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Reasons Why DIY Water Heater Repair Is A Terrible Idea | Myrtle Beach, SC
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A water heater is a vital appliance in your residential property. Unlike the other appliances in various modern homes in Myrtle Beach, SC, and other places in the developed world, a water heater provides more than convenience. Without a water heater, you and your family may be forced to bath with ice-cold water, an inconceivably uncomfortable undertaking. Alternatively, your family would be forced to rely on simple ways of heating the water, which may be dangerous and expensive.
Unfortunately, just like any other appliance at your home, the water heater may start malfunctioning or break down, creating a severe inconvenience at your home. However, regardless of how urgently you want the water heater fixed, NEVER attempt DIY water heater repair. Do It Yourself repair jobs on your water heater have many risks that you don’t want to take. Below are why repairing the water heater yourself should never even cross your mind.
1. You Might Get Hurt
Repairing the water heater is a physically demanding job. Besides leaving you extremely exhausted, attempting DIY water heater repair could also leave you with severe physical injuries. For example, because you could be dealing with hot and highly pressurized water, the job may leave you with severe burns. A water heater is both a plumbing and electrical appliance. Therefore, dealing with its electrical parts could put you at significant risk of electrocution or electrical shock.
Fortunately, if you decide to hire a plumber to help repair the water heater, you pass the risks above to another person, ensuring both you and your family members are safe. The plumbers understand the risks involved and are equipped with the necessary training and safety gear to complete the repair safely. They even have medical insurance that covers such risks as electrocution. Hence, if an accident happens when the plumber is fixing your water heater, you cannot or won’t be held liable financially.
2. You May Damage the Appliance
Water heaters are pretty complex appliances. Thus, unless you have extensive training in plumbing, Attempting DIY water heater repair may potentially result in severe equipment damage. For example, because you lack the necessary skills for the task at hand and do not have the appropriate diagnostic kit, you might not even know what is causing the problem at hand.
Unfortunately, by not getting the diagnostics right, anything else you do after that could most likely be wrong. The fact is, you could end up tampering with adequately functioning parts. This, unfortunately, means that besides leaving the problem at hand unresolved, you may end up exacerbating the water heater problem or creating even more issues. Consequently, you will be forced to call an experienced water heater repair technician and pay much more than you would have, had you called the technician initially.
To avoid such an ordeal, you must ensure a professional performs all plumbing repairs, no matter how small the issue seems to be. They have the training and equipment to inspect the water heater, diagnose the problem, and resolve it professionally without jeopardizing other components of this vital plumbing fixture.
3. You Could Void the Warranty
Water is an expensive plumbing appliance. Given its cost, most manufacturers extend warranties to protect their customers against financial losses should the water heater develop a problem or break down during the time specified in the warranty document. A warranty is a document used by manufacturers to assure their customers that their product is of the right quality.
With a warranty document, you can push the water heater manufacturer to settle the repair bills you may have otherwise incurred during the period specified in the warranty document. However, a warranty is not an open document. It stipulates some conditions that you must adhere to for it to be valid. For instance, most water heater warranties stipulate that a licensed plumber should perform any water heater repair. If you repair the water heater yourself, you will effectively void the warranty in a situation like this.
Therefore, to protect the water heater’s warranty, you must ensure that a professional and licensed technician performs all its repairs.
4. You Could Breach the Conditions of Your Home Insurance
Assuming you don’t have a warranty that you can worry about, you may still hold a home insurance cover to be concerned with. The insurance policy probably stipulates that you ensure that all the appliances that might endanger your Myrtle Beach, SC home are repaired and serviced by licensed professionals. The water heater is among those appliances since it relies on electricity or highly inflammable fuels like Natural Gas or propane.
Therefore, if you attempt to repair your water heater using Do It Yourself skills, you may end up breaching the terms of the insurance cover. Later, it puts you at loggerheads with the insurance company when the water heater causes severe property damage.
Conversely, working with a licensed and skilled plumber on each of your water heater repairs, you’ll be making the process of making an insurance claim in the event water heater-related problems cause property damage easier.
5. You Could Lose Money
Most people make the wrong assumption of thinking that they may save some money by repairing their malfunctioning or broken water heaters themselves. However, they could not be more wrong. The reality is, attempting DIY water heater repairs might end up costing you an arm and a leg, resulting in significant losses financially.
For example, if you cause more damage to the water heater, you will spend more cash on the repairs. Similarly, if you mistakenly purchase the wrong parts because of an incorrect diagnosis, you will most likely lose the money unless the store you bought accepts returns. And even then, they might penalize you. So, if you aim to have the water heater repaired at the lowest possible cost, enlisting the services of a professional and licensed plumber is your best bet.
From the above, it’s apparent that repairing the water heater yourself is a bad idea. If the water heater ever runs into a problem, the best recourse is to call a professional plumber to fix it. You should never think of fixing the water heater yourself, regardless of how minor the problem may seem to be.
To ensure there is a constant hot water supply at your Myrtle Beach, SC home, enlist the services of professional plumbers like Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach to maintain your water heater. Avoid endangering your life and financial losses caused By DIY water heater repair jobs. Call us today for water heater inspection, repair, and replacement.