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This comment is wrong on many levels. Hot water heaters should last a lot longer, and when they fail it’s probably a faulty thermostat or short. Still, water he

This comment is wrong on many levels. Hot water heaters should last a lot longer, and when they fail it’s probably a faulty thermostat or short. Still, water heaters get a drain pan to catch leaks. Lastly, installing a leak detectors are trivial and common. Your condo may have been a bad install or not installed to code. America moves hot water just fine. EDIT: yes water heaters can fail. Usually due to bad install, people store stuff on the pipes or on top of the unit treating the mechanical closet like a utility storage closet for brooms vacuum ironing board stuffed in, or subjected to a freeze. Nothing wrong with the device itself, everything to do with improper install or maintenance.

com2kid 4y ago
> Lastly, installing a leak detectors are trivial and common. I've told about a dozen people in my life that leak detectors were a thing, and they were all shocked at the info. From what I gather, their existence is not common knowledge. > Still, water heaters get a drain pan to catch leaks. Initial leaks yes, but eventually hot water heats fail in a dramatic fashion and spew water everywhere. > Your condo may have been a bad install or not installed to code. Literally every apartment complex I've lived in has had this same issue. The apartment complex's my friends live in, same issue. I figure that commercially ran complexes would be motivated to install leak detectors, but apparently not. > Hot water heaters should last a lot longer, and when they fail it’s probably a faulty thermostat or short. Should, sure. The warranty is 10 years on higher end models, and the last ($2000!) water heater I had fail on me failed at 9 years and 6 months. I've seen older hot water heaters, sure, but the expectation is failure after 10 years. All the plumbers I've ever talked to have repeated exactly that. They also say that a large # of tankless units they have seen encounter motor failures after 10 years and also have to be replaced.
- KennyBlanken 4y ago
  Tanks don't fail unless the anode gets depleted. You seriously need to tell your condo association to get their maintenance people to flush the water heaters regularly (seasonally or annually) and check/change the anodes. If they're gas-fired heaters, the burner and air intakes should be getting cleaned. If this isn't being done, it's probably because your maintenance is being done by plumbers, who have convinced everyone that "they just fail, you know?" Replacing a tankless water heater because the motor has failed is silly. You replace the motor. And tankless heaters don't fail very often unless, again, they don't see regular maintenance. As in: flush/descale annually and water/air filter cleanings.
  - freemint 4y ago
    How does an anode help against a thermal expansion crack in the wall?
    - lazide 4y ago
      1) there should be a thermal expansion tank in the system to stop major pressure cycles. If you don’t have one, you’ll have dangerous high pressure spikes in the system. 2) anodes stop heavy corrosion in the system by sacrificing themselves.
  - com2kid 4y ago
    100 unit complex, no onsite maintenance, each owner is responsible for maintaining their own unit. All exterior entrances, so common areas are outdoors and maintained by contractors.
zardo 4y ago
Are you saying its not common for water heaters to fail and cause water damage? Maybe I'm an outlier, but several people have told me that this happened in their homes.
- djmips 4y ago
  We have several hot water heater apologists in this thread. It's rather amusing. But I think there must be a regional difference. Maybe hot water tanks fail more depending on the climate or water acidity or something...
throwaway742 4y ago
One problem is that people never replace their sacrificial anode. Most people don't even know it exists.
- 1123581321 4y ago
  They last as long as the expected tank life these days. Tanks with longer life rating use powered rods.
  - throwaway742 4y ago
    >They last as long as the expected tank life these days. Kinda seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy or one could even say planned obsolescence.
    - benj111 4y ago
      Or an accurate estimate??? I don't really get how you can extract a conspiracy out of something lasting as long as the manufacturer expected it to last.
      - Symbiote 4y ago
        Many manufacturers design things to wear out or break earlier than they would with minor changes to the design. It is an accurate estimate, done to increase sales.
    - 1123581321 4y ago
      It does. Unfortunately, homeowners have no interest in paying for premium units or investing in maintenance. So manufacturing precision goes into exceeding the 8-10 year warranty and little more. My hope is that the current and upcoming electric and natural gas pricing increases will lead to more awareness of heat pump water heaters, which last quite a bit longer.
- thedougd 4y ago
  I commonly find it's blocked by the installation. My last house it was blocked by the vent stack and one of the water lines.
Spooky23 4y ago
They leak because the sacrificial anode rod corrodes away. The difference between a 5 year warranty and 12 year warranty water heater is a few inches of metal.

