3 ms·
> 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 sho
by 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 agoTanks 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 agoHow does an anode help against a thermal expansion crack in the wall?
- lazide 4y ago1) 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 ago100 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.