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My wife is worried our original Rheem 81V52D 50 gallon water heater is going to go out. I replaced the lower heater about 12 years into its life; only been drained once. 4 people live here and I'm the only 5 minute showering man. Good recovery from back to back showers for 1 hour. Now the hard part is getting a dual 4500 W unit like I had.
I see all of these bad reviews of the Rheem water heaters and notice that many seem to be purchased at a retail level either thru their plumber or directly from Home Depot or other home improvement outlet. We installed our Rheem water heater Model, RHEPRO52-2, in May, 2004 and it's still going strong after 14+ years. Never had a problem or leak. I researched which water heater to install before building, even talked to the Rheem folks. I told the plumber what I wanted. After much grousing, he installed what I wanted and I even got him to submit the registration paperwork that extended the warranty by 4 years ( one of the reasons I wanted it.).
Many times what you get in the home improvement stores and from the plumber is the 'usual'. They don't expect most people to live in one place long enough to have problems, so the store or supplier have the models which seem like a good bargain. You don't get what you expected, and many times less. The 'usual' is usually (no pun intended) a far poorer product than what you could get from a reputable plumbing supply dealer. Having said all that, I apologize to those of you with all the poor service and heater failures no matter when you bought your water heater if I sound a bit too smug. Ours will probably give out tonight!
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We have decided to replace our hot water tanks before it fails. My wife figured it was about 13-14 years old. I was shopping around for a tank and it finally clicked, why don't I see what brand we have now, as 13 years is pretty darn good. The installer had the date of installation Dec 24/2001... WOW. It’s a Rheem Professional 410 professional grade. So that's what I will be looking for now. A instructor at my work in the plumbing department suggested I get a basic model (6 year warranty), but make sure I drain the tank once a year and wait until the water runs clear to get all the sediment out and prevent corrosion. Don't forget to turn off the breaker first. I'm definitely getting another Rheem. Good luck with whatever you decide.
I purchased a Rheem hot water tank from Home Depot about 2 yrs ago. I started hearing a noise like a clock ticking inside of the heater. I had a licensed plumber take a look at plumbing and also water meter. Everything is ok. My plumber said it’s the heater. So, I called Rheem and I had to send an audio of the noise. After an hour of being on hold they said it’s not their problem, it’s the pipes. So, they refused to replace it. Unbelievable. Never again.
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Purchased a Rheem Hot Water Heater in March 2018 from Home Depot. No hot water in October 2018. Part ordered. No local vendor to install the part. Had to get my own vendor. April 13, 2019, no hot water. Same part. Had to get my own vendor to install the part. Part replaced April 18, 2019. Vendor charged me $93.75 to replace the part. April 27, 2019, no hot water. Toll free office closed. I am a disabled Senior.
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We purchased a home water heater with installation from Home Depot. That was done on Monday. The technician left before it was filled. The tank, not the pipes, started leaking as soon as it was full. We contacted the contractor and Home Depot and they both said to contact Rheem. After 37 minutes on hold I was told that a licensed Rheem professional would contact me within 24 hours to schedule a time when he could come verify the leak for himself. Now day 2 of no water heater and no call. Stay away from Rheem and Home Depot.
3 month old heater fails, then you learn that there is no warranty service in your state. After paying nearly $300 for the warranty repair, and 8 weeks in still waiting for them to pay me back. Do not buy this product.
Leaking gas whenever we have other appliances such as the heater that uses gas on at the same time. Called their customer service support was not helpful. Only fixed the controller but still have the same issue. Very unsafe product. I am still dealing with them. Hopefully they will replace it or something. I might just replace it since I feel very unsafe to have a water heater that randomly leak gas...
We purchased our first Rheem water heater on 11/21/2018. We have had nothing but problems ever since. From tools being taken from our home, to now the third water heater going bad plus on top of that being told that it would be two weeks till someone would be here to replace it! I have stage 4 Cancer that has spread to my bones making it long and difficult to get a shower among other things, can’t/ shouldn’t be without hot water!
Bought a Rheem Marathon 105 gallon water heater with the polyurethane tank. Was suppose to last forever. Tank started leaking so I called Rheem for warranty on the tank. Nothing but nothing is what I got... If you have a choice buy an expensive water heater. Leave this line out of the equation. The company WILL NOT HONOR THEIR WARRANTY.
DO NOT PURCHASE A RHEEM WATER HEATER! If I could give them zero stars, I would. Our water heater started leaking 2 yrs after install (rusted out). The DAY we were getting a new one, the front panel burst into flames, resulting in a call to 911. Thankfully, we were home, or our house would be gone & our pets would be dead! My husband took it back to Home Depot, but because we didn’t have the receipt (?!?), they would only issue store credit. They only sell Rheem, so NO WAY we’re we going to get another one. We went to Lowe’s and are out another $410 for a different brand.
