Rheem water heater age

Here’s a Rheem serial number that doesn’t fit any of my serial number types for Rheem. Fortunately, the Seller has installation manuals and user guides for everything in the house back to 1972, not to mention receipts for any work that has ever been done anywhere on the property. It was amazing, but I digress. Here’s the serial number:

RN 019A24209

Have fun with your guesses.

Interesting…is it by chance a tankless system made by Paloma and using Rheem name?

Nope. 40-gallon tank.

Dang,

enlighten me Obe Wan for I have run out of ideas

This one was manufactured in January 1990. The only reason I know that is because it said on the manufacturer’s plate: “Mfd 01/90.” So the presumption here is that the first two digits are the last digit of the year and then the month. I suspect that Rheem had a plant or company-wide shut down due to a labor strike or a natural disaster and that the subcontractor used this type of numbering system. However, I still haven’t identified the subcontractor. I suspect it might have been a smaller subcontractor in the local area here or wherever the water heater was shipped from.

Quite interesting, though. I thoroughly enjoy adding new notes to my water heater and furnace serial number coding database.