) . We had to install commercial tanks... They last about 7 years with that kind of use...

Larry Weingarten

The things I'd check...

... are Water Pressure, (make sure there is no pressure spike caused by thermal expansion, or just plain high pressure)

Conductive Water usually caused by over-softening, (makes the anode rod get used up way too fast), 

Quick Closing Valves can cause damaging water hammer,

High Water Use can put the heater in condensing mode so much that it rusts out from the fire side (get bigger heater). 



I'm curious to know where the heater leaked.  Overhead plumbing leaks are tough on heaters too!



Yours,  Larry

hot_rod

operating temperature

makes a big difference. Higher temperatures, above 140F cause minerals to precipitate out faster and high temperatures add more thermal stress.



I have seen restaurants replace high capacity, large burner, DHW tanks every 3 years.

SWEI

commercial tank heaters

Don't cost that much less than a good boiler and an indirect, though the installation labor is higher.  Why don't we see more of this configuration?  Performance, efficiency, reliability, and serviceability are great.

heatpro02920

I always quote both ways

but most of the time they go with the commercial tank, another good option is plate exchangers with a boiler and some heavy duty mixing valves... I have done a few this way, and with the price you can get plate exchangers for now it is cheaper than any other option...

wrxz24

It was leaking

From the bottom, I think. It was town water. Thanks for all of the responses. I will post what they find. He wasn't sure if it was just a bad unit....