# Rheem Sucks!



## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

I work in a major metropolitan area. St Louis, MO and can’t believe there is not a Rheem distributor here besides HOME DEPOT. I wanted to sell the “Professional” series vs the budget “Performance” series Home depot sells as a better alternative but I cannot get them in my area. 
The Big Box stores have pushed legislation (several years ago) allowing for a water heater installers license which totally screwed the licensed plumber required in the past. 
I guess now they have sowed up exclusive right to the Rheem brand in our area too.


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Screw 'em. Switch to Bradford-White.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Ef Rheem, haven't installed a Rheem since 1 of their glass safety vials broke on a new install 15 years ago. And they 'mailed me a replacement...... By then I had trashed the new heater and installed another brand. 

Dumb tankless designs as well.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

I’m walking away from Rheem too. I like Bradford, but there’s a story, won’t buy them. I installed leaknivor for years, 15 years ago. A few during the lockdown cause it was all we could get. They any good anymore? The ones we installed, no issues. Supply house of course.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

Rheem is ass. Bradford white are good, expensive but good. I prefer a.o smith personally. Haven’t had an issue but once with them. Brand new 75 gallon gas leaking from the anode rod. I can do warranty stuff right down the road from the shop at my supply house so works good for me.
Bradford white warranty process took me forever the couple times I did it. Time is money


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

F’ck Smith! Special thermal pyles of diodes and special vapor sensors! They are special! Reinventing the wheel. Just like some other “name brand” POS companies.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

OpenSights said:


> F’ck Smith! Special thermal pyles of diodes and special vapor sensors! They are special! Reinventing the wheel. Just like some other “name brand” POS companies.


Vapor sensors??


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Blue2 said:


> Vapor sensors??


The little round disks with wires, attatched to the sealed combustion chamber plate. To get someone through the the night or weekend you can get by with… well let’s not go there.


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## DDDave (Aug 6, 2014)

dhal22 said:


> (...)
> Dumb tankless designs as well.


How long since you looked at their tankless stuff? No sarcasm, I'd like to know from someone who knows Rheems. We had a Rheem rep with a depot rep out last year and they pitched greater serviceability/access behind the cover vs. other mfr's. They said Rheem has recently made it a point to do it better. They walked us through common service/repairs on a sample, seemed to be accurate and low-BS.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

OpenSights said:


> The little round disks with wires, attatched to the sealed combustion chamber plate. To get someone through the the night or weekend you can get by with… well let’s not go there.


I know what you’re talking about, but I rarely come across those water heaters that have them. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other brand besides rheem that has had one in my area.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

DDDave said:


> How long since you looked at their tankless stuff? No sarcasm, I'd like to know from someone who knows Rheems. We had a Rheem rep with a depot rep out last year and they pitched greater serviceability/access behind the cover vs. other mfr's. They said Rheem has recently made it a point to do it better. They walked us through common service/repairs on a sample, seemed to be accurate and low-BS.


Their tankless aren’t too terrible, however I would still go with a Navien imo. Or a rinnai if I wanted a non-condensing model.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

DDDave said:


> How long since you looked at their tankless stuff? No sarcasm, I'd like to know from someone who knows Rheems. We had a Rheem rep with a depot rep out last year and they pitched greater serviceability/access behind the cover vs. other mfr's. They said Rheem has recently made it a point to do it better. They walked us through common service/repairs on a sample, seemed to be accurate and low-BS.


Re read your post and missed the part about access behind the panel, they are comparable to navien but a little bit tighter. But far more room than any rinnai that I’ve seen. Except the sensei models. Haven’t seen those in the wild yet.


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

DDDave said:


> How long since you looked at their tankless stuff? No sarcasm, I'd like to know from someone who knows Rheems. We had a Rheem rep with a depot rep out last year and they pitched greater serviceability/access behind the cover vs. other mfr's. They said Rheem has recently made it a point to do it better. They walked us through common service/repairs on a sample, seemed to be accurate and low-BS.


RHEEM tankless is owned by PALOMA out of Japan, they also own Rheem/Ruud Water Heaters, also Raypak Boilers
out of Oxnard, CA


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## Gen3plumber (Nov 8, 2021)

Plumbus said:


> Screw 'em. Switch to Bradford-White.


