The heater that cannot be #fixed: #Santa #Fe #Diary

Santa Fe at Christmas, Bob Benedetti Photo

FREEZING IN SANTA FE, PART 3

The first thing Arturo noticed – and he lost no time showing this to us – were the copper pipes towards the back of the enclosure, which also held the hot water heater.  More than half of these pipes were corroded, with yellow streaks running down their sides and a build-up of evil-looking yellow, brown and gray gunk towards the tops of the pipes.  They looked like they were developing stalactites (or stalagmites, whichever grows from the top) and only needed a nice cave to feel comfortably at home.

As a total amateur when it came to heaters, I could easily understand that this gunk did not belong where it was.  Furthermore, when the door to the heater cabinet was open, it was easy to spot the offending yellow gunk on copper pipes from across the nearly empty garage.  In other words, the corrosion was bad enough that it could be seen from more than 25 feet away.  It was not something that demanded close inspection.

This was the first hint that either the previous owner knew something was wrong and hid it from us or that our home inspection was less than perfect.  But more about that later.

Arturo cut out the dingy pipes and replaced them with clean, perfect copper pipes.  Still, there was no heat.  Arturo then replaced an overflow gizmo.  Still no heat.  More problems were discovered and corrected.  Still no heat.

Arturo showed me an area on the edge of the starter mechanism that was blackened.  He explained that an unknown something was affecting the gas pressure inside the unit.  It would start to deliver heat and then, only a few minutes later, the pressure would drop and the pilot light would blow out, causing a small explosion when soot built up inside and outside the starter.

My natural question: is this dangerous?  Could the entire building blow up? 

No, no, no, Arturo guaranteed.  The pilot light goes out to prevent anything from becoming dangerous.

 I could accept that intellectually, but until the problem was fixed, from that time on, I tended to stay about ten feet from the heater enclosure, especially when the door was open.   I then asked Arturo if he needed coffee, tea, water or a bombproof suit?