# American water heaters



## Nealfromjpt (Oct 10, 2012)

here in northwest ohio we run into a lot of American water heaters. these units are made in Tenn. out of the last 10 water heaters i have personally worked on all 10 of them have been American water heaters. most are standard vented units that get dirty screens that need cleaned or some other minor issue.

i worked on a powervent unit that the gas valve had been changed 3 times and the burner assy. 2 times . everything checked out good after the new parts were installed Gas pressure, venting, intake air. literally everything to be checked was checked everything was good.

3 weeks later they had the same issues again .i went out to this poor guys house, he was livid , American replaced the heater , i installed it myself , no problems whatsoever, fired it up and it worked great. about a month later it started again , long story shortened , the customer requested i go pick up another brand of water heater. new unit installed , (Rheem) customer happy havent heard from him since.

got a call from another customer having same issues, they are getting a code that indicates dirty flame sensor or low gas pressure ( all of this had been checked before and all were within normal range) so American's tech support are sending another new gas valve to install. 

so my question is , does anyone else have issues with this brand of water heaters ? And does anyone have any ideas what might causing this ?

this is the units that have the intellivent gas valve, any ideas will be appreciated


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## dankman (Nov 19, 2009)

I've seen issues with the intake screen getting blocked with lint/dust on more than one occasion but they make a shop vac attachment to clean it with. As far as the valves go, nothing worse than the other manurfacturers.


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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

Two things I despise....one is the way they bring in combustion air and the second was their left handed threads of the thermocouple.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

Whirlpool/American water heaters, biggers junk ever.

When somebody calls and says "My water heater won't stay lit" I always ask "Is it a whirlpool" and they say "Yeah, how'd you know"

2nd place is the mid 2000s AO smith and State water heaters.


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## plumberpro (Jan 1, 2013)

yes big piece of junk were do you even find a left hand thread t-couple? do not carry on van for sure!

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

plumberpro said:


> yes big piece of junk were do you even find a left hand thread t-couple? do not carry on van for sure!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


You don't anymore, they stopped making them. At least American/whirlpool stopped when they went to the newer heaters back in '07 or so.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

I think Lowe's is carrying the left hand T-couple now. It used to be that you'd have to call American for the part to be sent with you. For a while nobody around here carried American.


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

My A O Smith rep says American is made in the same factory as Smith (and State).


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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

Plumbus said:


> My A O Smith rep says American is made in the same factory as Smith (and State).


Not surprised.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

Plumbus said:


> My A O Smith rep says American is made in the same factory as Smith (and State).



I installed a customer supplied electric American two months ago and it wasn't the same as AO Smith or State. the nipples weren't installed, drain valve was plastic and the electrical connection cover was different.


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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

ChrisConnor said:


> I installed a customer supplied electric American two months ago and it wasn't the same as AO Smith or State. the nipples weren't installed, drain valve was plastic and the electrical connection cover was different.


Must have left the factory with the wrong sticker. Should have had a Whirlpool sticker for Lowes.


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## PlungerJockey (Feb 19, 2010)

ChrisConnor said:


> Whirlpool/American water heaters, biggers junk ever.
> 
> When somebody calls and says "My water heater won't stay lit" I always ask "Is it a whirlpool" and they say "Yeah, how'd you know"
> 
> 2nd place is the mid 2000s AO smith and State water heaters.


I agree 100%


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