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Whirlpool Water Heaters

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Rick of Orange, CA (04/30/06)
I purchased a new 50 gallon Flame Lock Water Heater with a 12 year warranty in January of 2006. Seven weeks later, I had no hot water and was told that the thermocouple had gone bad. I also found out that the 12 year warranty was a joke because Whirlpool only pays the cost of the 14 part and not the cost of the service call to have it properly installed.

Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed. I have tried to call Whirlpool, but "circuits were busy most of the time".  Emails from their website acknowledge that my message was received, but they do not respond.

The cost of the heater was 461.  Seven weeks later, I had to pay Lowe's 13.99 for a new thermocouple and a local plumber 117 to install it.

Mike of Munster, IN April 29, 2006

Mike of Munster, IN (04/29/06)
We bought the Whirlpool Flame Lock 50-gallon water heater in February 2004 from Lowe's. We have now replaced the thermo coupling 4 times. We are so disgusted with this thing. Not only have we replaced the coupling that many times, but we have found out that you can only get the part from Lowe's. If we had known even this, we would never have bought it. 

We thought that by buying a well-known, name brand appliance and spending a little extra on a 12-year warranty appliance, we would be better off. We were so wrong.

So much for name brands.  And so much for the 400 I spent on this hot water heater.

Andrew of North Liberty, IN April 15, 2006

Andrew of North Liberty IN (04/15/06)
I usually keep quiet about poor quality, but having 4 children this is an extremely inconvenient problem. Whirlpool has a nice looking water heater. It would be a much more useful appliance if you could count on it to actually turn cold water into hot water. I bought it new from Lowe's in August 2004 and have since gone through 3 thermocouples. These are their "handy" flame lock thermocouples. And thank you for making these 14.00 parts with a left handed thread.

I have worked in the HVAC business for many years and have never seen something as ridiculous as this. What an ingenious way to make these water heaters even more profitable for themselves. I'm the one who gets called by all of my family and friends when someone has a problem with their furnace, electric, water heater..... You can bet that I'll never purchase or recommend another Whirlpool product to anyone. I am familiar with changing parts such as this. But I truly feel sorry for anyone without the know-how to do this for themselves.

I know these poor folks are spending a lot more than the 14.00 that the part costs at Lowe's. Try adding in the price of a service call for a qualified plumber and paying a higher price for the part through the plumber. It wouldn't take too many failed thermocouples to exceed the original price of the water heater. I wish I were writing to praise Whirlpool for their fine workmanship or brave admission of a mistake they want to correct. But sadly this has not been the case. I was always told that you cannot learn from a mistake that you don't admit to making. Sound familiar?

Jamie of Huber Heights, OH April 11, 2006

Jamie of Huber Heights OH (04/11/06)
Bought a Whirlpool hot water heater on 7-7-05 from Lowes and we have had to replace the thermocouple 3 times since we have had it. We have 3 small kids at home and we have gone without water any where from 2 to 5 days every time it went out.

Jackie of Fredericktown, MO April 7, 2006

Jackie  of Fredericktown MO (04/07/06)
We bought a hot water heater (gas). We havent had it a year and we already have to fix it. There have been a lot of complaints,with the thermocouple.  I'm not very happy with this.  I had to take off work to go buy the part, even though it's under warranty. If they send it to me, it will cost me 25.00 for shipping it.

John of Sacramento, CA March 4, 2006

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