When I called customer service, I spoke with 3 different people. NOT ONE of them apologized or showed any remorse for our house fire; in fact, they didn’t even sound surprised. The Sr. Rep I spoke with (who claimed she was the highest up person I could speak with over the phone) tried to tell me it was our fault (no), our electric system (no again), and then tried to tell me it was Home Depot’s fault (they didn’t make the unit, YOU DID!).
They were HORRIBLE, and tried to buy me off with a $100 “Customer Satisfaction Check”. I declined, telling them that didn’t cut it; I wanted the full price of the new water heater I had to buy out of pocket. She continued to be rude, refuse, and treat me like a know-nothing nuisance. All I was ultimately given was the address & email of their corporate headquarters to take the matter further. (Apparently there are no phones at corporate.) So now I’m gathering up all of my documentation (fire report, photos, etc.). If there’s a lawsuit forming out there, I’ll GLADLY join!
View morePurchased model #M061516469, 12-year warranty, 50 gal. unit (Serial XG50T120DU36U0) on Feb. 17, 2015. In mid August 2016 the unit began making a banging noise. Turns out the burner assembly was failing and the banging were actually mini explosions at burner shut down. Remember this unit had only been in service for 17 months. In Sept. 2016 the burner assembly was replaced, labor and parts were covered under warranty. Fast forward to Feb. 2019. The banging started again. Following Rheem's advice to begin warranty replacement of any failing parts a plumber came out to 'diagnose' the problem. For a mere $215 the plumber told us what we already knew, burner assembly failure. This time the cost to diagnose came out of our pockets since the warranty on labor is only 3-years, the warranty on parts is 12-years.
The cost to install the new burner assembly was to have been an additional $225, but the plumber was going to give us a 'discount' and only charge us $175. As it turns out installation of the burner assembly would be zero because the part is OBSOLETE! Yes, parts on a four year old 12-year parts warrantied water heater are obsolete. With that said the solution offered by Rheem is a warranty replacement of the entire unit!! We have to remove the old unit, take it to Home Depot, replace it with another Rheem water heater and bring it home. If we want it professionally installed the cost is on us. This just boggled my mind!
These heaters are extremely expensive. To have such an expensive unit fail, not once, but twice within four years, then have the company render it obsolete as to require replacement is just beyond me. I hate to think that I'll have another Rheem product in my home that is destined to fail due to obsolete parts before it's even close to the end of a 12-year warranty. Rheem should have absorb the cost of professional installation of their expensive parts obsolete four-year old unit. Seems like it would be the right thing for Rheem to do.
View moreI bought a Rheem Water Heater less than a year ago. A few months ago, I the hot water in my house simply stopped working. It happened on a Saturday. I went downstairs to discover that the pilot light was off. I called Rheem Warranty when they opened and spoke to the technical department. Ultimately, they decided that the problem must be with the Thermostat. They said that they would send me a thermostat by mail and it should arrive the next day. It did not arrive the next day. It arrived two days later in the evening, and when it arrived, I called the service center people. They told me to call to get it fixed and they told me that they could not send anyone out that day and because of the cold weather in the area, that they did not have anyone available to send until the day after next.
I called Rheem Customer care again to see if there was anyone else that they could send to install the part. They could not find anyone to install the part within 48 hours. They told me that if I was able to find someone that I should pay them and I would be reimbursed for up to 250 dollars because I lived in a high cost area (New York City). I spent at least two or three hours calling around to try to find someone who would come and do the installation for only $250 dollars. It was a nightmare finding someone, but I finally found someone who could come and I paid them by check $250. I had been told by Rheem that I should take a copy of the check and submit through a form that gets sent in through a portal.
My kids and I had to go without hot water to wash dishes or take showers for 5 days. This happened while we were experiencing some of the coldest days of the winter. After paying the $250 and completing the form as instructed, I then called Rheem back and they told me that I needed to also get them a copy of the back of the check after it had been submitted for payment.
I called the company that did the repair and asked them to please send me a copy of the back of the check once it cleared their bank so I could get reimbursed. I then sent that in and resubmitted the form to Rheem after also reaching out to the billing department by email. It was then that I was told that I would have to wait 4 to 8 weeks to actually be reimbursed. I was very upset because had I known that I would be paying out of pocket and waiting 2 months to be reimbursed, I would have just bought another water heater when the Rheem heater first broke down.
