Sunday - December 13, 2009

THE GREAT WATER TANK ADVENTURE OF OUGHT 9

I didn’t even want to boot this morning. Exhausted to be truthful and yesterday and last night was a nightmare of sorts.

Still, I always try and generally succeed in stopping and remembering that I’m far luckier then many.  Really.  It may not be a perfect roof over over our heads but it’s holding out the rain and there’s some heat indoors in some rooms when it’s cold.  And we sure don’t go hungry.  Oh boo-hoo. Poor me.  I had to boil some water in a pan and carry it upstairs early this morning, pour it into the bathroom sink, add some cold and then proceeded to shave. Gee, what a hardship.

The electrician arrived with our new water heater at ten minutes to four yesterday afternoon.  He didn’t finish till about 8:10 that night. And I helped by running up and down the stairs to the kitchen sink, to report if water was coming thru the hot water tap there.

Let me explain.  The old tank had to be drained. In this house, if the hot water has to be turned off, which thankfully doesn’t happen often, it ALWAYS causes an airlock.  And it’s hell to undo.  So, a hose was attached to the new tank and run out through the bathroom window and down to the front yard.

Then, a hose extension was attached and run around to the back of the house where the only outside faucet is.  Had to turn on that water and blow it into the tank to try and free that airlock.  Which of course meant that I was also running back and forth from the back yard to the front to communicate thru the open window in that upstairs bathroom to see if things were working out. They weren’t.  Also tried the old way of putting a hose between the hot and cold water tap in the upstairs sink, forcing water from one to the other.

It took an hour to finally get it unblocked.

so out that window drops the hose. keep this in mind. it’s very cold and it is very dark. fortunately the front security light keeps coming on and burns for three minutes. but it’s activated by movement so it comes on every time you’re near it. it covers the corner of the house and driveway and part of the front.

okay so I’m getting more exercise then I ever planned on but it felt good running back and forth except for the damn chest pains.  well not really pain at all. not even close. just not comfortable.

Oh ... I forgot to mention it above.  Once the tank was installed and the new immersion heater put in place, it was found to have a missing part. But NOT the kind of part that could be replaced by a part from another unit and screwed on. It’s a fixture of some kind.  Luckily, the electrician had another new one on the truck and so then uninstalled the faulty rod and put in the other one. But it’s all time consuming.  It’s taken me a bit of time to relate this but by the time all was done, it was a bit past 8pm.  With the unit installed now and the red light glowing indicating it was heating water … I happily fell exhausted into bed with a book.

Up this morning and needing a shave as it had been a few days, went into the bathroom and ran hot water in the sink.  Except …

THERE WASN’T ANY HOT WATER.  IT WAS RUNNING OUT COOL.

We paid £65 more for weekend setup because after four days minus hot water, we did not want to go the weekend without it.  Or at least I didn’t. 

I think it was only pure luck or whatever else you want to call it, before leaving last night Phil, the fellow who installed the tank and did hook up, suggested I take his cell phone number in case there were any problems.  So I called at 8:10 this morning and he was here by 8:30.

What happened was, he had turned down the temp. setting quite low while we were working with a mostly empty tank and trying to clear that airlock.  By the time things were in hand and equipment and drop cloths were picked up and things cleared away and hoses unhooked etc., he forgot to set the water temp.  Think this is over?  HA! 
He turned things back on again after setting the correct temp. and waited about 15 minutes to see if warm water would finally come out.  Of course the entire tank wouldn’t heat up in 15 minutes, but enough at the top would so at least you’d know it was heating. And it was.

UNFORTUNATELY

He then discovered after a little time that the thermostat did not seem to be working properly.
Turns out it was defective I guess and so he put another one in, in a matter of a few minutes.

So then, all is now well.  I think.  I hope it is.  Yeah. I’m sure it is.  Maybe.
Stay Tuned.

Posted by peiper     on 12/13/2009 at 10:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Personal •  
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