This^^^^^


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

I've had great luck with Rheem Tankless. I've installed them for years now, not a single call back. I only install the Rheem RTGH-95DVLN-2, built in Japan and much better quality than other tankless. All copper, brass, metal inside, not plastic like the Navien. 

Now the Rheem RTGH-RH11DVLN is Korean made by Kiturami and similar quality to a Navien(has more plastic parts and more modular) . Can't speak for that model as I only install the Rheem RTGH-95DVLN-2 which I feel is the best tankless on the market.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

I think that All Tankless heaters are nothing but trouble.... I dont want to fool with them
I have installed a few Navian and they seem ok but I dont love any of them... I dont need
an education on how to repair them as we see very few anyway.... so I feel .a simple tank heater is better

Rheem tank type heaters are all that I install these days....* Yes they had the gas valve issues *
that we had to work through but they seem to stand up better in our area to the chemicals that
the water company is presently throwing in the water supply..

Also I have noticed over the years that the Rheem seem to hold up better than Bradfords in our
area when a water softener is in the system.... The bradfords do not like soft water and seem to
barely last out the warranty whereas the Rheem seem to have a tougher hide and the sodium in the
soft water does not affect them......

All water heaters need to install a longer lasting anode rod in them.... Bradfords recently had an 
issue with their anode rods melting down and filling the heaters with a grey funk that was nasty to
clean out so all heaters take their turn walking in the hall of shame... 

eventually it passes


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Master Mark said:


> I think that All Tankless heaters are nothing but trouble.... I dont want to fool with them


I agree with your sentiment. However, when they are specified, it's hard to convince them to change the spec.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Master Mark said:


> I think that All Tankless heaters are nothing but trouble.... I dont want to fool with them
> I have installed a few Navian and they seem ok but I dont love any of them... I dont need
> an education on how to repair them as we see very few anyway.... so I feel .a simple tank heater is better
> 
> ...



I make good money installing them, the customers love them and I rarely see them again. What's not to like?


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

I’ll be damned. After finally getting in touch with Rheem and them telling me there is not a distributor within 100 miles of me I go into my local Bradford White supplier for a price list and found out they stock Rheem too.


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

I’m curious about tankless myself. In our area we would need a 60-70 degree temperature rise. Does this really work? I’ve always just figured they weren’t good for our area. 
Does your gas piping typically need to be updated?


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

dhal22 said:


> I make good money installing them, the customers love them and I rarely see them again. What's not to like?


It all depend s on the water quality, and in our area its very nasty
most people wont maintain them and the water softeners are sub standardor they dont put
salt in them so eventually everything gets crappy and 
they will lime up ..... then the exchangers begin to flake off calcium and ruin single handle
faucets throughout the house and dishwashers.... ..I have seen a lot of this
I just dont need the headaches dealing with these issues

please ......make all the money you can with them.....


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## DDDave (Aug 6, 2014)

Pipe Rat said:


> I’m curious about tankless myself. In our area we would need a 60-70 degree temperature rise. Does this really work? I’ve always just figured they weren’t good for our area.
> Does your gas piping typically need to be updated?


Short answer would be yes, a tankless would provide that level of temperature rise. Check a random installation manual for a graph showing how many fixtures you could have open at the same time. It gets 'mathy'. And no, you don't always have to change the gas size. But yes sometimes you do!
Condensing tankless are pretty cool.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

DDDave said:


> Short answer would be yes, a tankless would provide that level of temperature rise. Check a random installation manual for a graph showing how many fixtures you could have open at the same time. It gets 'mathy'. And no, you don't always have to change the gas size. But yes sometimes you do!
> Condensing tankless are pretty cool.



Fantastic design......... virtually zero wasted combustion.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Master Mark said:


> It all depend s on the water quality, and in our area its very nasty
> most people wont maintain them and the water softeners are sub standardor they dont put
> salt in them so eventually everything gets crappy and
> they will lime up ..... then the exchangers begin to flake off calcium and ruin single handle
> ...



I may or may not said this before. If I did, my apologies for repeating myself.


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## PhoenixRises (Jan 27, 2021)

Pipe Rat said:


> I work in a major metropolitan area. St Louis, MO and can’t believe there is not a Rheem distributor here besides HOME DEPOT. I wanted to sell the “Professional” series vs the budget “Performance” series Home depot sells as a better alternative but I cannot get them in my area.
> The Big Box stores have pushed legislation (several years ago) allowing for a water heater installers license which totally screwed the licensed plumber required in the past.
> I guess now they have sowed up exclusive right to the Rheem brand in our area too.


