Whirlpool Water Heater Problem

[Sean Naylor]

Your wife...? Mine was actually standing over my sholder as I was doing it. Crack'n that whip!

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

My thought exactly! LOL.

[Scott Myers]

I just replaced my water heater with a Whirlpool about 3-4 months ago. I looks like I may be OK, at least according to the links. I'm holding my breath!

[Dennis Peacock]

I went through 3 Whirlpool water heaters in under 4 years time. The last time we just called our local plumber and they replaced it with one they install, service, and warranty. Haven't had a problem with our water heater in about 2 years now. Besides, if anything goes wrong with it in 10 years time? They come and fix/replace it at no cost to be. New premium WH, installation, hauling off the old one, and labor cost? $724.00

Very well worth it for no more cold showers and no more worrying about why the WH ain't working AGAIN.

[Mike Henderson]

Other than that one problem, which was a design defect, I have not had any problems with my Whirlpool water heater. Whirlpool water heaters are made by American Water Heaters, which is a reputable company who makes heaters under a variety of names. I fully expect to get 20 years of service from the unit.

I might add that when I called American (who answers the number listed for Whirlpool WHs) about the problem I had, they responded quickly, politely, and without any questions.

Mike

[Ward Joy]

I had posted this in response to a posting in the General Woodworking section but felt the it was important enough to make it a posting by itself.

Whirlpool water heaters (sold by Lowes and others) for the past five or so years have a defective thermocouple, or some other defect that causes the thermocouple to fail - I'm not sure of the root cause. The symptom is that the pilot light goes out. You can re-light it but it will go out again, usually the same day. See here and here for some additional info about the problem.

An issue is that the Whirlpool thermocouple screws into the thermostat with left hand threads and a universal thermocouple has right hand threads. Whirlpool has a conversion kit which they will send you free which converts from left hand to right hand - but if you want it overnight(since you can't keep the pilot light lit) you have to pay the shipping (I think it's about $18).

What I did was cut my old Whirlpool thermocouple about 6" from the threaded part. You'll find an insulated central wire covered by a copper sheath. Solder the central wire onto the center of the universal thermocouple and use stranded wire to connect the outer sheaths together. Then screw back into the thermostat. Call Whirlpool (www.whirlpoolwaterheaters.com) - 877-817-6750 - and order the parts sent via regular shipment (which is free). When you get the kit, replace the klug I described above.

If you have a fairly new Whirlpool water heater from Lowes (say within the past five years) described as a "Flame Lock", you might want to call and get the conversion kit so if your thermocouple fails you can repair it quickly with a universal that you can buy at the Borg for about $7.

Mike

[I added some pictures of my "fix" (described above) to allow me to use a universal thermocouple while I wait for the Whirlpool shipment. Works fine and is safe. The old part of the original thermocouple is just used for the left hand threads. The voltage and current is extremely small (about 20 mV) so if someone touched the exposed wire, it would in no way harm them.]

Mike, thanks for this info.... Just helped me McGyver my Thermocouple so the wife could take a hot shower.... Info like this is a blessing....

Thanks again.

[Jerome Stanek]

My sons water heater had a gas valve that said it had a one shot deal that you had to replace it if you lost gas pressure after it had been used. I ended up replacing the gas valve because I could no keep it lit. Now it stays lit and works fine I got a used gas valve from a place for free.

[Mike Henderson]

This thread has had a long life. I occasionally get a message from someone not associated with SawMill Creek who found this thread and fixed their water heater problem. If I had known it would be that valuable to others, I would have taken better pictures in the beginning and described the fix better. But I suppose people have been able to figure it out. I suppose when you have the pieces in your hands my description is more understandable.

Anyway, glad it helped people. Waking up to cold water for a shower is not pleasant.

Mike

[Rick Potter]

Mike,

Let me add one more problem to avoid.

During the same time as your original post, I had a Lowes (I think it was Whirlpool, but not sure) water heater in a rental. Within a year the thermocouple went out, and I replaced it. Within six months or so, it went out again. Now, this water heater had the air intake on the BOTTOM, with a very fine mesh plate for air.

It turns out that the intake would clog, and it was almost impossible to vacuum off the mesh, as it was in a closet, and had a pan under it. The unit would fire up, starve for air, and turn off. I replaced it in less than two years. The new one has air intake on the SIDE of the heater, and the holes are large enough that they don't clog.

Five years or so later...no problems, happy tenant, happier landlord.

Rick Potter

[Chris Padilla]

Rick,

I'm in the market for a new water heater. We have a good ole Kenmore from Sears. It says 1996 on it and we bought the house in 1999. So, it is doing well and there are no leaks (replaced the thermocouple twice) but I see a lot of rust on the stand (dunno about the tank...again, no leaks that I can see/detect) so I figure I have some time to look around and educate myself. Up here in the BA, I'm lucky to live in a county that has restrictions on water heater emissions so I can only use ULN (ultra low NOx) qualified water heaters and thus, my choices get narrowed. I had thought to simply replace it with another Kenmore but the ULN version is not energy star and still has a standing pilot (probably why it is not energy star). AO Smith and Bradford-White seem to be reputable but to get those, I have to pay the plumbing outfit to install it for me so I'm looking at a grand minimum depending on which w/h I go for. For some of these ULN, I've heard about this mesh screen getting clogged but it isn't only on the ULN designs. In CA, the w/h must be placed on a stand/box/whathaveyou that is 12" off the floor so I had thought to cut a hole in the stand to make cleaning this screen easier. This would be easier to do if I could install the w/h I want myself instead of taking apart someone else's work that I paid for. Still looking around....

