Skip to main content

We have no hot water!


"We have no hot water!" I yelled through the house from our shower. I had turned on the faucet in the shower about midway and waited for my water to heat up. I continued to wait...and wait...and nothing! No hot water! Well, Sally hadn't been running the dishwasher or the washing machine, so what happened? I diagnosed a heating element must have gone bad. They do when you have hard water and lime deposits short these heating rods. I went to Lowe's, bought two new elements and the little tool to install them and got back home ready to solve my no hot water problem. That was not the problem! The real problem was water in the trip pan beneath the water heater had entered the bottom of the heater itself and eventually over the past five years slowly saturated the internal insulation, which caused rust to get to everything inside the water heater. The electrical connections, the elements and the tank itself - all eaten up with rust!

It was the weekend and no one to call. At least not without an emergency, weekend service charge. Thankfully, my neighbor saw me standing outside scratching my head and looking perplexed at the area where the deceased hot water was exposed. He came over and volunteered to help me. I have a good neighbor who is young, strong and mechanically trained in such problems. I went back to Lowe's returned the elements not needed now and purchased a new hot water heater. The next morning our new hot water heater was installed, and I declared loudly, "We got hot water!" Thanks to my great neighbor!

What did all this teach me? Maintenance! Every once in a while, we need to look in on our appliances like hot water heaters, A/C units, propane tanks, water pumps etc. to make sure they are operating as designed and they don't have a little problem that is going to become a big one later on. Expensive lesson learned.

Friends, as I learn my hard lessons about such difficulties, I'll try to share my new knowledge with you here on "whats-up-melton.blogspot.com" so maybe you can do better!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let The Good Times Roll

  Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! In other words, “Let the good times roll!” Mardi Gras is just around the corner, and Mardi Gras is about letting go of the not-so-good times and having yourself a whole lot of fun! This year, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, Mardi Gras in New Orleans returns after another year of the pandemic. Mayor LaToya Cantrell has told New Orleans Mardi Gras will return to the city in 2022. However, there are changes, mostly in altered routes of the famous parade through the city. Interested in going? Check with event planners. Thanks to French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, it is believed Mardi Gras began March 3, 1699 when he camped just downriver from what is now New Orleans. Back in France, it was Fat Tuesday. Pierre named the camping spot Point du Mardi Gras and held a party there! I suppose he likely toasted to the event exclaiming “Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!” I don’t know this for a fact but I’m going to go with it! A few years later, a g...
Post a Comment
Read more

Our Allies and Strategic Partners

 Our Allies and Strategic Partners , the Pentagon, and White House officials throw these words out a lot. What do they mean? I have a basic understanding of the words but they sort of have the same meaning don't they? They do! When we hear our Defense Department officials use these words, they are very careful about how they use them. How so? In the world of international relations, they have two different meanings. Alliances Where we have alliances, we have formal agreements with other countries. Agreements in national defense that other countries promise they will support each other, especially during a war. The U.S. is in alliance with NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NORAD -- the North American Aerospace Defense Command (with Canada), ANZUS -- Australia, New Zealand and U.S. Security Treaty, and the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship -- Which is America's oldest unbroken treaty. Documents that make alliances official are treaties, aka "treaty ally....
Post a Comment
Read more

Taking a break!

Beginning this Sunday, February 13th thru Tuesday 15th yours truly will be taking a short break from my daily stories. I will be involved in SUPER BOWL fun, carrying over thru VALENTINES! I should be back and writing more material on Wednesday, February 16th.  Have a great weekend and a HAPPY VALENTINES all you sweethearts!
Post a Comment
Read more