Somebody's Watching Over You

That's what Jim the plumber said after inspecting Regina's parents' broken water heater, "Somebody's watching over you, that's for sure."

Regina and I had noticed that when showering, we would run out of hot water before finishing. We didn't remember that happening last time we visited, so we figured we should investigate. The first thing we thought of was to check the temperature on the water heater. Maybe it was set too low. Well, this water heater didn't have a convenient, well-marked dial on the outside, but rather it had two panels secured with screws. We suspected the temperature control was behind one of those panels, but we weren't sure. We also couldn't find the manual. So, I looked it up online and learned that this particular model is old enough that the manufacturer didn't have its manual online anymore. Regina suggested looking at the manual for one of the other similar models. Why didn't I think of that? Good idea. I learned that the temp control was indeed behind the secured panels. I removed both panels and found a bunch of wires, screws and jumpers, protected by a plastic shield and on top of that was a layer of insulation. I couldn't figure out how to increase the temperature, but I did notice that there was a lot of corrosion. That prompted me to call the manufacturer's tech support. He suggested calling a plumber to replace both heating elements.

Jim the plumber arrived at about 2pm and took a look. He said he could certainly replace the heating elements, but his recommendation was to replace the whole thing. He proceeded to show us how the wires were falling apart and there was evidence of fire inside the unit that had burned the plastic shield and the insulation. He said we were lucky it didn't burn the house down and that if we hadn't called when we did, that's exactly what would have happened. Needless to say, Regina's Mom took his advice and replaced the whole thing and upgraded to a higher capacity heater. So now, we're back in business. Hot showers for all!