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Rheem Sucks!

5K views 32 replies 11 participants last post by  Master Mark 
#1 ·
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.
 
#9 ·
(...)
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.
 
#5 ·
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
 
#15 ·
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.
 
#16 ·
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
 
#19 ·
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.
 
#20 ·
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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#22 ·
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.
 
#25 ·
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.
 
#28 ·
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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