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Author:
Confusedme (CA)
I had a licensed plumber replace my water heater recently. The hot water smelled like oil afterwards. He had me run the hot water full blast for 10 minutes for each faucet (4) for three days. He had various explanations for the smell: oil left in during manufacturing; my hard water reacting to the material in the anode rod; of course neither he nor the manufacturer has ever heard of such a thing.
It is now two weeks after the install, and my hot water still faintly smells like oil. I am just not sure what to do. It could be dangerous, and it is certainly annoying!
Here are things I've thought of:
I could go to the county and ask for an inspection (no permit pulled).
I could live with the odor and hope it goes away sooner or later.
I could ask a reputable plumbing company to visit and comment.
I know there will be a penalty for me with the county, but I guess I deserve it. I should have researched more. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you.
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Author:
steve (CA)
How about having a sample of the water analyzed at a lab?
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Author:
Confusedme (CA)
I have thought of this. Do you have any idea(s) why this might have happened to the hot water? This is a valuable place where experienced plumbers can respond, and I truly appreciate it. Thank you for your response. I am going to look into taking a sample to a lab.
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Author:
Lorensr (CA)
You might try some Clorox in your water heater and let it set for a couple of hours before you flush it out. Google flushing a water heater.
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Author:
Confusedme (CA)
Thanks for your response, but this is a brand new heater installed two weeks ago. I guess if oil is in the heater's water, this would flush it out.
I shouldn't have to do this for a brand new heater that cost a pretty penny!! More than one pretty penny, actually!!
I suspect the oil in the water happened during the installation, but how am I to prove this?
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Author:
bsipps (PA)
It find it hard to believe the plumber put oil in the tank deliberately I assume it was left over from manufacture but I’ve installed thousands of water heaters and never had this issue I would also recommend flushing it have the plumber come by and flush it several times, if he supplied the water heater he should have to at least try and rectify the situation, if you supplied the water heater you should be the one to flush it
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