Drclock's Project # 36

Phew!

Lucked out..yeah!  I don't have the wheel studs in the calipers and drums yet, so rolling it out would have meant a chain to the pickup and a dragging over the lift...

"Honey, I smell something burning"

Good for you... scary thing when electrical stuff starts to go... I had a daylite running module once catch on fire in my car and if it wasn't for the lights staying on I would not have checked it and it would have burnt it to the ground. 

I'm surprised Connie didn't point out that the hot spark could have been her hunk a hunk of burnin love!!!!  ( I'm sure I'll pay for that comment!)

I think you dodged a bullet there Dr. Clock.  Sometimes you get lucky -- and also you persisted until it was found.  That's what really saved the bacon.

Getting close to being (almost) done.....

Drained the old gas from the tank even though the gas looked ok... changed out rubber line and filters too. Previous owner had the long 4.25 (wrong) fuel pump rod in and it ate the pump lever. Motor and clutch are in and wired up, deck lid electric actuator in and adjusted. Connie helped with getting the seats positioned correctly.

Waiting on the door electric solenoid warranty replacement to arrive. 

 Decided to toss the aluminum front  VW 4 on 130mm to Chevy 5 on 4.75 adapters in favor safety i.e.  new GM pattern front rotors and bearings...they are on the way. Maybe another 12 hours to go or so....Should, run and drive next Sunday.

WHoo-haaa!!  Or Whoooo-hooo, or whatever.  Down to the short strokes.  When it's on the road -- WE NEED PICTURES.

What "El Frazoo" (Kelly???) said.  Gonna see that sweet ride in Carlisle?

El Frazoo = Kelly

There will be a short intermission while I replace my home water heater this week... sending out hints of being on it's final lap~.

Gas or electric??  This should not set you back more than a couple of hours.  If you have a hose long enough to reach the door, you are good.  The rest is easy.  Except for the dip into discretionary funds.  Be prepared for gross sticker shock.  I can recall when a silly electric water heater was less than $100.00.  Boy are those days long gone.  The last one I bought a few years ago actually had a little computer or electronic controller goddammit on the top.  WTF??  And of course, said electronics crapped out a few years in.  Fortunately, this was a warranty item (they had an acknowledged issue w/ these PCBs) and sent me a new board right away.  And I mean right away.  The gal I spoke to in the afternoon said she'd overnight it, and I had the thing in my hand by 10:00 the next morning.  so that was good. 

I'm guessing electric. They have a sacrificial anode that, if replaced every year or two can prevent changing the heater out.......

Yes, they all come that way.  Also if it is a heating element (calrod) that has gone bad, you can replace these too, not much trouble. I have opted for SS.  If the tank goes leaky, end of story.

The "dip tube" went bad ( back flows hot water into the cold intake line.)

Lowe's wants $200 to install !!!!! Are they nuts or what? Two water lines, wire nut three wires...done and I have a source to get rid of the old one too. I'll go get one @$249.00 later today.

Alan, you knucklehead, that wasn't Lowes!

You dialed your Porsche dealer by mistake.

I've never done one but think I'll see the day. I can see easily how to hook them up. Probably could even run the gas line to one to convert from electric to gas--though I'd probably not risk it at this late date. Only one thing concerns me: what do those puppies weigh? 

When they're full of soaking wet lime? A lot. $200 seems not all that far off, considering that's about 2 hours of a licensed plumber's time.

Yeah, $200 to install/remove a heater? Pocket change. If you have anybody come out to your house for anything, be prepared to spend at least $100 for the privilege. That seems to be the minimum these days to get somebody to roll.

Not in Tennessee.  I had occasion to call an HVAC company when my heat pump was running continuously even when it had reached its preset temperature.  The basic call rate (the one that gets companies to roll) was $68.  Unfortunately after breakering off, pulling the fuses and cleaning the contacts, and powering up, nothing changed.  Then I discovered at the control panel that somebody, no names please, had turned the fan on.  Well, duh!  Service call canceled.  In the process, however, I received a recommendation for another company, a small family-owned one that received high marks from that individual. 

So here we are on page 5, and Alan is installing a new water heater in his #36 build? Is that about right, Doc? Am I up to speed?

If you remove the anode rod and put some Teflon tape on it when it's new, it makes later replacement much easier and you don't destroy the tank in the process. Ask me how I know.

Al Gallo, you missed the fire (almost) in the garage...

Ed, there is nothing inherently complex about HW heater remove/install.  Obviously, you gotta drain the water out, and if deep in a basement w/out a drain in the floor, that could be problematic -- pump required.  Empty, they are manageable by one person.  A hand truck will help a lot.  And while a gas hook up is pretty easy these days if you use flexible gas lines and fittings, I'd bet most jurisdictions would require a lic. gas-fitter to do the hook-up. If you screw that one up, you and a couple of your nearest neighbors might end up on the moon, if you get my drift.  A new gas line run requires opening the existing line; if you already had a gas HW heater, maybe not so tough to do a quick R&R in place.  With electric, if you screw that up it either won't work, or your handiwork flips a breaker, big deal.

