A.O. Smith water heater. Big problems. No help. (JohnNY) **Updated 3/27/15, 11:30am**

Rich_49

Good choice John . You and your customer will surely be pleased with the Phoenix .

RobG

I'm sorry to hear that the "parts" didn't fix the problem. Just make the customer happy and move on. Lesson learned for all of us at HH.

JohnNY

Replacing this water heater today.

j a_2

Great. Hope it goes well,as I am sure it will...my self I have put the KO on AO...

j a_2

I can only imagine the logistics alone of working in NY City...Boston is tuff enough...

jonny88

ja nyc is a tuff one .Please let us know how you make out today maybe a sort video clip like you did before.Best of luck.

Rich_49

JohnNY ,

Please tell us how you made out and how the Phoenix went in for you . Did you use a Sanitizer or the MultiFit ?

RobG

I would still like to know why the "parts" did not fix the problem. I would assume that the goal was to convert it to the same technology as the older unit? Did the customer just ask you get that POS out of my building?

JohnNY

I'll never know what the problem was there. I'm convinced there's an issue with the way my Cyclone was transferring heat to the water (after the burner) and I'm also convinced it's a problem that is not unique to the unit I installed and perhaps not unheard of at the factory.
Again, what I got from AOS was a replacement display panel that allowed me the option to turn off the modulation function, which, in fairness, was what I asked for.
That should have turned the water heater into a big dumb condensing unit like the old one was. Unfortunately, since installing that board and setting the burner to an on/off setting, the restaurant has seemingly never had less hot water. They tried it for two days and turned it off, switching to the building's metered water source.

I just got a text from the restaurant owner saying "Only good news!...temp holding steady at 140° after the mixing valve all evening".

The HTP Phoenix is working well.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll get some sleep tonight.

Again, thanks for all the helpful and supportive comments made here and to Mr. H for the prime real estate this post has occupied on The Wall.

I'm lighting a candle this headache is over.

Rich_49

Still curious as to which unit and configuration John . How'd the install go ?

JohnNY

Rich, it's the 100MBH/80 gallons. It's the one that maxes out at 160 degrees. Not the Sanitizer.
Installation went just fine save for a quickly remedied problem with the unit not lighting at first. We had to choke down on the fresh air to get the flame to hold at low fire. That happens on mod-cons some times. I'll stop in today and take some combustion readings to make sure all is well.

Rich_49

Thanks and glad the install went well .

4Johnpipe

@JohnNY Another thing to consider with the HTP is its a stainless tank you wont need to swap out every 3 years...

Koan

maybe we should dig up the tankless video and reword it as follows:

B1) "I want an AO Smith water heater"....

B2) "Why would you want an AO Smith water heater...."

B1) "I saw an advertisement that they were good."

B2) " Are you aware of what @JohnNY went through?"