My bf and I rent a 1 BR condo from an individual (i.e. not a commercial multi unit enterprise). Our water heater went out last weekend. 3 visits from various tradesmen later, we still have no HW. It's getting frustrating.
First, an electrician checked the breaker, continuity, and the voltages and pinpointed the heating element(s) as the problem. Then, two plumbers came in and replaced those. It never heated up. Called them back out, they didn't bring a multimeter or voltage tester, took a look at everything, shrugged, and suggested we replace it with a new one under warranty. Which would be fine, except we're getting the run-around on that (supplier and manufacturer serving us to each other), not to mention this is a colossal game of broken telephone between myself, bf, landlord, and all the servicepeople.
Also the tank isn't leaking and flow is fine, so it has to be an electric problem, and the electronic parts are quite cheap...so replacing the whole thing seems wasteful. But I guess, not my decision.
Questions:
1) have you experienced similar and what was wrong? I don't want to touch it b/c of liability, but the engineer in me is itching to! And dying to know what's wrong.
2) any suggestions on most efficient way to proceed (eg to suggest to landlord)? Getting very tired of dealing with this. Almost willing to live without hot water, except washing greasy dishes sucks right now (no dishwasher). Also I'd want a rent discount.