I called in to the billing department and customer service for at least 15 hours in total. Each time I would get a different story and I escalated the issue several times and nobody ever got back to me. I was told there was a portal finally where I could check on the status of the check. When I checked it said that the check had been mailed out. I finally got the check by mail at the end of February. The Amount of the check was $125. Not only did it take over two months to be reimbursed, but they only reimbursed me for $125 and I am still out of pocket $125, not to mention having lost around 20 hours dealing with Rheem and assorted plumbing companies trying to go through their process.
If you have a Rheem Water heater and it breaks down, just go and buy another heater from a more reputable company. Don't even bother dealing with Rheem to try to get your heater fixed. They will waste your time and make you miserable. The killer is that the billing department wants me to fill out yet another bunch of forms to request an increase from 125 dollars to the amount that I paid.
Rheem customer care simply does not care. Their Managers are not responsive. I have yet to hear back from any of the managers, and more importantly, I wasted so many hours dealing with them and had my family suffer through 5 days without hot water in the coldest days of the winter because I trusted them to resolve things in a reasonable way. I would have been much better off going to Home Depot or some other large box company and simply having bought and had another water heater installed.
View moreInstalled a Rheem 50 gal electric water heater from Home Depot in March 2017. Came with galvanized input/output isolation nipples factory installed. Connected to my PEX plumbing with brass adapters, using teflon tape and paste. Within one year, started corroding and seeping at galvanized threads. Galvanizing on threads appeared to be extremely thin and did not last. Today (Feb 2019) paid plumber to come replace the nipples. Had to mail order special Rheem extra long nipples - non-standard size not stocked by any of several sizable plumbing supply distributors. They look to be exactly like ones that failed. Will these ones last? Lived in this house 43 years. This is my 3rd water heater. Never a corrosion problem with other isolation nipples. Why couldn't Rheem use good quality, standard length nipples that are locally available?! Disappointed!
Replaced my old water heater three years ago with a six year warranty Rheem water heater. It is leaking profusely from the bottom, damaging a wall and custom wood cabinetry in my kitchen. Quoted $700 dollars, by Home Depot (they did the installation) to remove the faulty water heater and replace it, which Rheem does not cover. Why should someone be charged such exorbitant fees to remove and replace a defective water heater, under warranty?
I replaced an old 80 gal propane standard type hot water tank with this outdoor tankless water heater this past summer. Overall it has worked as stated except it now takes about twice as long for the terminal faucet water to get hot. Though annoying, not overly serious. The prompt for this review was this morning when the hot water stopped mid-shower. I live in the Pacific NW, far more mild that much of the country and well within the working geography indicated by Rheem. Last night was cold (for us) dipping into the lower 20s. This resulted in a freezing of the condensation tube preventing it from draining causing the system to shut down with an error '29' (blocked condensation drain tube).
This tube vents directly out from the bottom of the unit. I had to go out into the cold to investigate and found an icicle hanging from the drain which I removed then put a heat lamp beside and below to warm up the bottom of the unit. When it melted a rush of water came flowing out and the unit was able to be reset and return to normal function. I called Rheem tech support and the only suggestion was to insulate the end of the condensation drain tube. I don't see how this is going to help; the water will still freeze as it drips down to the bottom of the tube. I suppose my only recourse will to keep a heat lamp on the bottom of the unit on nights that it drops into the 20s! It seems to me that if this unit was designed to be installed outdoors in areas where it goes below freezing and that condensation tube has to stay free-flowing they would have figured out a way to keep this from occurring with a small heating coil or something.
View moreWe replaced a 13 year old water heater in November 2015 in an attempt to avoid a water heater failure. Instead we experienced the failure on a 3-year old Rheem water heater. Based on my experience and reading the multitude of premature failures, it appears that Rheem either has design problems or quality control problems or both. I was in product engineering and operations management for 41 years, and based on my experience I believe that if Rheem does not change soon, they won't be in business much longer. Do yourself a favor and look into other, better options than Rheem.
I purchased Rheem water heater in May 2017 form Home Depot. After installation it didn't heat water in 24 Hrs. $350 paid to plumber. Then go back again to HD and buy another one which also after another $350 installation stopped working after a day. Plumber has no clue how to debug this as the unit is completely closed, no way to see if even pilot light is on. It has 5 LEDs but the code can be deciphered into many different things that could be wrong. Then my property manager cleaned the blower and it worked again for 15 months. It seems just by sitting in Home Depot it collects dust in the blower. Then when it stops to run again after 15 months, I get another supposedly Rheem certified plumber to debug it and pay $195 to basically get bad reviews of Rheem and no real debug information.
