The problem:  A water heater that keeps “tripping” the reset breaker on its upper thermostat.  The breaker at the house panel is fine, but the heater intermittently turns off.

Adding to the problem is the fact that this water heater is behind a panel in the master bedroom walk-in closet.

Calling a plumber with a “name-brand” company resulted in a $150 bill for a report that “everything seems fine, so maybe the whole thing needs to be replaced.”  The estimate for that?  $1,300.  (Yes, you read that right!)

In the meantime, these folks have a water heater that won’t work right, a closet that’s torn apart to get to the reset button, and the worry about a 240 volt major electrical system.

The solution? First, going online to the manufacturer to download the entire manual for this water heater.  A quick check according to the manual shows that both thermostats are suspect, and both heating elements test “bad.” (Outside the plus / minus 6% range from the optimal 12.8 ohms – a multi-tester is a beautiful thing to keep in the tool box!)

Then, ordering from Amazon.com new thermostats and elements and one more trip to replace them.  Done – good as new – and these folks have their closet back.  It ain’t exactly rocket science.

I’m not interested in “up-selling” folks – besides, I’m not licensed as either a plumber or electrician so I won’t advertise anything other than common sense with repairs like this.  Some folks would rather pay for the “name brand,” and that’s fine… if you’d rather pay $1,300 for a new water heater (that actually costs less than $300 from Lowes)…

But if money’s tight and you need your home’s major systems to actually work, give me a call.  If I can’t do it I won’t; but I’ll send you to someone who will without trying to rip you off.

A friend confesses; she’s not very “handy.”  The new can opener arrived in the mail, she opened the box, read the directions, scratched her head and read the directions again.  Then she gave me a call.

It’s not something to be embarrassed about.  I understand drills, screws, spacers, cabinet clearances and she doesn’t.  The stuff she does with a spread sheet leaves me speechless.  (Not to mentioned the fact that she doesn’t have a downstairs shop to store tools…)

So… in about half an hour, she’s ready to throw the old manual can opener away!  It’s not “too small to call” when you’re looking at something like this.