Replacement Parts for Older Water Heaters Are Hard to Find

“I have a Rheem tankless water heater that is 15 years old. Never had any issues with it. My area has some very hard water. Today I had my PRV replaced because of a small dribble leak + hammer noise / fluctuating pressure. I was also offered a tankless water heater flush service. Everything went well. Took a shower. Came downstairs and noticed a small puddle under the tankless heater. Pulled the cover off and looks like one of the copper pipes by the heat exchange has a pinch hole. Lesson learned”

“This is for a 50gal commercial Rheem water heater. I got a call because the owner smelled smoke. The breaker was tripped. I found the water heater wire had burned up at the terminal block. I replaced the wire to match the factory wiring (12awg), and found it pulling 23a. After some research, I found 2 different data plates with different specs. The unit had 6000w heaters installed with 12awg wire. Has anyone else ran into this? submitted by /u/Pretend-Car-9485 [link] [comments]”

“I’ve noticed. Fergusons in my area don’t have any AO Smith natural gas shorts in my size, but I found a Bradford White that would work. Then I learned BW puts the anode rod inside the hot water outlet connection at the top of the tank and the necessary T fitting for the Corro-Protec has extra joints which seem like extra potential leaks. Maybe that’s still a better bet than the Rheem my HVAC guy suggested?”

“I removed a 40 Gal Rheem Tank Water Heater (Which I put in 9 years ago). At the time, I used all flexible sharkbite or flexible gas line since I was not too confident in hard piping. This time I felt more dangerous, so I hard piped water (cut it down closer to the floor) and also relocated the gas (used to come out closer to where the hot water came out of the wall, hence the big hole). I also didn't do the expansion tank (did not have one either before when I did the tank water heater 9 yea”

“So last week the gas company shut off the gas to the house for maintenance and when I went to relight pilot, gas valve was giving me High Temp Shutdown even though everything seemed normal. Reliance recommended replacing gas valve which I did, but now thermal switch keeps tripping and then when I tried to replace entire assembly because I couldn’t find the exact thermal switch, now I can feel extreme heat on the base of it, even when I switched back to the old assembly. If I put the setting to l”

“I definitely second going to an actual plumbing supply house. They will carry a better product than you can get at your local hardware store. Just note, they are going to be more brand specific. They are backed by a certain manufacturer and that is going to be what they carry.”

“Our old 40 gal gas water heater died and I am replacing it with a new one that is essentially identical. However, I did not realize the vent blower assembly does not come pre-installed, so I'm trying to move the old one to the new water heater. Problem is that the water heater doesn't have enough holes pre-drilled for it. There is also no connection to plug into on the new tank, so how do I remove the one from the old tank? Is it safe for me to drill into the tank at all? The water heate”

“Standard Honeywell residential gas water valve (newer, so Resideo branded). Woke up to a tepid shower, no lights on the valve and pilot is out. Normal pilot relight with the piezo button, switch to the heat setting and main burner comes on without a problem. No lights still, waited until the main burner turned off seemingly at the temp setpoint and no lights again. I come home from work; pilot is out, and same cycle repeats. Measuring 350-400 millivolts on the thermopile with pilot on, I assume”

“I currently have a Rheem 50gallon water heater: XG50T06EN38UO Unfortunately, I am receiving 7 blink error, which is the gas control valve. This water heater was replaced before o but the house, which was in 2018. I’m debating whether or not to replace just the gas control or replace the whole unit. Looking for any recommendations on whether or not it’s worth replacing. If it is, any recommendations on what to replace it with. submitted by /u/xFocused70 [link] [comments]”

“Have a 9 years old Rheem power vent gas tank heater leaking from the top. Apparently where the fan is. Can hears water sloshing in there when it runs and the expansion tank vented out water. Appreciate unbiased opinion on if the heater sounds like it's repairable. submitted by /u/CinderBelleBrit [link] [comments]”

“Hello everyone, I’ve had this Rinnai RXP199i tankless water heater for about 10 months now and it’s been working fine up until now. It is giving the error code 22 and beeping when turned on and hot water is requested. Apparently the error code 22 has something to do with the reed switch on the gas valve assembly being misaligned, but I’ve checked that and it seems to be fine. There is also yellow liquid splattered inside of the unit, which you can see in the pictures. I’m not quite sure what it”

“There’s a slow water drop from this release valve on my water heater. The drip is low, and fills the 1/2 gallon catcher below every 2 weeks or so. Any ideas what might be going on and how to address it? submitted by /u/easybugdoctor [link] [comments]”

“mine's firing water through the hole in the orange cap. any idea what might causing that? this post is the only info I can find about this pump”