I call Rheem many times and get a part shipped by them which again after calling the plumber and paying $200 doesn't work. I then start to debug it myself with tech support and this time they want to send me blower. By now 5 days have gone by with tech support, Fed Ex shipment, etc. But they miss sending me the blower and I lose one more day. By now I have lost over $700 dollars on plumbers for this Rheem water heater. I call the tech support, give them piece of my mind and of course she has no empathy for me and escalates the call.
The customer support manager is very well trained (A+), listens to my frustration, empathize with me, apologizes and reacts right away by authorizing a return to HD. So, I go to HD and after spending another 1.5 Hrs I could return it with help of a plumber (spend money again on the plumber). But I did get back full refund of $965 + Tax for the water heater in Home Depot store credit (not the best option but better than nothing). I am overall very unhappy with Rheem's quality but I doubt if any other brand is any better. It seems A. O. Smith is also as bad. I have taken a leap of faith now on Bradford White as that's what my plumber sells and installs. So, basically I am out about $1100 dollar for choosing Rheem (2 installations, 2 repair visits) plus so much grief and days without hot water.
View moreI purchased a new townhome that had a Rheem water heater. The water heater tank leaked and had to be replaced when it was only 6 years and 3 months old. The company apologized and said it should have lasted longer, however they would not do anything to compensate for the poor product. I would not buy another Rheem water heater.
RE: Serial number RH 0505 B17863. Manufacture Date 05/2005. Model # 82V52-2. Our home is 14 years old. We went away for Thanksgiving and came home to a flood from the above Rheem hot water heater. It had rusted through the bottom and was flooding for days. Why would you make a hot water heater that could rust??? Our home is still being repaired. ALL of the carpet, hardwood, tile, and parts of the walls have to be replaced. I can send many photos. I just can't believe that you can sleep knowing that this happens to so many people. Do NOT buy Rheem products.
I purchased a Rheem 50 Gallon Electric Hot Water Heater in November 2018. Immediately after installation I got an error message that the lower temperature sensor was damaged. I called Rheem immediately. After more than 3 weeks and more than 5 phone calls they still can't get a technician to fix the problem (I live in Portland, Oregon).
Last phone call they said to me that they got a technician in Buffalo NY. When I told them, for third time, that I live in Oregon, the person decided to escalate the ticket to her supervisor. This guy (supervisor) send me a list with technicians who work in the area where I live. I called the first person in the list. He said to me that he does not work with Rhemm (!!) Prepare to be on hold for long periods of time when you call scam company. I wish I never bought this hot water heater and I hope others see my review so they can be saved the stress that I've been going through. Today is December 23rd. Christmas with no hot water. Thanks Rheem!
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I purchased a Rheem 50 Gallon Electric Hot Water Heater in September 2018 (almost three months ago). It's broken and I have no hot water. I called them and they sent a horrible service tech out to my house who could not fix it. Prepare to be on hold for long periods of time when you call Rheem. I wish I never bought this hot water heater and I hope others see my review so they can be saved the heartache, tears and stress that I've been going through.
I bought Rheem water heater and just after the warranty the tank started to leak. Had throw out to the garbage. Never buy again. Very unreliable product. I had to repair the entire floor due to the flood caused because of this water heater.
I purchased this product through my plumbing company. Hot water lasted around 70 days. Then started going out during shower. Called customer service through Rheem got an overnight element delivered. Called back to set appointment to install, said they had no one in our area to service product. I live in Houston, TX. 4th largest city in the U.S. Asked to speak to supervisor. Put on hold. No supervisor answered for over 15 min. Called back. Talked to Joe. Said he found a plumber. It would be 5 days to wait for service. Got a warranty claim #. Was able to get original plumber to fix the problem. Same thing happened to me as Lindsey of Saint Paul, Tony of Lockport, Ny. and Glenn of Titusville, Nj. Will never purchase a Rheem product again. Spread the word. This company is screwing their customers. Keep in mind, broke down after 70 days of install.
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We installed a brand new Richmond 40 Gallon (Rheem) water heater which we purchased from Menards. It has a faulty Thermal shank. This has left me (and a renter) out of hot water for 3 days, while waiting for the part to arrive. Unfortunately no one has the part in town and there are no service technicians for the Saint Paul Minnesota area. I have called 15 plumbers off the list that was sent to me and I had difficulty finding one who will come out on short notice. I will not trust that I can have someone arrive after hours (@$259 an hour) and still be reimbursed. I will have a person tomorrow morning, but that means I will literally be boiling water for my renter's bath. I am not looking forward to the paperwork I need to fill out for my claim. And I am disappointed that I will need to wait for my check to clear as proof of payment before finishing my claim. This is just more of a time delay to an already time consuming situation.
