testing heating element

[randynavarro]

Originally posted by Mike Lamb

Originally posted by randynavarro

OK.

A huge part of this biz is being consistent and equally proficient in all areas, (a never-ending task I'll admit).

You'll have to explain that better to me. Sounds like communism.

Anyway, some people are just better at some things than others and I don't believe you can or should dumb down the things you are more proficient at.

Communism? I don't get it.

Equally proficient in all areas: I think we do a disservice to folks if we do what's been described here on the water heaters and then simply fire the furnace, look at the flames, and call 'er good.

If you're going to examine one thing exhaustively, why wouldn't you apply that same ethic to everything else?

And just having a better comfort level or knowledge in one area over another isn't a good reason. I don't know. . . maybe a judge and jury would agree with that also. Some of the EW's might chime in on that.

[msteger]

We have enough liability in this line of work (just inspecting the home). We don't need to take on more liability by taking water heaters apart and fiddling with the insides.. just my opinion.

Run water at the faucet and make sure HOT and COLD are coming from the proper sides of the faucet. When running hot, make sure it gets hot, but don't stick your hand in scalding water (unless you really want to). If the water gets hot when the spigot indicates HOT water, then I'd simply write it up as 'the water heater is functional'.

[Mike Lamb]

Originally posted by randynavarro

Originally posted by Mike Lamb

Originally posted by randynavarro

OK.

A huge part of this biz is being consistent and equally proficient in all areas, (a never-ending task I'll admit).

You'll have to explain that better to me. Sounds like communism.

Anyway, some people are just better at some things than others and I don't believe you can or should dumb down the things you are more proficient at.

Communism? I don't get it.

Equally proficient in all areas: I think we do a disservice to folks if we do what's been described here on the water heaters and then simply fire the furnace, look at the flames, and call 'er good.

If you're going to examine one thing exhaustively, why wouldn't you apply that same ethic to everything else?

And just having a better comfort level or knowledge in one area over another isn't a good reason. I don't know. . . maybe a judge and jury would agree with that also. Some of the EW's might chime in on that.

I see your point but I think you are considering this from the perspective of an EW and not from an inspector like me who is out there doing the flawed and uneven best I can for my client at a given space and time. Sometimes I go overboard. Sometimes I only meet the minimum required.

Maybe an HI had a complaint about an element failure in a water heater and he or she just doesn’t want that complaint again. So they over compensate as they see fit. Will this same inspector amprobe all the heating elements of an electric furnace? Probably not. Will they examine every electrical outlet in the house? I hope not.

An example for me is some years back I had a complaint about window defects. I now open and close, and look carefully at every window in the house as long as I can do it without a mess. Some houses have 40 windows or more but I still check each one carefully. I once inspected a house that boasted 99 windows. I know I didn’t look at all of them but came close. I do not want a complaint ever again about windows. I’m sure many would consider this excessive but I really don’t care.

"Equally proficient in all areas: I think we do a disservice to folks if we do what's been described here on the water heaters and then simply fire the furnace, look at the flames, and call 'er good. "

Sounds like a,“dumb down,â€

[Richard Stanley]

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