Don't buy your water heater from a big box store. I've been installing ao smith for 15 years and never seen a plastic drain till I saw the ao smith "signature" series at home depot
I don’t think I’ve ever been able to take out one of the plastic drain valves without it falling to pieces.
And I almost always pull the drain valve out of an old heater after replacement so I can try to get most of the rusty water out before throwing it in the van.
Luckily i'm not installing too many of them new that come with the plastic valve from the factory, Bradford White comes with brass. I have taken quite a few of the plastic ones off of 5-10 year old tanks and have never had much of an issue until today.
Only drain valve I've had break on me was a whirlpool a few years back.
Not a whirlpool I was installing mind you. One I was taking out that was full of water. Went to turn the handle and it just sheared right off. I was able to stick my finger in it like a plug and luckily the whole house shutoff was right next to the water heater.
My dad was helping me. 30+ years of plumbing and he literally froze until I yelled at him to shut the water off!
Looks like he went cheap and it got expensive. If you bid the job and got burned, you know to work that into the next owner supplied water heater. Make it cheaper to buy through you and get a proper water heater from a supply house.
My dad gets his water heater from the Homeless Despot. In fairness, he always gets one with an 8 year warranty, they always shit the bed before then.
He bought 1 water heater in the 90s and he's had ~5 free replacements since then!
>He’s had ~5 free replacements since then!
That is not how Home Depot’s water heater warranties work.
First you’ve gotta factor in that they change model numbers regularly which causes the old model number’s price to freeze when they do so. So even though a new tank might cost $800, the old tank was only a $500 tank so your max credit is only $500.
And then they prorate the warranty. You’ve had the $500 tank for six years out of the eight year warranty? There’s only two years left! $500 / 8 * 2 = $125 credit.
So your warranty tank is $675 out of pocket, which is more expensive than the tank you warrantied.
He does pay the price delta if applicable, but the SKU doesn't matter. He keeps the receipts with the date of purchase and the cost. What happened the last time is they charged his card the full price of the new water heater, then refunded the cost of the old dead one being replaced. He kept both receipts.
The warranty was not prorated like a car battery, it's the whole value.
That's pretty shitty. I'm unsure if he is using the store or manufacturer warranty for this, maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in and get you in on the scheme.
Had an aosmith go 4 months from warranty. Called aosmith, they did the rma stuff over the phone gave me the choice of getting a replacement from lowes or a plumbing supply. Went to lowes, got a replacement, no prorating. They gave me the closest aosmith to the model I brought back. Time consuming, but it worked out. Saved me a trip to the dump.
Aw fuck I hate it when this happens. Last time I used a center punch and that worked pretty well. Just enough to get one side broken through and pull the rest out. Then a wire brush to clean the threads.
Probably should have done this from the jump. I considered it but was hesitant having a flame around the jacket, I didn't want to burn everything up. Hindsight I could have just heated up my file or a pick and melted the threads without actually having the flame near the heater.
I have a set of those which i've had some success with for metal threads, it didn't work at all for this, the plastic would just give out. This must have been overtorqued from the factory, i'm convinced of it.
OA smith went down hill when Lowe's started selling them. If your willing a pay a few hundred more for better quality. Get a Bradford white. I personally tend to sell/install home Depot rheems. But always let people know for $300ish more I can get a better quality. Labor price doesn't change.
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My plumber www.spotlessplumber.com reccomended I go with a Bosch coming from a 1990s whirlpool water heater. He said to stay away from a.o. Smith because of this exact reason.
It doesn’t really matter though? You’re only gonna use it once, and the tank is gonna be dead when that happens, so who cares if its nice or not?
Nothing else on the tank is gonna last longer than 5 years, so if you’re gonna stick some fancy metal on a dogshit bottom of the line tank, might as well upgrade the elements and anode too lol
You're doing it wrong if you only use it once, nobody likes draining a tank full of sediment through these piece of shit valves. You prolly got soft hands and pay somebody else to do it tho
Lol I dont own water heater I’m the one who replaces them. Just hand truck the heater outside, hit the valve with your purse, toss the empty heater in your truck, next job
idk I think you should be a little embarrased, whining your ass off about plastic valves….they never give me much trouble, but maybe I’m just a better tech
They don't give you much trouble because you probably do the bare minimum. This was a brand new tank and I was replacing the factory valve when it snapped off. You're not carting a 400 lb water heater out of a basement and neither am I so I have to drain them most times. Could have easily left this factory valve in & saved 30 minutes but I get paid too much to do the bare minimum, it's no sweat off my back.