Changing a HW tank out, either gas or elec. isn't rocket science. If it is gas powered there is a gas shut off valve, turn it off, turn off the water inlet valve. Both gas and electric have electrical hook-ups, turn off the breaker, then disconnect the wires. Drain the tank. Remove the old tank, a helper with a strong back and weak mind...LOL...is a benefit. Install the new tank.

Current codes require installation of 'earthquake straps' to prevent the tank from toppling over, possibly tearing out either gas and/or electric lines. If they are not there install them, they are cheap insurance available from any big box builder store, also a 'catch pan' is a good thing to install.

Reverse the process to install a new tank. Make sure it fills with water before firing up to prevent burning out the heating coils, check for gas leaks with soapy water sprayed on the fittings, tighten down if a leak is found, the soapy water will bubble up if gas is leaking. Double check all electrical fittings are tight, turn on the breaker.

In about 30-45 minutes go take a hot shower

P.S. you may want to turn down the tank heat, most HW tanks are set at the factory around 140+/-*, that is getting into scalding temps. A 120* setting is a

fairly safe temp. You do not want your kids or grandkids(or your self) to turn on the hot water and get burned. Also if you are replacing a tank say a 30/40 gal. type consider paying a little more and get a 50/60 gal. one, it'll save you money in the long run, you can take a couple showers back to back while running the DW and still have hot water or if you have teenage girls...you know what I mean

Not when you're retired and on a budget.

With the uniform acceptance herein of a $100 hourly, please be advised that my shop rate ( IMHO was, dirt cheap) has now gone main stream to the tune $100 so that I will not be referred to as " El Cheapo".

......  "Honey we're retiring a month early" !

Uh - oh, someone said the magic words . . .

If it IS rocket science, then I suppose I'd have to make a house call.  Good thing it isn't.

Apparently El Frazoo saw the episode of Mythbusters where the hot water heater shot through the roof of the house like a rocket! Apparently they had a safety valve failure or a simulation of one!

It was cool to watch.....

I'd rather not carry on about the water heater from hell replacement, so....

Speedster Update:

DHL arrived today with CIP1 rotors, wheel bearings, fuel pump, I had everything apart and waiting..... just 2 hours to install everything, the motor fired right off and I have 4 gears and reverse.  Still waiting for the door solenoid replacement. Need to do flat tin between the frame and motor, weld up the exhaust tips and a half dozen misc. items.

Well hoo-ha.  Big progress sounds like.  the first fire-up is alwys exciting.  And I sure hope you're not takin cold showers -- or worse, none at all.  Pls say the heater got done.

I'm sure that this is "the one I'm gonna keep" and you'll still be driving it for Carlisle. Yeah, and monkeys are gonna fly out my butt.

OK the water heater follies:

The old one was so full of sediment it wouldn't hardly drain ( spring water runs down off the mountain) used a hand truck to drag it outside, had to snap off the drain valve with an pick axe to get about 4 lbs of sediment sand out of it.

Hooked up the new one and no hot water, just frigg'n cold !

Checked elements with a multi-meter and were good. I was at a loss so I had to rattle my pockets and summon a Plumber from a large local company.....

The first Plumber summoned the second one, the second Plumber summoned the third one and the third summoned the big boss aka the Master Plumber...We had four yes ..4.. Plumbers here at the same time before the youngest guy figured it out, turned out that when I opened the hot faucets to clear the air in the line the air pressure blew out a water mixing cartridge in the shower closet to the heater.             ~And we lived Happily Ever After~ 

Wow Alan, that sounds like one of those probability theory problems:

If four plumbers all promise to show up "sometime between one and four pm", what are the odds they'll all be there at the same time?

Hopefully they weren't all charging you for their time. 

How many plumbers does it take to change a water heater?

Apparently, 4, in Pennsylvania!

Makes giving somebody $200, and you spending the entire time in your garage seem pretty inexpensive, no? 

Alan, Here is what I suggest: install a sediment filter at the entry to the house.  Fairly simple.  I have  a double size one in my system. Replacement  filter cartidges are pretty cheap, and changed out every few months, depending.  I could send a picture.  Got mine at Graingers, bet they have them at Home Depot, etc.

Yeah, I have one even though I have town water. We have very hard water with sediment that I don't want to drink or wash my clothes with. Change the filter every 3 months or so. I may end up adding another, #1 for sediment, #2 charcoal for chlorine taste removal.

Kelly its on the do do list.

I am glad I changed out the water heater myself as it would have been an additional 200 bucks.

Remember way back when we lived in Rhode Island (honestly, we could never forget....).   Anyway, we ended up with this amazingly complex, reverse-osmosis water purification system Because the water coming out of an un-treated faucet was usually the color of cured tobacco.  I'tm not kidding.  Probably due to living within 300 yards of wither a salt marsh or the ocean....don't know, and the result of glaciation in the last Ice Age.

But stuff coming out a "treated" faucet?  Perfectly clear and tasted great.

Alan!  Glad the "Great Hot Water Expirement" ended well.   Hope you gave the young kid a six pack of something good.