Hi Guys,

I am a facility super in MA and I have a 250 gallon PVI water heater that is leaking below the element. Its 36 kw 480 volt feed.

I have a plumber that gave me a quote of $22,000 to change it. He is a vendor I use and have trusted but would like to get some feelers out there for peace of mind.

This water heater was installed in 2004 and is over-sized because I had some manufacturing lines that went to another facility.

What is the ac=verage life expectancy of a commercial water heater? Am I 'self-destructing' the heater by having it oversized?

I have other prices to down-size the heater to a 120 gallon tank. This unit now only feeds 12 sinks and 10 eyewash stations. The sinks are not used heavily as they are sinks in labs (as opposed to the bathrooms).

Does this price seem reasonable? The plumber said he had $14k for maerials, $1k for shipping, tax, disposal fees, permits... The unit weighs 1200 pounds and the work will have to be done ona Saturday.

Any thoughts to share?

Thanks!

Craig

We have a building in my town that we change commercial heaters very 2 to 4 years. They are gas Rheems on the 16th floor of the building and the last floor is only accessible by stairs so we have to use a chain hoist. It takes 4 guys for about 3 hours and 2 stay for the remainder of the day.

For your situation, you could get other estimates but if you have a guy you trust just ask for a detailed invoice at the end of the job. 7K in labor sounds a little steep but I wouldn't be surprised with 5K.
For what you describe I would downsize the heater. A water softener would give you a longer life as well as periodic flushing as Speedball describes very well.

Quote:

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I have a 250 gallon PVI water heater that is leaking below the element

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Would this be leaking from a weld in the boiler or from the element?
Back to you, Tom

Speedball, I thought the leak was coming from the element, but the plumber says that it is not the element or its gasket- he said it was a crack in the flange.

I have done some research and I hear you could use an epoxy to try and seal this up, but it sounds questionable... your thoughts?

Chayn, thanks for the input. I was actually thinking of maybe having a water meter installed on the line side of the heater to see what I am actually using. My manager is not the easiest person to sway from what the engineers have designed for us. This way I could come back with hard figures...

Thanks again guys,
Craig

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ;

he said it was a crack in the flange.

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I just got to be missing something here. If you have flange type elements,(see image) and not the screw in type and the flange's cracked Why not simply replace the element. If that's not the case, and I don't believe it is, can you take a picture of the flange in question. Regards, Tom

Im headed up to that facility in the afternoon and will take a pic. Thanks for your input.

Speedball,

Being the extreme rookie, I am having a bit of trouble sending the pic :o... you have to send the pic to a webpage?

Thanks,
Craig

How do I add pictures and other file types to my post?
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How do I add pictures and other file types to my post?
A. "Attach" files (including pictures) from your computer. This method puts the attached file below the text of the post.
Click on an Ask or Answer button to ask or answer a question
Compose your question or answer in the window.
Under the window where you composed your question or answer is a section called Additional Options.
Click on the Manage Attachments button: a pop-up dialog will open. NOTE: The Manage Attachments dialog lists the maximum sizes of the various types of files that may be attached.
Click the Browse button to navigate to the image on your computer and double click the file on your computer: this will return you to the dialog window.
Click the Upload button.
Click the link to close the dialog window OR repeat numbers 5 & 6 to attach another image.
B. "Embed" image(s) from the internet. This method inserts an image wherever you wish within the text of your post.
Click the Insert Image icon above the posting window: A pop-up asking for the URL will open.
Enter the URL of the image in the field then click the OK button.

Go to Go advanced/Manage attachments

(hopefully you can figure it out from there)

If the image is too large, use the free program IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide to re-size.

Use Image/ Resize/resample
Put 640 for the largest pixel dimension.