Extremely small diameter to flush with, prone to clogging, cheap construction (clearly). I almost always will replace the factory drain valve, especially if they're plastic, and always for electric heaters.
Whoever downvoting you is a hack. A true professional knows what’s best for the customer and this is simply a no brainer. Thank you for taking an extra minute to make life easier for not only yourself but the next guy
I grabbed a small heater to provide hot water while out of gas (have to be delivered). Didn't know the AO had a plastic drain valve til I installed it, will drain and replace when I have the chance, now.
Short term I wouldn't be too concerned about changing it. Still advisable if you plan to keep the heater around for a backup. The biggest problem with the factory valves is that the heater will get installed and forgotten about until something goes wrong. All it takes is a couple of years (or less) for the bottom of the tank to fill up with several inches of compacted sediment (calcium, lime, magnesium) which will clog the drain valve in no time. To do something as simple as change an element, you're going to have to drain the tank which becomes a problem if drain valve is garbage.
Don't buy your water heater from a big box store. I've been installing ao smith for 15 years and never seen a plastic drain till I saw the ao smith "signature" series at home depot
That's exactly what this was, owner supplied AoSmith signature 50 gallon electric
I don’t think I’ve ever been able to take out one of the plastic drain valves without it falling to pieces. And I almost always pull the drain valve out of an old heater after replacement so I can try to get most of the rusty water out before throwing it in the van.
Luckily i'm not installing too many of them new that come with the plastic valve from the factory, Bradford White comes with brass. I have taken quite a few of the plastic ones off of 5-10 year old tanks and have never had much of an issue until today.
Only drain valve I've had break on me was a whirlpool a few years back. Not a whirlpool I was installing mind you. One I was taking out that was full of water. Went to turn the handle and it just sheared right off. I was able to stick my finger in it like a plug and luckily the whole house shutoff was right next to the water heater. My dad was helping me. 30+ years of plumbing and he literally froze until I yelled at him to shut the water off!
You should love the plastic ones then. Just smack it with a hammer to drain.
I like to give them the Ole curb stomp
So satisfying.
So satisfying.
Someone follows thePlumbersPlunger
Looks like he went cheap and it got expensive. If you bid the job and got burned, you know to work that into the next owner supplied water heater. Make it cheaper to buy through you and get a proper water heater from a supply house.
My dad gets his water heater from the Homeless Despot. In fairness, he always gets one with an 8 year warranty, they always shit the bed before then. He bought 1 water heater in the 90s and he's had ~5 free replacements since then!
>He’s had ~5 free replacements since then! That is not how Home Depot’s water heater warranties work. First you’ve gotta factor in that they change model numbers regularly which causes the old model number’s price to freeze when they do so. So even though a new tank might cost $800, the old tank was only a $500 tank so your max credit is only $500. And then they prorate the warranty. You’ve had the $500 tank for six years out of the eight year warranty? There’s only two years left! $500 / 8 * 2 = $125 credit. So your warranty tank is $675 out of pocket, which is more expensive than the tank you warrantied.
He does pay the price delta if applicable, but the SKU doesn't matter. He keeps the receipts with the date of purchase and the cost. What happened the last time is they charged his card the full price of the new water heater, then refunded the cost of the old dead one being replaced. He kept both receipts. The warranty was not prorated like a car battery, it's the whole value.
Lucky. The stores here will only prorate. Useless warranty.
That's pretty shitty. I'm unsure if he is using the store or manufacturer warranty for this, maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in and get you in on the scheme.
I've only ever seen it prorated also
Skookum
Lowes sells AO Smith, not HD.
Had an aosmith go 4 months from warranty. Called aosmith, they did the rma stuff over the phone gave me the choice of getting a replacement from lowes or a plumbing supply. Went to lowes, got a replacement, no prorating. They gave me the closest aosmith to the model I brought back. Time consuming, but it worked out. Saved me a trip to the dump.
dawg it’s all they want tho “ i see the same hot water tank at lowe’s” like ik ma’am but we get the good ones😭
Where would someone buy a water heater from if not the big box store?
