Fixed the Water Heater!

[ducky19]

The water heater in the rental property we recently purchased was not working. The house had sat empty for over a year and a half. We had someone out to inspect the HVAC and we asked them to look at the water heater as well. They advised against trying to fix it and would replace it for $1200, to which I replied, "um, no..."

Checked with my father-in-law who has his own rental empire, he said it was probably the thermocouple. I went to YouTube and watched a few videos, then went to Lowes and got a new one. Long story short, $7.75 later, the water heater is working fine and we've got hot water!

[Mr.GrowingMustache]

Nice! I hope it's a newer unit!

I had a 24 year old electric water heater in my house.... it worked perfectly fine, but the timebomb factor was getting to me. I decided to replace it myself. Easy job especially if it is in a nice place with 1'-2' of room on all sides.

[ducky19]

It's about seven years old, so it should still have a lot of life in it. I filled it with water and it hasn't had any leaks for a couple of months, so I think we're in good shape!

[bigalsmith101]

Nice! I hope it's a newer unit!

I had a 24 year old electric water heater in my house.... it worked perfectly fine, but the timebomb factor was getting to me. I decided to replace it myself. Easy job especially if it is in a nice place with 1'-2' of room on all sides.

My dad is a plumber, who specialized in Water Heaters before he retired. I've been on so many jobs with him, and there is no rhyme to the reason for a tank to fail. I've seen 30yr old water heaters that were removed preemptively, and I've seen 7yr old ones fail.

No doubt you made the right choice. My dad would have replaced the thermocouple and never looked back.

You make a good point about having space around the water heater. Makes a replacement easy!