Water-Heater Brands and Maintenance

[Chi42]

A.O. Smith Water Products Co. owns the former State Inds, which
makes reliance wtr/htrs,and also owns American wtr/htrs which
makes Whirlpool wtr/htrs sold in Lowes, But whirlpool has a long history of problems, so A O Smith started packaging them as AO Smiths,
but the real A O Smiths are only sold though Plumbing Supply Houses to Professional Plumbers, these State and American are made in Tenn.
the A O Smith are made in Mexico, as are Rheems, Bradford White are made in the good old USA, in Penn, Rheem/Ruud are owned by a CO. out of Japan
45 yr Master Plumber with a PHD in Water Heaterolgy

Reliance water heaters seem to get mostly great reviews. Are these water heaters actually great?

Also, there is a company in the Chicago area called Skokie Valley Air Control (http://www.skokievalleyairctrl.com/). This company does HVAC repair.

This company claims to have genuine A.O. Smith water heaters. Of their 40-gallon A.O. Smith water heaters, their cheapest one (tank + installation) is the GCG-40, priced at $1350. Is that a reasonable price for a genuine A.O. Smith?

 

[Ozzie]

The rumbling sound is from sediment at the bottom of the tank acting as an insulation blanket which prevents normal convection from carrying burner heat to the bulk of the water. Instead, the water at the bottom is superheated until it creates bubbles that explode off the superheated bottom.
The fact that your tank has lasted this long, it may be copper, not current porcelainized steel. It could potentially outlast many new tanks of any brand.
You definitely should flush the tank. I would keep using it until it leaks which could be decades more.
AO Smith has been buying up other brands, makes tanks under maybe a dozen names. For the most part, the same basic tank, just different burners and controls.

 

[Chi42]

You definitely should flush the tank. I would keep using it until it leaks which could be decades more.

If I flush the tank, will that get rid of the sediment and the rumbling sound? The rumbling sound can be loud, and that sound sometimes wakes my mother up at night.

Also, if the water heater starts leaking, will the leaking be gradual at first? Or will the entire contents of the water heater just flood my basement very suddenly?

AO Smith has been buying up other brands, makes tanks under maybe a dozen names. For the most part, the same basic tank, just different burners and controls.

So, is the Reliance brand sold at ABT Electronics just as bad as the Whirlpool (rebranded as A.O. Smith) sold at Lowe's?

 

[Ozzie]

You normally attach a hose to the drain valve at the bottom, then fully open the valve until the water runs clear. The dip tube should end with a 90 degree bend at the bottom of the tank. The cold water rushing in should stir up most or all of the sediment and likewise end the rumbling.
My experience is that tanks always start to leak with small drips that you can hear as a drip, or sometime as a sizzle when a drip falls on a burner, or seen as puddle on the floor. I have never heard of a tank dramatically rupturing and flooding an area, although I supposed it could happen.
Thirty years ago, I ended up buying to water heaters from supposedly different companies. The two companies had adjacent addresses on the same street. Obviously they had a common production facility out back. I can't imaging AO Smith not using the same thickness and quality sheet metal for all the tanks. Its hard enough keeping track of the different sizes. Their big savings is in automating the rolling, cutting, robot welding, porcelainizing, etc, not in saving a few dollars in tank thickness.
The only difference between the 6 year and 12 year warranty tanks is that the 12 year has two anodes. Having different labels and controls is small potatoes compared to the tanks.

 

[Chi42]

You definitely should flush the tank. I would keep using it until it leaks which could be decades more.

The first 4 digits of the water heater's serial number are 1178. That means that the water heater was built in November 1978.

I just spoke to an HVAC-repair company and a plumbing company. Both companies told me that, because the water heater is 40 years old, flushing the water heater will make the water heater worse. Therefore, these companies are refusing to come here and flush the water heater.

In fact, these companies said that this water heater was supposed to last only 15 years, and that I am incredibly lucky that the water heater has lasted 40 years.

Are these companies correct? Will flushing the water heater make the water heater worse?

 

[voletl]

Yes it might very well cause the water heater to fail don't touch it leave it alone don't even look at it

 

[Chi42]

AO Smith has been buying up other brands, makes tanks under maybe a dozen names. For the most part, the same basic tank, just different burners and controls.

If A.O. Smith makes Reliance water heaters and makes Whirlpool water heaters that are rebranded as A.O. Smith, then who makes genuine A.O. Smith water heaters?

Are these genuine A.O. Smith water heaters good? They seem to cost a lot of money.

And are the Reliance water heaters good?