Kitchen Gas Appliances - Water Heater Problem
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bkent
09-04-02, 01:09 PM
Just bought a house, now water heater didn't work. Seller paid for a HMS home warranty.
Did some research, and ended up getting a new thermocoupler and installing it. Water heater still didn't work. I had to manually light it, and it would only heat up the water a little then completely shut down pilot and all.
Out of my expertise I call the warranty company and they send out a guy. He tells me that my thermo coupler isn't clicked all the way in, it was still in the flame of the pilot just that I didn't use the correct "nut" so it would stay put.
In order to keep the pilot lit, I had to hold the "red button" down for 10 minutes +. He puts some gas leak finding juice on all connections and finds that a nut (he called it the pressure relief valve) by the tube leading to the pilot is leaking a little because it loose. He tightens the nut and then charges me $60 and leaves :mad:
The problem still persists so I call him back. He tells me the only other possible problem is the thermometer and that he has to get that approved.
I call HMS today and find out that he had reported the problem as an "incorrectly installed thermo coupler" and so they had denied the claim. Again, the thermo coupler was in the pilot's flame, it just wasn't really clicked in and the thing that he fixed was tightening that nut and charging me $60. I called in and explained that he had mis-reported what he did and they tell me they will get back with me...my deductable is $100 so at the most I'll have to pay another $40 and they better either fix it or replace the tank, I know I already got ripped off but what should I do about the warranty company and the service guy basically both trying to screw me?
How hard is it to install a thermometer and what will it cost for parts?
Lastly how much will a new hot water heater cost (40 gallon) ?
Did some research, and ended up getting a new thermocoupler and installing it. Water heater still didn't work. I had to manually light it, and it would only heat up the water a little then completely shut down pilot and all.
Out of my expertise I call the warranty company and they send out a guy. He tells me that my thermo coupler isn't clicked all the way in, it was still in the flame of the pilot just that I didn't use the correct "nut" so it would stay put.
In order to keep the pilot lit, I had to hold the "red button" down for 10 minutes +. He puts some gas leak finding juice on all connections and finds that a nut (he called it the pressure relief valve) by the tube leading to the pilot is leaking a little because it loose. He tightens the nut and then charges me $60 and leaves :mad:
The problem still persists so I call him back. He tells me the only other possible problem is the thermometer and that he has to get that approved.
I call HMS today and find out that he had reported the problem as an "incorrectly installed thermo coupler" and so they had denied the claim. Again, the thermo coupler was in the pilot's flame, it just wasn't really clicked in and the thing that he fixed was tightening that nut and charging me $60. I called in and explained that he had mis-reported what he did and they tell me they will get back with me...my deductable is $100 so at the most I'll have to pay another $40 and they better either fix it or replace the tank, I know I already got ripped off but what should I do about the warranty company and the service guy basically both trying to screw me?
How hard is it to install a thermometer and what will it cost for parts?
Lastly how much will a new hot water heater cost (40 gallon) ?
bkent
09-04-02, 05:28 PM
Well, bad news. The warranty company now tells me that they will not extend coverage on the hot water heater because I did work on it. I bought a new thermo coupler, unscrewed the old one, and screwed in a new one.
What do I do?
What do I do?
sam mcbroom
09-04-02, 05:56 PM
tow things.
be sure that the nut end of the thermocouple does not have
any corrosion on the end, or inside the hole it screws in.
whatever it takes, the small end of the couple must be
in or real close to the blue flame.
dont kink it, but bend it around so it will have good exposure
to the blue flame.
sam
be sure that the nut end of the thermocouple does not have
any corrosion on the end, or inside the hole it screws in.
whatever it takes, the small end of the couple must be
in or real close to the blue flame.
dont kink it, but bend it around so it will have good exposure
to the blue flame.
sam