Rain flooded water heater.

[Lakota Wolf]

I got the great pleasure in having to do some repairs to my gas water heater. It all started with stepping into the shower with about 3 seconds of warm water, then the coldest water I've encountered in quite awhile. After doing approx. 8 months of cardio exercise in the time span of 10 seconds scrambling out of that cold shower. I realized, the hot water quit.While shivering, I dressed quickly, chattering my teeth like a beaver chewing wood. I go to the control panel and reset the switch, Water heater fires up then after a couple minutes clicks off. I switch it back on and go outside, in the downloading of rain, not the best option to finish a shower by the way. I open up the side panel and notice black soot all over the inside and the exhaust vent chugging black smoke. Thinking what the heck? The burner kicks off and I see water running out the burner tube.Apparently in the sideways dalouge of rain that the water ran into the exhaust tube into the burn chamber, flooding it out. Noticing the design, I see that the exhaust tube faces up and the rain can easily pour in, even during a light rain. What a stupid design. Some engineer thought it would look good on paper, but in the real world, it was a stooooopid stupid design. I attempted to start removing the water heater to bring it inside to clean it up and dry it out. With that thought. Mother nature had a different idea. It just started to rain even harder. Not only did I get soaked. My skivvies and socks even got soaked, to me, that's an indication that this is not getting fixed today. My plan after the needed repairs are to put a rain guard over the top of the exhaust vent, and hopefully that will stop the rain from going down the exhaust into the burn chamber. I will post an update when I get this accomplished, more then likely when the weather gets better.

[Lakota Wolf]

You are right Rich, 409 is the wonder cleaner, along with a bottle of elbow grease. I got the majority of the soot off till the old fingers couldn't handle the cold wet wind anymore. But  it was cold out there on the backside with no wind break. Will tackle it some more once the weather warms up a little.

[Rich Thomas]

LOL, I've subbed a butter knife for a screw driver many a time and they work wonders for stirring those little cans of wood stains. Seriously though, the 409 did work well for the soot. and those magic erasers will flat out take the paint off.

[Lakota Wolf]

Hey Rich,,, after seeing a * Scrubbing Bubbles *  commercial,, I was thinking I might try that route,, you know,,,, let them lil guys do all the work.  Or maybe one of those  * Magic Scrubbers *.

They say they work MAGIC.,, and last but not least,, OXY CLEAN, guaranteed to get the toughest stains out,, (As seen on TV ) .And  if I order within the next 5 minutes,, they will DOUBLE the offer and even get FREE expedited shipping..  Now how can a guy NOT jump on a deal like that? Could maybe use my * Copper Plus cooking pan to hold my small tools,, considering that its scratch proof,, and when Im done fixing something,, I can fry up some eggs and the eggs won't stick,, and like on TV, just wipe it out with a towel,,,

*** Just a note for some of the wimmin folk,,, YES, guys will use pots and pans for projects not even affiliated with cooking, because a nice deep kettle pot works great for soapy water and cleaning small stuff,,, and it has a unique option that if the water is cold,, we just set it on the stove to warm the water up,, and that small fry skillet, works great for holding small nails and screws, readily handy. And neverrrrrrrrrr leave your good silverware easily accessable,, a good butter knife is very handy on seperating  butyl  tape from between a window and body. Just saying,,, (Not that I have persoannly done this,) (evil laugh)..

[Rich Thomas]

I don't know what you are complaining about Lakota, I mean some people would spend a small fortune for a natural cold water Deluge at the old natural spring spa and Laundromat. NOT!   I had some of that soot build up on the side of my RV after one weekend of camping and a to rich a mixture. I was able to cleaned it off with 409. you know.... because 410 is just to strong! ( humor injection). Sorry about your troubles but glad you have a good since of humor to see you through. 

[Lakota Wolf]

Update,,,, I braved the torrential downpours,, (its very rare for a light sprinkle in Texas for some reason), And I set up 10x10 portable canopy, and undid all the screws around the outside of the water heater, I double checked under the cabinet on the water lines and there was enough flex in the lines to move the heater a little bit. I went back out under the canopy and pulled the water heater out a little and tilted it down and got a good amount of water out the intake tube, along with the charcoal and crunchies from boiled water. I positioned the air compressor under the canopy and air blasted out the burner chamber. I cleaned out the burner tube assembly and reinstalled the water heater in place,,, went and double checked the water lines again,, and no leaks,,, which by the way is a good sign,, went back out and put all the screws back in place,, Noting the butyl tape sealer was still useable. Got it all snugged up,,, went back inside, flipped the switch back to on,, scurried back outside as it fired up and whoo hoooooo,, nice steady flame,, no whistles or burps,,, some steam comming out the exhaust vent,,, and I stayed and watched it for about 10 minutes and it didnt even burp. I closed up the cover,, with plans to make a rain guard for the vent, and went back inside,, and after 15 minutes haveing nice scaulding hot water,, and the water heater light is still off.. I did do a happy dance when no one was looking, woot  woot...  Now I can relax inside,, after I take a roasty toasty shower and find a place to hide my honey do list for a nice sunny day,, only to not complete it because something else exciting will come up,(lol)