This purchase has hurt my rental business. I will encourage others to buy another brand - especially Rental Managers and landlords who can't afford this type of hassle. I wish I could have just returned the product, but it is already filled with water and the gas and water lines are installed. I don't dare try to haul it back to the store for fear that it would be damaged on the way and then I'd have an even bigger drama on my hands. And one more frustrating bit to this is the wait time when calling in. It was near a half hour. (Though the service line is faster).
View moreNEVER BUY A RHEEM HOT WATER HEATER. We bought a 40 gallon Rheem hot water heater from Home Depot. After 2 weeks we awoke with the house full of fumes and the carbon monoxide alarm was sounding. Here is my experience: 1. They don't actually have technical support. What they have is untrained people, without any actual experience reading a script from a manual. 2. If you have the same issue 2 or 102 times they will repeat the same painstaking process each time as though you never had the problem before. 3. If you ask to speak with a supervisor, they are basically hired to ** the customers and duck liability.
About me: I just completed building a duplex single handed. Foundation, framing, electric service, gas service etc. I have done my own HVAC and H2O heaters in my own homes and apt buildings for 40+ years. My workmanship is excellent and take pride in getting it right the first time, every time. So after only a few weeks operation, an H2O heater comes close to killing my wife and myself I call the company. After very frustrating phone calls, they send out a tech.
After 45 minutes, without checking gas pressures, or pressure switch or actually doing any diagnostics he resets the controller, starts the heater and leaves. 15 minutes later it is in lockout. More calls, nobody listening to the CO/fume issue, they decide to send a new pilot assembly. There is zero possibility of this fixing a draft problem, but it is the cheapest part they could send. So, their solution is to send a 15$ part that won't fix the issue and turn the thing back on and see if it poisons us again.
I declined that solution. They said that was all they were willing to do. Home Depot has said they will replace or give store credit which would be acceptable, but we will see if that follows through. One of the HD workers says he gets a very high return rate on the Rheem unit so my guess is HD will stop selling these in a year or two. In short, Rheem's response to a critical, even life threatening situation is completely inadequate, technical assistance is less than what any handyman could find on the web in a couple of minutes, and at 1/10 the aggravation.
Another issue (might be the same issue) is the bearings in the blower are awful noisy for a new unit. Rheem used to be a good dependable brand and I still have 3 of their older furnaces installed which I have been mostly satisfied with the exception of the cheap bearings they put in the induction blowers. I won't be buying Rheem/Rudd units again unless they have exceptional reviews.
View moreHad a problem with the product eight months into it. Call customer service. They give you the runaround all the time. They make it seem like it's your fault. Had to technician come out and check it out and they don't argue with them like they didn't know what they were doing.
Manufactured Sept 4, 2018; failed October 9, 2018 - I thought I bought a premium water heater with a good reputation and service. The lower heating element failed (error code A105), which they say they will send me, and then I can either hire a technician to replace it or I can empty the water heater and do it myself. This is not the warranty I expected. This water heater was just installed, and they sent a bad product. I expect Rheem to bear the entire cost of fixing it in the first year -- not to send junk and make a customer bear the cost of repairing their mistake.
Brand new gas water heater. The Pilot light would not light. Called Rheem, who had me test it and concluded it was a bad gas valve. Rheem support said they would send a plumber, who did call nor show up. I called Rheem again and said I was not happy and I might return it to store. The Rheem rep said they would not authorize the return. That sounded fishy, since the store's policy doesn't require Rheem's authorization. This company seems to be riding on its formerly good 20th-century name now, making junk and telling untruths to customers to try to keep them from returning it to the store.
Rheem Water Heater Serial Number Age
After doing some research and talking with a few people in the industry, it's apparently common for these companies to charge full rates for 'warranty' repairs. IE: They charge $700 to install a compressor that's worth $450. Sounds like I could buy the compressor myself and hire them for $250 to install the thing. That would actually be fair and worth it. However, this is warranty work we're talking about. The compressor should be free. That leaves a 'labor' cost of $250. Let's add $100 for the 410. Hell, let's add $200: That would make, at most, $450 for labor and 410. No! I get charged $700 L.A.B.O.R. Here's the kicker, a used Lennox XP14 goes for $700. But I'm sure to get these guys to install the whole thing it would be even more $$$ for about half hour more work. Will never use Rheem again!