WHY

Tracy Shields

Hi. Why is my hot water heater smelling? I have a water softner and it seems by the reasearch I've done that the softner has something to do with it? The Water co. took out the anoed rods stating that was the problem. That didn't fix it. I have the plumber putting back in magnesium rods and they are replacing the water heater. It is my understanding that the aenod rod is only good for two years with a water softner. Is that correct. What is the best way to get a longer life out of my water heaters when using a water softner? What type of rods should I have in there and why is a water softner causing so much problems?

joe_14

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS


can anyone tell me why a system works when it shouldn,t. i see many steam boilers, mostly one pipe that have been replaced not to long ago. none of the near boiler piping is even close to being right. ex. copper headers no offset header piping into bull tees,poorly placed hartford and connection. whats being done is the contractor rips old boiler out slides new boiler in and just connects to whats there a slam bam thank you mam job. i ask the customer how it works they say fine????????.
i also see hot water jobs done the same way.how can i make a customer understand why my price is higher. maybe iam from school and believe in doing the job right and looking after homeowners best interest instead of how much money i can make. i see full service companies doing work this way. the company i work for is guilty of this also.we use sub-contractors to do our installs there work is not done in the best interest of the homeowner.
my fear is that quality is being compromised and that 10 years from now this kind of work will be the norm. i hope not.
i have a passion for this heating stuff,just as all of you do. i hope we all can work together to see that this kind of work dosent become the NORM.

thanks for listen i had to get this of my chest.
joe.g.

Tony_8

hopefully

poor quality work will NEVER become the norm. In 10 yrs you may be replacing it. Take the high road and stay there, it pays in the long run. I'm booking work next Spring already w/o serious price discussions yet. The work is mine if I want it, all on reputation.

Boilerpro_3

I'm guessing my pics inspired this question

The first two of the three pics I displayed "worked". I would say mainly due to the fact that the pipes were big enough to get the steam velocity down so all the water would not get drawn into the system. Also "working" needs defining. Is the temperature within 1 degree from room to room? Is the system silent? Is it inexpensive to fuel? Will the boiler and other components last as long as they should? The first two boilers met an early death, I believe. All are WEil- Mclains and the second was a only about 18 years old and has a hole above the water line. All were oversized for the systems, so probably they saw alot of heat stress cycle wear on the castings. None have proper maintnance valves, so maintenance and inspection was nearly impossible... definitely reducing life. When somebody says the system is working "fine" ask them about how even temps are, banging and fuel bills..... you may find out their definition of "fine" is pretty poor.

Boilerpro

joe_14

yes


boilerpro it was your pics that made me ask the question.keep up the good work.

joe.g.

Mark Eatherton1

Sometimes...

all you can do is stand there and shake your head...

Hydronics and steam are very forgiving. Even after violating every golden rule for installation standards, it still puts out heat. Heat is but one component of comfort, and a person could get heat from a 55 gallon drum burning the oak furniture, but what they hey,"it works".

ME

Mark Hunt

Best bet


is to fire the system up if you can.

I have looked at countless steam boilers that were so poorly piped you would not believe that they produced heat.

The HO says they work "fine".

Fire it up!

I once looked at a steamer that I KNEW had to sound like Big Ben when it fired. Back pitched pipes, dry returns tied together above the water line, even the Hartford loop was higher than the boiler.

The customer tells me it makes no noise when it runs, but his wife was standing at the top of the basement stairs and starts SCREAMING at him. "YOU LIAR!!! THAT THING HAS BEEN KEEPING ME AWAKE SINCE YOUR BROTHER PUT IT IN!!!!!!!"

Hehehe!

Like Mark E said, sometimes you just shrug your shoulders.

I used to keep a copy of installation instructions for the most commonly used boilers in my area. Utica, WM, Smith, Peerless, etc.......... and I could show the customers what the manufacturers instructions said and compare it to what they got.

Be VERY specific about what you propose to do, mention EVERYTHING on the proposal. If the other guys don't write it, they don't have to do it. Tell the customers that they cannot assume that the other guy will do the same work.

I would finish the proposal like this, "All work performed will comply to State and local codes and manufacturers design" or something like that.

Have fun with it!

Mark H

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

JohnNY

It's unbelievable!

I was in this guy's house a few months ago and his heat worked fine too.

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

kevin coppinger_4

the racket that must...

have made! Oh my!

doug_10

Try reposting this

as a new thread on The Wall. Good questions, but they might get lost in this thread.

Mark Eatherton1

Stinkin' water heater syndrome...

Yes, softeners DO cause anode rods to have an extremely short life expectancy.

Sometime, a bacteria forms inside the water heater and causes a foul sulpher like odor. It can be taken care of by shocking the heater with clorox. Have the water company pull the anode back out, and induce 2 to 3 cups of clorox into the anode hole. Let sit for 8 hours. Flush the livin' (and dead)crap out of it and see if that helps.

Stinkin' heaters, anyway...

ME