gusherb
Well-known member
The real problem with A.O. Smith/State (they are the same thing) is the F.V.I.R. system (flammable vapor ignition resistant), those were mandated in 2003 and they designed theirs poorly and stuck with it. They put the intake on the bottom and then put a filter on it so it would suck in all kinds of dust (or lint if in the laundry room) and get clogged and cause the flame to get snuffed out. Of course nobody knew these things had filters.
BF uses a side intake design with the entire bottom as a flame arrestor plate so it can't really clog, and they use a resettable thermal fuse. Rheem has a similar side intake design but has a spring loaded damper on the bottom with a glass fuse holding it open and if it melts it closes the damper... originally if this tripped it rendered the water heater useless but they've since made that fuse replaceable. There are virtually no reports of nuisance trips with Rheem or BF. State/AOSmith OTOH got a bad rap fast from all the nuisance calls from clogged filters etc.
Enough of my long winded explanation about FVIR lol.
Our Rheem was 15 years old the first time I flushed the sediment out of it, they say the tank can leak if you drain it after it's already older and that's true, but I never drain ours I just attach the hose and open it up and let the water run for a good 5 minutes, which I think is more effective then draining the tank.
I never bothered with the anode rod.
The plastic shutoff valve did stop sealing all the way so I put one of those hose end caps on it that you find on a lawn sprinkler and that "fixed" it. That water heater is 25 years old now (which is why I wanna replace it now lol). It has never given a single lick of trouble and has only ever had to be relit when the gas was shut off to do modifications to the gas piping in the house.
BF uses a side intake design with the entire bottom as a flame arrestor plate so it can't really clog, and they use a resettable thermal fuse. Rheem has a similar side intake design but has a spring loaded damper on the bottom with a glass fuse holding it open and if it melts it closes the damper... originally if this tripped it rendered the water heater useless but they've since made that fuse replaceable. There are virtually no reports of nuisance trips with Rheem or BF. State/AOSmith OTOH got a bad rap fast from all the nuisance calls from clogged filters etc.
Enough of my long winded explanation about FVIR lol.
Our Rheem was 15 years old the first time I flushed the sediment out of it, they say the tank can leak if you drain it after it's already older and that's true, but I never drain ours I just attach the hose and open it up and let the water run for a good 5 minutes, which I think is more effective then draining the tank.
I never bothered with the anode rod.
The plastic shutoff valve did stop sealing all the way so I put one of those hose end caps on it that you find on a lawn sprinkler and that "fixed" it. That water heater is 25 years old now (which is why I wanna replace it now lol). It has never given a single lick of trouble and has only ever had to be relit when the gas was shut off to do modifications to the gas piping in the house.