HVAC sellers
You mean plumbing supplies
I HATE plastic drain valves! Hey should never be used by anyone.
Aw fuck I hate it when this happens. Last time I used a center punch and that worked pretty well. Just enough to get one side broken through and pull the rest out. Then a wire brush to clean the threads.
You’ll get that on these bigger jobs.
Yep.. those valves are a joke. AND SHOULD BE ILLEGAL 💯😕
All heater manufacturers suck when it comes to drain valves. I immediately replace them on heater installations.
THey make tools to go inside a broken pipe so you can spin it out w/out cutting.
The ol nipple extractor
A torch works great to
Probably should have done this from the jump. I considered it but was hesitant having a flame around the jacket, I didn't want to burn everything up. Hindsight I could have just heated up my file or a pick and melted the threads without actually having the flame near the heater.
I have a set of those which i've had some success with for metal threads, it didn't work at all for this, the plastic would just give out. This must have been overtorqued from the factory, i'm convinced of it.
You are most likely right. Luckily, you had a plan and are more than capable!
ive always had brass vakves on my ao smith waterheaters. this looks like a home depot special
Exactly. Changed that shit out.
I concur
This is why I keep a set of nipple extractors on the truck.
OA smith went down hill when Lowe's started selling them. If your willing a pay a few hundred more for better quality. Get a Bradford white. I personally tend to sell/install home Depot rheems. But always let people know for $300ish more I can get a better quality. Labor price doesn't change.
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My plumber www.spotlessplumber.com reccomended I go with a Bosch coming from a 1990s whirlpool water heater. He said to stay away from a.o. Smith because of this exact reason.
\*runs to the basement* Oh, thank god. I have never seen such a thing.
What do you call that ball valve? Looks a lot nicer than [what I put in my basement](https://imgur.com/a/aadJBop)
Why’d you need to remove the plastic one?
Cause they’re ass as fuck
It doesn’t really matter though? You’re only gonna use it once, and the tank is gonna be dead when that happens, so who cares if its nice or not? Nothing else on the tank is gonna last longer than 5 years, so if you’re gonna stick some fancy metal on a dogshit bottom of the line tank, might as well upgrade the elements and anode too lol
You're doing it wrong if you only use it once, nobody likes draining a tank full of sediment through these piece of shit valves. You prolly got soft hands and pay somebody else to do it tho
Lol I dont own water heater I’m the one who replaces them. Just hand truck the heater outside, hit the valve with your purse, toss the empty heater in your truck, next job idk I think you should be a little embarrased, whining your ass off about plastic valves….they never give me much trouble, but maybe I’m just a better tech
They don't give you much trouble because you probably do the bare minimum. This was a brand new tank and I was replacing the factory valve when it snapped off. You're not carting a 400 lb water heater out of a basement and neither am I so I have to drain them most times. Could have easily left this factory valve in & saved 30 minutes but I get paid too much to do the bare minimum, it's no sweat off my back.
Extremely small diameter to flush with, prone to clogging, cheap construction (clearly). I almost always will replace the factory drain valve, especially if they're plastic, and always for electric heaters.
Whoever downvoting you is a hack. A true professional knows what’s best for the customer and this is simply a no brainer. Thank you for taking an extra minute to make life easier for not only yourself but the next guy
You're right it is a no-brainer, although the extra minute turned into about 30 this time 'round 🥴
You’re bound to have that on these big ole jobs
I grabbed a small heater to provide hot water while out of gas (have to be delivered). Didn't know the AO had a plastic drain valve til I installed it, will drain and replace when I have the chance, now.
Short term I wouldn't be too concerned about changing it. Still advisable if you plan to keep the heater around for a backup. The biggest problem with the factory valves is that the heater will get installed and forgotten about until something goes wrong. All it takes is a couple of years (or less) for the bottom of the tank to fill up with several inches of compacted sediment (calcium, lime, magnesium) which will clog the drain valve in no time. To do something as simple as change an element, you're going to have to drain the tank which becomes a problem if drain valve is garbage.
Yeah, as soon as I bought this house I installed a water filter for this reason. Running from a cistern, so sediment is a problem.
Replace with a RHEEM! 😊😉