I’ve installed Rheem Professional Series for couple of years at my previous company. We started getting calls from customers stating they didn’t have hot water soon after installation. Pilot lights would go out in units installed in the attics here in DFW, TX area. After quite a few customer recalls Rheem told us that water heaters installed in the attic had to have orifices with larger holes installed. So, we started installing larger orifices on every gas water heater installed in the attic. Easily added 30 minutes of extra labor. All in all screw Rheem! I think Bradford White is the way to go.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Attic is a bad location to begin with. What a pain.


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## PhoenixRises (Jan 27, 2021)

dhal22 said:


> Attic is a bad location to begin with. What a pain.


In DFW area that is builder’s location of choice. Seems like they install water heaters first and then build a roof around it. It should be punishable with prison time if you ask me.


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## DDDave (Aug 6, 2014)

PhoenixRises said:


> I’ve installed Rheem Professional Series for couple of years at my previous company. We started getting calls from customers stating they didn’t have hot water soon after installation. Pilot lights would go out in units installed in the attics here in DFW, TX area. After quite a few customer recalls Rheem told us that water heaters installed in the attic had to have orifices with larger holes installed. So, we started installing larger orifices on every gas water heater installed in the attic. Easily added 30 minutes of extra labor. All in all screw Rheem! I think Bradford White is the way to go.


Every so often we'll replace a 2018-19 40 gal XG leaking around the drain valve. First one I saw was two weeks old, and it wasn't even hand-tight.
Bradford's not bad, I guess. If you can't see through the sightglass, don't woodie!


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

PhoenixRises said:


> In DFW area that is builder’s location of choice. Seems like they install water heaters first and then build a roof around it. It should be punishable with prison time if you ask me.


I had two 50 gallon heaters in an attic that had a 2” gas line directly in front of them and we had to take apart the furnace to drag them to the other side of the attic to get them down the ladder. It took almost 2 hours just to get the first heater down. There was barely enough room to solder a street 90 into a female adapter to get the water lines connected. That was the absolute worst install I’ve ever had in an attic. 2 water heaters took all day to do.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

Blue2 said:


> I had two 50 gallon heaters in an attic that had a 2” gas line directly in front of them and we had to take apart the furnace to drag them to the other side of the attic to get them down the ladder. It took almost 2 hours just to get the first heater down. There was barely enough room to solder a street 90 into a female adapter to get the water lines connected. That was the absolute worst install I’ve ever had in an attic. 2 water heaters took all day to do.


If I had to sweat my balls off in a hot attic in the middle of the summer I probably would
quit installing water heaters.... that would be rough.... or I would just quit plumbing completely

I dont give a dam what brand the heater is....they will all leak or fail some day


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## PhoenixRises (Jan 27, 2021)

Blue2 said:


> I had two 50 gallon heaters in an attic that had a 2” gas line directly in front of them and we had to take apart the furnace to drag them to the other side of the attic to get them down the ladder. It took almost 2 hours just to get the first heater down. There was barely enough room to solder a street 90 into a female adapter to get the water lines connected. That was the absolute worst install I’ve ever had in an attic. 2 water heaters took all day to do.


I had a similar scenario. We had to lift the furnace and squeeze water heaters under it. On top of all of that we had to go to Home Depot to buy plywood so we could build a walkway up to water heaters because builder didn’t do it. We charged the customer an extra $1000 for all that trouble. Job started at 8am and finished around 7pm. It was a house built in 2011 in Frisco.


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## DDDave (Aug 6, 2014)

Master Mark said:


> If I had to sweat my balls off in a hot attic in the middle of the summer I probably would
> quit installing water heaters.... that would be rough.... or I would just quit plumbing completely
> 
> I dont give a dam what brand the heater is....they will all leak or fail some day


Yeah but how much would you charge? One day job but you you knew it was going to be really uncomfortable. How much?


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

DDDave said:


> Yeah but how much would you charge? One day job but you you knew it was going to be really uncomfortable. How much?



I would at the very least charge double or more 
and maybe high enough that they would find someone else to do the job...


I would probably tell them to just let the installer boys at home depot tackle that one...
. those jobs will slowly kill you .. 

I have walked away from some nasty 75 gallon units buried in the basements before and told 
the customer to get Lowes or HD--- 
150 degree attics fall under the same category


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