New Style Water Heaters

[Another-Plumber]

Hi, i have a question about these new style Water Heaters we have in America (loNox).. If the thermocoupling goes bad you are susposed to replace the entire pilot assembly, however, most of the time this is special order part, i just called GE (home depot trash) service center last week and bought the kit for a customer, i was told they would next day the part since hot water is important, well no FedEX... i called GE back and was told the item was on back order with no timeline in sight.. Im like WTF? someone couldve told me this before.. and, why dont you carry i commen part in stock? no answer except , im sorry and shait... yea, so anyways i removed the pilot assembly and installed a new standard thermocouple and it worked, for a over a week now... I know you can do this on american standard models, tell me if this is OK to install just the thermocouple on other models (brands), seems for some reason, alot of newer water heaters are failing and want to be able to fix this for my customers as the other plumbers just tell them they cant till they get the parts..Fast Service = Fast Money... Thanks

 

[lordofthepipes]

is it an FVIR water heater?

 

[Another-Plumber]

its the model after that one, they call it "Low NOx Series water heater"
came out about 3 years ago

 

[Caduceus]

All tanks must be FVIR even if it is a Low NOx. I would go with the manufacturer recommendation. The whole reason there are so many safety features to hot water tanks is because too many DIYers and plumbers are doing a fast/cheap jobs and not considering that any amount of money saved or made is not worth the life of a person.
Manufacturers have spent money on lawsuits and money on research to avoid lawsuits, yet I still find homeowners, handymen and plumbers that ignore the big picture and create a safety hazard.
There may have been critical update information regarding the gas orifice or another part of the assembly that was ignored. My ego never gets in the way of reading the instructions to ensure safety and good function of the appliance.
Or maybe I'm just worrying about nothing. Yeah, could be that.

 

[Another-Plumber]

the problem is most of all the pilot assemblys are special order, this is a drag... i went to lowes and found the kits your are susposed to buy, then i got a standard thermocoupling, everything matched up from the style, to the tiny numbers on the nut... i know for a FACT American Standard water heaters take a standard couple, i have no love for the WH companys, they continue to jack the price up and make poor product... so the bottom line is, it is safe to install a standard couple? i also belive all parts are made by rheem, as far as im concerned it all about the MONEY...

 

[Caduceus]

I guess the quick answer would be: Install as per manufacturer recommendations. What I was getting to before is that I have installed manufacturer parts that were under warranty and supplied/shipped for free from the manufacturer. If the thermocouple was bad and they supplied the whole assembly and recommended complete replacement, I did the complete install. I have seen thermocouples reinstalled on one-time use control valves (it states this on the control valve next to the t.c. connection) which were unsafe, as well as other unique riggings that had no reasoning to them.
If the manufacturer says it's okay, then go with it.

 

[Mr_David]

The company I work for for many years used to sell American Water Htrs but the failure rate and customers service declined when they started to make the FlameGaurd
They had a left handed threaded thermocouple with a high temp bulb that would fail.
Then they started to replace them with a new Thermostat valve that would take a standard thermocouple and added a high temp sensor to the combustion cover plate.
We don't sell American Water Heaters NO more.
We prefer the Bradford White. They have a new innovative thermostat and so far we have had no problems with them.
This LoNox you speak of. The ones I have seen and worked on have a blower and require A/C. Does this have a blower and require A/C?

 

[Caduceus]

I believe the Low NOx water heaters are available in standard and power vented flues.

 

[Another-Plumber]

im just talking about standard res w/h... 50 gals

 

[Another-Plumber]

we all know what im talking about, the piece of shait water heaters that were made to lower the smog, if you ask the w/h companys they will tell you helll na, you cant just change the tc, yet however, the sites ive seen list just the tc for sale in some cases, explain that... but you have to look in the breakdown in parts to find it... so im going to continiue to install the T-couple as needed, i DONT see a risk of anything exploding.. I just made me sick as my 1st post says, the part is on back order, what does that tell you? alot of w/h are breaking down due to crappy product... i would NEVER leave my customer without hot water for 2 weeks...