Hot Water...

Finally, we have it, again.

Cold water is nice for some things. Washing dark clothing that you want to stay dark colored, for example. A nice cool drink on a warm day (or any day if you are me, I LOVE cold water for that!!!) Soaking blood from the knees of kids' jeans after they've fallen and scraped their knees. Spraying on your teenager when he doesn't get up and out the door on time. Yes, cold water definitely has a happy place in my heart... just not my shower. ;)

We have a tankless water heater. We are on our second one. The first one lasted just over 2 years. LOVED it!!! And, we were very, very sad when it up and died one day last month. It was quite a headache to deal with 11 kids and no water heater IN FEBRUARY.. (yes, it is cold in February in Las Vegas!) -- (and, yes, even if it's cool outside, teenage boys SMELL FUNNY!)... Eventually, after replacing all the major parts in our Paloma water heater, and it still didn't work, they authorized us to get a new one for "free" (*) [free does not include the new $400 vent kit that is required to install the lovely new water heater that is thankfully twice the size of the old one].....

The new one worked for just about 2 weeks. Then, it quit. Yup.... that's right... just up and quit. We called customer service... they tell us, "oh, you have to replace all your gas line, it's not big enough".... okaaaaaaaaaay... so last weekend, we did that. $300+ later... it worked.... for two days. UGH!

So, all week, we have been without hot water again... Please, for a moment, try to imagine, if you can, the amount of laundry and dishes that can get backed up in just ONE DAY when you have eleven children. I know... totally scary thought. Yes, some laundry can be washed in cold... but when your kids play hard like ours, you just can't get some things clean unless you can use that all important "SANITIZE" cycle on your front loader washing machine. Besides, did I mention... teenage boys smell funny? LOL

So, another call to customer service... the senior techs have gone home for the day, but I am promised a call the very next day for sure... yeah, right. Nobody called. I called my plumber friend Rob, who came to check things out. He couldn't find any reason why it wouldn't work. (That's cuz my husband ROCKS! and can install anything, anytime, anywhere... he's awesome! :) ) We called the manufacturer again... this time, I let Rob talk to them. They go through a total troubleshooting thing with him, and decide that one of the ignition rods is shorting out, and they say they are going to send me a new control panel. I tell them I expect it overnight, with Fed Ex, by 10 am... of course, they say... no problem!

So, Friday morning comes, and so does the FedEx man... with not only a control panel, but also a full new burner assembly, and a programming chip..... and a few pages of instructions, one of which is in KOREAN, and the others, totally useless!

We tried using what we had, only to find that it just wasn't what we needed in the way of instructions... and by this point, I'm thinking that my warranty is SUPPOSED to cover parts AND Labor, and I'm getting pretty upset. I called the manufacturer again this morning, and they were nice enough, but just not too helpful. Finally, someone agreed to at least email me the instructions on how to change out the burner assembly... and would you believe they were COMPLETE instructions??? I almost fell off my chair!

Aaron disassembled the burner assembly, and then set out for guacamole fixins for tonight's Elder's Quorum social. I got to put it all back together, and did so just in time for him to put the unit back on the wall. We got it all hooked back up, and ...................





drum roll, please....





Miracle of all miracles!!! It WORKS!!! Man, I haven't been so happy to have a nice hot shower in at least a couple of weeks. LOL Now, I just really REALLY hope that it keeps on working, and that we don't have any more problems with it. All the kids had showers / baths tonight, and they are all squeaky clean, now! (Sara really needs one EVERY day, being that she's still a widdle baby. ;) She LOVES the water!)

Now, maybe we can get caught up on the dishes & laundry this week.... The dishwasher is running right now, as a matter of fact.... We actually aren't too backed up thanks to Dixie brand paper plates & the plastic forks from Costco. ;)

So, next time somebody says you're in hot water... take a moment to consider... is that really a bad thing? ;)