[Mike Henderson]

Rick,

I'm in the market for a new water heater. We have a good ole Kenmore from Sears. It says 1996 on it and we bought the house in 1999. So, it is doing well and there are no leaks (replaced the thermocouple twice) but I see a lot of rust on the stand (dunno about the tank...again, no leaks that I can see/detect) so I figure I have some time to look around and educate myself. Up here in the BA, I'm lucky to live in a county that has restrictions on water heater emissions so I can only use ULN (ultra low NOx) qualified water heaters and thus, my choices get narrowed. I had thought to simply replace it with another Kenmore but the ULN version is not energy star and still has a standing pilot (probably why it is not energy star). AO Smith and Bradford-White seem to be reputable but to get those, I have to pay the plumbing outfit to install it for me so I'm looking at a grand minimum depending on which w/h I go for. For some of these ULN, I've heard about this mesh screen getting clogged but it isn't only on the ULN designs. In CA, the w/h must be placed on a stand/box/whathaveyou that is 12" off the floor so I had thought to cut a hole in the stand to make cleaning this screen easier. This would be easier to do if I could install the w/h I want myself instead of taking apart someone else's work that I paid for. Still looking around....

Give some thought to a tankless. I have a tankless in my house now and really like it. No running out of hot water and lower gas bills (I noticed a difference in the bill after I installed the tankless).

Mike

[Harry Hagan]

I wonder who actually makes the water heater for them?? It is always a pain when a part is designed - in this case the threads -- just so you must get the replacement from the original maker. This is especially true when that part has a problem because it is never available in the numbers needed.

An interesting story on water heaters: I believe it was in the early 90's and my memory is telling me that HD did this internally - prior to universally selling water heaters in all the stores. They had a company go and ask people what brand of water heater was installed in the house they live in -- and also what brand of water heater they would buy in the future.

The majority of people said GE -- only one problem -- GE doe not make water heaters - and non were being sold under the GE brand at that time.

So they went to GE and made a deal to design new GE labels and packaging for the same heaters they were selling in some of the stores. They actually did not have to pay GE all that much - I believe only a dollar or two per unit.

GE went for it because the GE service number would be on the new heaters - Service is the profit area.

We bought a "GE" a few years back from HD that was made by Rheem. It seems to be working just fine and I'm glad we only referenced a comparable Whirlpool model at Lowe's to get the Depot's price match minus 10% discount.

[Chris Padilla]

Give some thought to a tankless. I have a tankless in my house now and really like it. No running out of hot water and lower gas bills (I noticed a difference in the bill after I installed the tankless).

Mike

Tankless doesn't appear to have the payback for its cost from all that I've seen and read. But, perhaps I need to get an outfit or two out to my house and see what it will actually cost me. Hmmmm.... What brand did you go with, Mike?

[Mike Henderson]

Tankless doesn't appear to have the payback for its cost from all that I've seen and read. But, perhaps I need to get an outfit or two out to my house and see what it will actually cost me. Hmmmm.... What brand did you go with, Mike?

I have a Rheem. And you're correct, from just a dollars and cents point of view, it's hard to justify a tankless. You'll almost certainly have to do some plumbing work and you need electricity at the tankless (there's a lot of electronics in a tankless). But there's two things that make it attractive: You never run out of hot water. With our tank, I'd get in the shower first and my wife might put in a load of wash. By the time she got to shower, there was no hot water (and happy wife, happy life). Second, they do use significantly less gas, I guess mainly because they don't have to keep a tank of water hot 24 hours a day.

One other thing that might help is that most gas companies offer rebates to install a tankless.

Mike

[Check your usage, but for many houses, this one may do the job. Mine is installed on the side of the house. If you want to go with an exterior one, look at this one. I don't know if prices went up, but I paid $800 for that exterior one in August 2012.]

[Rick Potter]

Hi Chris,

That bit about the pilot is certainly ironic, considering that the WH is probably the only gas appliance that actually benefits from a pilot, keeping the water warmer longer before big bertha kicks in.

I hope you are able to find a WH with a side air inlet rather than the bottom one, it will certainly save you grief.

BTW, it is apparantly illegal to buy a normal heater in your area, it may be illegal for a licensed plumber to install one also, but........is it illegal for a homeowner to own one if he buys it in another county and installs it himself?? Kind of like me buying oil based varnish when I go to Arizona in a few days. There is no law that I know of prohibiting non comercial use of it for homeowners. Shhhh, don't give Gov. Moonbeam any ideas.

Rick P.