com2kid 4y ago

> Lastly, installing a leak detectors are trivial and common. I've told about a dozen people in my life that leak detectors were a thing, and they were all shocked at the info. From what I gather, their existence is not common knowledge. > Still, water heaters get a drain pan to catch leaks. Initial leaks yes, but eventually hot water heats fail in a dramatic fashion and spew water everywhere. > Your condo may have been a bad install or not installed to code. Literally every apartment complex I've lived in has had this same issue. The apartment complex's my friends live in, same issue. I figure that commercially ran complexes would be motivated to install leak detectors, but apparently not. > Hot water heaters should last a lot longer, and when they fail it’s probably a faulty thermostat or short. Should, sure. The warranty is 10 years on higher end models, and the last ($2000!) water heater I had fail on me failed at 9 years and 6 months. I've seen older hot water heaters, sure, but the expectation is failure after 10 years. All the plumbers I've ever talked to have repeated exactly that. They also say that a large # of tankless units they have seen encounter motor failures after 10 years and also have to be replaced.

KennyBlanken 4y ago
Tanks don't fail unless the anode gets depleted. You seriously need to tell your condo association to get their maintenance people to flush the water heaters regularly (seasonally or annually) and check/change the anodes. If they're gas-fired heaters, the burner and air intakes should be getting cleaned. If this isn't being done, it's probably because your maintenance is being done by plumbers, who have convinced everyone that "they just fail, you know?" Replacing a tankless water heater because the motor has failed is silly. You replace the motor. And tankless heaters don't fail very often unless, again, they don't see regular maintenance. As in: flush/descale annually and water/air filter cleanings.
- freemint 4y ago
  How does an anode help against a thermal expansion crack in the wall?
  - lazide 4y ago
    1) there should be a thermal expansion tank in the system to stop major pressure cycles. If you don’t have one, you’ll have dangerous high pressure spikes in the system. 2) anodes stop heavy corrosion in the system by sacrificing themselves.
- com2kid 4y ago
  100 unit complex, no onsite maintenance, each owner is responsible for maintaining their own unit. All exterior entrances, so common areas are outdoors and maintained by contractors.

zardo 4y ago

Are you saying its not common for water heaters to fail and cause water damage? Maybe I'm an outlier, but several people have told me that this happened in their homes.

djmips 4y ago
We have several hot water heater apologists in this thread. It's rather amusing. But I think there must be a regional difference. Maybe hot water tanks fail more depending on the climate or water acidity or something...

throwaway742 4y ago

One problem is that people never replace their sacrificial anode. Most people don't even know it exists.

1123581321 4y ago
They last as long as the expected tank life these days. Tanks with longer life rating use powered rods.
- throwaway742 4y ago
  >They last as long as the expected tank life these days. Kinda seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy or one could even say planned obsolescence.
  - benj111 4y ago
    Or an accurate estimate??? I don't really get how you can extract a conspiracy out of something lasting as long as the manufacturer expected it to last.
    - Symbiote 4y ago
      Many manufacturers design things to wear out or break earlier than they would with minor changes to the design. It is an accurate estimate, done to increase sales.
  - 1123581321 4y ago
    It does. Unfortunately, homeowners have no interest in paying for premium units or investing in maintenance. So manufacturing precision goes into exceeding the 8-10 year warranty and little more. My hope is that the current and upcoming electric and natural gas pricing increases will lead to more awareness of heat pump water heaters, which last quite a bit longer.
thedougd 4y ago
I commonly find it's blocked by the installation. My last house it was blocked by the vent stack and one of the water lines.

Spooky23 4y ago

They leak because the sacrificial anode rod corrodes away. The difference between a 5 year warranty and 12 year warranty water heater is a few inches of metal.