“Looking for some advice on a strange T&P valve issue. I have a John Wood propane water heater that is about 5 years old. The T&P relief valve was replaced about 3 months ago. The house is on a well system with water treatment. Iron/tannin/carbon/uv. 40/60 pressure switch Large 80-gallon pressure tank Pressure gauge normally runs around max 60 psi and I have never seen it above about 63psi While the T&P was actively leaking, the pressure tank gauge was reading around 52 psi Tonight It”

“I had a plumber out today for an unrelated issue, and while he was here he noted that my gas water heater is about 16 years old . He said there’s nothing wrong with it at the moment, but recommended replacing it based on age because if it fails, I could end up dealing with water damage and replacing the water heater at the same time. For context: It’s located in the attic. I haven’t noticed any leaks, rust, or performance issues. It has a drain pan. This is my first home, so I’m trying to balanc”

“Hello, I need help regarding this issue! Please! I have a Rheem gas hot water tank and yesterday I found out I had cold water and inspected the water heater and it had no flame. When I tried to reignite it I had trouble even getting it to light but after a couple tries of turning the gas off, waiting 5 minutes, and turning it back on it eventually lights showing the small blue flame. I turned the gas switch from pilot to ON and turning the dial from LOW to increasing heat it does what it shows i”

“I just bought a Condominium unit and it came with rental system: water Heater, storage tank and air handler. The mechanical room has two pipes coming down from ceiling, left side pipe feels cool, right side pipe feels warm. I tried to shut off the left pipe but the kitchen sink still runs water. If i shut off the Right side pipe, hot water stops. So my question is: is my cold water shut-off valve working properly ? I assumed, despite me shutting off the valve, water is being drawn from the tank.”

“The unit has a Honeywell WV8840B1109 gas control valve and was installed in 2012. So far here's what I've done: New thermopile, it will hold at 650mV while holding down the gas control knob to light it. Goes out immediately when released Cleaned orifice for pilot The flame rollout switch has continuity and isn't being tripped Cleaned air grate underneath Pilot light is solid blue with no dancing or tremors when holding the gas control knob down What's the next step here? su”

“We’ve been getting this error message for the last couple weeks but we only get it when we run the hot water at our kitchen sink. I’ve cleared the inlet filter and other regular maintenance. System was installed April 2025 and has a softener along with triple filtration system feeding into it. Any help would be appreciated. submitted by /u/Ok_Thought_5692 [link] [comments]”

“Replacing electric water heater in garage. New one is 10” shorter than the current one. The incoming line at the top has a valve that I could connect a new line to but the outgoing is soldered. I’m not even going to attempt messing with that. So Can I just get two male to male adapters to attach at the end of the current lines, where the heater is currently, and attach a couple short new lines from there? Or Even though the heater is on a 20” built in shelf, can I put a water heater stand on top”

“We have a Rheem Tankless unit for the bulk of our house. Our master bath is the furthest point, so we had the plumbers install a 6 gallon point of use tank to feed it. Both are in the basement - The tankless feeds the house as well as the gallon. The 6 gallon is dedicated to the MB. It still takes forever to get warm water to our master. I replaced the 6 gallon with a new one last month (after 12 years of use the old one rusted out). I expected an improvement in water pressure and quick warm wat”

“Not here in California. 18” of copper required before pex. Pressure relief has to be routed outside. Drip leg installed after the valve but before the flex.”

“Hi all. Long story short, our Rinnai tankless heater (Ru199in) started putting out cold water after starting hot for 5-10 minutes. No error codes, recently flushed, etc. Plumber came out and suggested replacing check valves to start on cold water input. (We have a dedicated recirculation line in our house.) Hours after they do this, we get no hot water at ALL and the water heater throws a 'Recirc flow low' error code. They come back out, say check valve looks fine, try flushing again for”

“Installed a Rinnai RXP199iN condensing tankless with dedicated recirc line and it works fine, no error codes, but I was hoping to get any thoughts or critiques on anything I might’ve done wrong or how I could improve on it (I know I used a lot of dope and still need to connect the bypass line for the condensing flex tube lol) Separately, the manual calls for an air gap on the condensate line but I noticed on the condensate male connector there is a hole (pic 3); is that a sufficient air gap or d”

“I have a Rheem gas water heater, only a few years old installed by a plumber so I'm not concerned about connections. The heater stopped working yesterday. We have a Honeywell WV8840C5011 LP gas valve control board attached to the Rheem. I'm in the process of troubleshooting the Honeywell but I can't find any supplier for this specific model if I have to replace the control board. I'm not asking for any help troubleshooting the Honeywell, etc., only whether I have to buy the exact”

“Hi everyone! I just had a plumber install new parigi flex hoses for my mixer, and I wanted to get a second opinion on the installation quality. The lines are completely dry (I placed paper towels underneath to check for leaks, and they've stayed perfectly clean), but I have a concern regarding how the hoses are routed. The hose on the right has a sharp S-shaped bend near the top because it's a tight fit (the hose is 30 cm long). Could you please take a look at the picture and let me know”