So my six-year-old water heater stops working this morning. I checked it out and there were no leaks. I tried to re-light the pilot but no dice. I called a couple of blue collar friends who know this kind of and one says it is a part called a Thermo Coupler sold at Home Depot or Lowes. I go to the Depot and buy one for $10.99 thinking it will not be this easy or cheap. I go home take out the heating element and install the new part. It works like a champ now......all because of an $11 part. About a 1 hour job.
I wonder how many people have been taken advantage of by some of those unscruplous repair men selling them a new water heater?
Moral of the story: get self reliant
congrats!
when i was in iraq during the winter the base constantly ran out of heating elements. and the water was stored outside, so when it got down into the 20s and 30s the water got cold as . pretty much unbearable other than wash the hair and pits.
and then to haul ass back to your hooch before you got frostbitten
good times
Congrats on not being electrocuted while showering
yeh those water heater, it doesnt feel right when ur taking a shower, the hot water just feels different..Congrats on not being electrocuted while showering
I put in a garbage disposal by myself and felt like I was King of the world.
I like the fact that these days you can Google instructions for practically any DIY job, and in many instances the instructions even have pictures.
By the way, I was pleased to see that nobody typed "hot water heater" in this thread (yet). It's a stupid pet peeve of mine, but I have this thing about redundancy.
Well, I'm an apartment manager and get a free handyman whenever I want oneand one of our heating elements went out last month. The guys had to drain the water heater and shop vac over 2 inches of sediment out of the bottom of the tank. The heating elements were completely crusted over with calcium deposits (or whatever). Was strange.
Edited to say that wasn't supposed to sound like innuendo; just a comment on my shameless laziness!
To both replies......the cold water did cause shrinkage.Congrats on not being electrocuted while showering
I have done that also. But the dumbas that I am, I forgot to knock out the plug on the garbage disposal so the water form the diswasher could drain. The first time I used the dishwasher and water would not drain I thought, "WTF is next"?"
I have to admit I did go to Google and did just that. And I am hip to that "hot water heater" thing also.
If you have a electric water heater in the San Antonio area and it won't heat up the water like it use to you probably have a hard water damage to the lower heating element. You will get in time a build up of mineral deposits in the bottom of the water tank and it will keep on growing till it hits the bottom heater element. It will probably trip your electric breaker for the water heater. You can replace the electric element but unless you can get all the mineral deposits (looks like white chalk) out of the bottom of the tank, it's time to get another heater. You can get these deposits in gas water heaters also. They will build up and your water just wont get as hot. Your tank will probably start to leak and it's time to replace.Well, I'm an apartment manager and get a free handyman whenever I want one
Edited to say that wasn't supposed to sound like innuendo; just a comment on my shameless laziness!
You can get this hard water build up inside the toilets, ice machines,coffee makers--It's a San Antonio thing. --Get a water softer--it can help..
Last edited by Biernutz; 02-22-2009 at 02:20 PM.
I've always thought of it as a central Texas thing, the hard water. When you travel out of state, you spend 15 minutes trying to rinse conditioner out of your hair.
I forgot that when I lived in NC our hot water went from normal when showering to where it wouldn't even last 5 min. I was renting at the time and just called the landlord. I was expecting some major repair and all they did was replace the heating element.
It's amazing what google can do for you. At the same house my neighbnor replaced tehheating element on his dryer, and i've replaced several things that are relatively simple. just google first, if it seems beyond your skill level then call someone.
again congrats to the OP
OH, I just thought of a helpful tip that could possibly save someone tons of money. If your dryer starts to take longer and longer to dry, it's usually the vent line, not the dryer. You can stick a leaf blower in the line and hold a towel around it to seal the line so the air can only go out and it'll blow out wads of lint (and sometimes birds' nests). Speaking of dryers, you also need to wash your lint guard once in a while and scrub it with a toothbrush because the fabric softener will seal it up. Just more of the useless things I have learned.
I've had the same problem with my water heater. Thank you Google!!! If I could only figure out how my dang A/C works mechanically I would be made.
You need to blow out the condenser line.
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