Two Unusual Water Heater Events

[cevans (Chuck Evans, CMI)]

I got calls from both my sons the other day a few hours apart. One at 2:00AM, the other at 7:00AM. Turns out they both had water leak events involving water heaters at about the same time. Both situations were fairly unusual.

The first incident was the son in Texas with a five year old house that has a Bradford White Defender water heater in the attic. He said that he had water running out of the control box on the front of the water heater. I’ve never encountered that one before, but it’s apparently fairly common with these when they are in the attic. The WH was still 1 year inside warranty, so he called Bradford White. So it appears that part of the temperature probe for the thermostat is made of plastic and prone to spontaneous failure when the water heaters are installed in hot attics. When it does, water from the tank discharges through the controller (made by Honeywell). BW sent a plumber out an replaced the controller under warranty. Now he just has to dry his ceiling out and sell or replace it within the next four years. I think I’m going to start warning clients when I encounter BW Defender tanks in their homes.

The second incident was my son in a rented home in Colorado. He said the the humidifier on his furnace started leaking so he turned off the water to that. A few minutes later he heard water and went down to the basement to see the T&P of the water heater discharging at full blast so he shut the water off to the water heater too and called a plumber out. As it turns out, the pressure regulator on the water service failed and the water pressure in the house went up past 150 psi causing both leaks. I guess with all of the varying elevations around the colorado front range, the municipal water tanks have to be pretty high up.

I thought both incidents were pretty interesting and both were firsts for me. It’s scary to think how many ways your house can be flooded if you are not present to catch a major event immediately.

[sfetty (Dave Fetty, CMI)]

That’s wild!

[lkage (Larry Kage, CMI)]

Interesting, to say the least. Thanks for sharing, Chuck.

[escanlan (Emmanuel Scanlan, TREC# 7593)]

Very strange coincidence for sure!

Is there any documentation on the Bradford White issue that can be referenced?

[cevans (Chuck Evans, CMI)]

@escanlan

Very strange coincidence for sure!

Is there any documentation on the Bradford White issue that can be referenced?

Anecdotal. He said his neighbor’s failed a month ago. The plumber told him that BW is proactive about replacing them and that they will replace them if the customer calls, even if they are not yet leaking (not verified). He’s going to notify his neighbors, all of which have a similar setup.

There’s a similar incident here (check the photo) Top 272 Bradford White Reviews From Homeowners | ConsumerAffairs

We recently purchased a home with a previously installed Bradford White Defender gas water heater. The water heater was installed in the second floor attic space above the kitchen. We were not happy with this, because my husband works in the plumbing industry and these are notorious for breaking. We made plans to expand the washroom and bring the water heater down to the main level, to avoid any problems. We had the washroom addition done, and were just planning to move the water heater the next weekend. Literally, the next day, October 21, the thermal couple blew and flooded the kitchen. I don’t know how long the water was running, we were home, but I was sick in bed, one son was sleeping, (he works nights) and the other is blind. When we found it, there was water pouring through a hole in the ceiling, and inches of water on the kitchen floor, it was even coming out the exterior joints in the slab.

Fortunately, I had a very large threshold on the kitchen door which kept it contained to that area. A restoration company came out and treated the entire area and left fans and dehumidifiers to dry it out. I now need new sheetrock, insulation, cabinets, flooring, and part of the appliances. Water also seeped into the upstairs bedroom and bathroom, but that was minor compared to downstairs, and I have already corrected it at my own expense. I filed an insurance claim, but the adjuster has not gotten back with me as to whether they are going to cover it or not. He did state that mine was the third that week for this same issue.

Images show defective part versus a new part. (The bottom one is not mine, I didn’t think to photograph mine before it went in.) The water heater was still within the warranty period, so Bradford White covered the new part, but there was no compensation for the installation. We are thinking the water heater was about 2 years old, during which one year the house was vacant, and the other, it was occupied by an elderly disabled man. In other words, very little usage, it should have been good for years. My pressure is set at 40. (Extra low, just until we can replace the water line; not because it’s bad, but because we don’t know.) There’s really nothing we could have done to prevent this.

In my dealings with the supplier, I have found that the defective part was manufactured by Honeywell. The problem came from a little plastic piece that protruded from the box into the unit. Mine was split right in two allowing water to just flow out. The supplier thought that Bradford White might be in litigation with Honeywell, and that my flood might be covered under their insurance, but I suppose that would require a lawsuit on my part. I did notice on the replacement part that the plastic piece has been replaced by a metal piece, so hopefully this will not happen again. I would also hope that they would have stopped selling heaters manufactured with that plastic part inside. There really should be a recall on these water heaters.

https://media.consumeraffairs.com/files/reviews/bradford-white_51782.jpg

[sfetty (Dave Fetty, CMI)]

Interesting.