Tried to fix my own water heater last night and flooded the basement instead

Honestly, I thought I had it all figured out after watching three YouTube videos. I was replacing the heating element on my 5 year old Rheem water heater in my house in Portland. Got the old element out fine, but when I put the new one in, I didn't tighten it enough. Water started pouring out and I had to call my neighbor at 11pm to help me shut the main valve off. Has anyone else tried DIY plumbing and had it go way worse than expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.henry11d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you didn't turn the water off before you started? That's like step one, man. I'm no pro, but even I know you gotta kill the supply and open a faucet to drain the pressure before you touch anything. The heating element isn't even the part that holds the water in, it's the gasket on the element that seals it. You probably just needed to tighten it a bit more, or maybe the new gasket wasn't seated right. Either way, you learned the hard way that YouTube doesn't replace common sense with plumbing.

sanchez.sean11d ago

Honestly @coleman.henry, the gasket thing is where most people mess up. I've seen guys crank the element down like a lug nut and still get a drip. You gotta put a little bit of dielectric grease on that rubber seal so it slides in place without twisting. Also, a lot of those cheap replacement elements come with gaskets that are just too thin, they compress flat and don't hold. Learned that one after mopping up a utility room floor at midnight.