Mor-Flo WH decoder

[Marc]

I can't find one that works on this Mor-Flo.

Anyone wanna hazard a guess?

Click to Enlarge

43.73 KB

Thanks.

Marc

[Mark P]

Feb 2001 - and that is a guess.

[Bill Kibbel]

Mor-Flo merged with American in 1996.

After the merger, the Mor-Flo/American label was much different than the one in your picture. After the merger, the serial number's 1st 2 digits is the year.

You can also check the TPR handle or metal tag to find a 2-digit date.

[John Kogel]

I found a reference to AO Smith now owning Mor-flo, and this quote:

"AO Smith - Can be confusing; digits may be comprised of letters & numbers. May be one, two, or no letters.

If two letters first, next two numbers are year.

If one letter first, followed by two numbers and another letter, next two numbers are year.

If one letter first, next two numbers are year, providing no letter follows.

If two numbers first, this is year."

Taking that literally, The 1 is an I and your heater is a '97. Maybe. []

Here's where I got that reference, the rigid forum. https://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/t35425/

[Marc]

Thanks Fellas. Believe I'll re-visit the house for that TPR handle trick. House is from mid, late 70's.

Marc

[Jim Katen]

"The water heater is older than it has any right to be. If you do nothing, it will begin to leak 2 weeks after you move in. I suggest replacing it 1 week after you move in."

[hausdok]

November 1975.

Just before the warranty band are the letter-digits L-75 and then it shows the length of the warranty on that band.

L is the month of November (I is skipped) and 75 the year. I didn't get this from any document; it's how I analyzed what I saw, so, I could be full of it up to my eyebrows (Don't think so though).

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Marc]

Thanks Mike. I'll consider you correct.

Jim, not in south central Louisiana. We got good water here. A 30 year life is not unusual for a water heater. And that's without an anode rod. They aren't used here. Never seen one.

Marc

[hausdok]

Thanks Mike. I'll consider you correct.

Jim, not in south central Louisiana. We got good water here. A 30 year life is not unusual for a water heater. And that's without an anode rod. They aren't used here. Never seen one.

Marc

Well,

They are there anyway; inside the water heaters. I can't see my kidneys either but I know they're there.

I like Jim's comment. I tell 'em something similar. Usually something like, "This water heater is so old that I won't be surprised if it fails as I'm backing out of the driveway. It would be a good idea to replace it before it fails when you need it the most."

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Tom Raymond]

The DWH at my mother-in-law's thrift store is from 1973. It looks brand new.

I replaced my almost 11 year old DWH in September. It looked like it was pushing 40.

[John Kogel]

The added chlorine in town water eats them up in about 11 years up here. Glass-lined tanks will go a bit longer. Out in the sticks on well water, I will sometimes estimate the age of the tank by the age of the shack. []

[Robert E Lee]

How about the serial number A 201970, week 20 1970.

[kurt]

I was happily ignoring this thread until I came home last night to a flooded basement and a leaking water heater (at the top, adjacent to the anode). It was 12 years old. Chicago has some of the "best" water in the country, but it's got chlorine; reread the previous post about chlorine.

Not recommending replacement on an old water heater because you're know some old water heaters is an amateur shot.

Let the part timers and amateurs tell folks they last 30 years.

[gtblum]

Let the part timers and amateurs tell folks they last 30 years.

The only things ever made to last thirty years are already thirty years old.

I don't tell people to replace them. I tell them the age, and to budget for a new one.

[kurt]

I used the budget line for years, but it's meaningless. "Prepare to spend money.....sometime or another"...

Verbatim off my pull down menu.....

"The water heater is old. Old water heaters leak unexpectedly all the time; it's how most people learn it's time to replace the water heater. If you want to avoid a surprise flood in your house, install a new one now.

Insist to the installer that they put a redundant pan under it, and pipe it to a drain; they're cheap and the only time to put one in is when it's installed."

[Tom Raymond]

I'm pretty conservative when it comes to service life estimates. 10-15 years tops for a water heater.

When I come across an aged piece of equipment like the OP I tend to use it as a benchmark, "the dishwasher is likely older than the water heater." Reinforces the message.

[Chad Fabry]

"The water heater is old. Old water heaters leak unexpectedly all the time; it's how most people learn it's time to replace the water heater. If you want to avoid a surprise flood in your house, install a new one now.

Mine is: The water heater is old. Expect to replace it soon.

[Mike Lamb]

Where the water tank is located and how much damage it can do when it leaks will dictate how excited I get about the age.

When asked how long they last I tell them 15 years more or less.

My water heater is a 1988 Rheem. I'm going to replace it the day before it leaks.

[kurt]

Where the water tank is located and how much damage it can do when it leaks will dictate how excited I get about the age.

One gets jaded and lackadaisical about this stuff over too many years; I sure did.

My tank is in the basement with a floor drain; I always figured it it would drip and I'd see it, and besides, it's the basement and it can't get all that bad.

So, mine blows to the tune of about 3 gallons a minute out the top of the tank. The uneven floor in my 90 year old house became very apparent as the corners and depressions filled up with, oh...probably several hundred gallons of water. I was squeegeeing water for hours, the VC flooring was lifting, my cheap particle board cabinets were soaking it up, etc.

I got reeducated about just how screwed up a "simple" water heater failure can be. It's the old "I'm an experienced HI...I know what I'm doing" thing that came and bit me.

[John Kogel]

Sorry to hear that, Kurt. Bad enough to have no HW and a tank to replace, but the damage sounds like it will take a while to deal with.

Anything over 11 years gets the 'replace it' message here. In condo buildings it is often 10 years mandatory.

I should be working on an app that rings your phone when a water alarm goes off in your house. Anybody got investment capital? No, huh?

[Marc]

I guess with an old WH I could do an assessment of the consequences of failure such as an install in a basement or upstairs without a drain pan, etc and make a recommendation to replace based on that but elsewise...it just ain't my call. A plumber could later argue it could last another 10 years and in this area he'd be correct.

Marc

[hausdok]

Sometimes when I tell folks that their tnak is pretty old and it'd be a good idea to replace the tank before it fails when they need it the most, they don't get it and ask me just how serious it is.

That's when I tell them to think of the tank as Granddad. "Now think of very old Granddad in the nursing home on hospice care, tubes coming out of every orifice and nurses standing by. We know he's going to die but we can't be exactly sure when. We think it will be any moment but he might hang on a little longer. Does that put it in perspective?" I ask them.

They usually chuckle and get it then. One Chinese couple didn't so I mimicked feeble grandpa walking with a cane and pointed to the tank. Then they got it.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike