Calfone a gas replacement or repair in temporary rental, cost?

[nikad]

In the price range that some are mentioning here, I believe you could find the smallest size electric water heater, or a slightly used gas water heater. Perhaps an upgrade could be worthy of consideration.

That said, I don't see how it's really your fault that it melted like that. Seems more like a result of the gas pressure being too high or a fairly serious design flaw. Also, my 2 cents worth, if the face is plastic, it might not take that much to melt it, and the inside parts might still be as safe as they ever were.

The common wisdom here is not to leave anything gas left on here while unattended or while sleeping. I have noted the practice of turning off all shutoff valves in the house at night, for the kitchen stove, and even for all space heaters. The lack of quality or built in safety features of some such devices available in the market here might in fact warrant this seemingly paranoid practice.

I would never never never buy a used water heater or calefon here. Btw, while most people turn off all valves, the calefon is always left on in piloto mode.

 

[Davidglen77]

When I lived in a new building a few years ago, the calefón that was in the apartment was great. It was a "DOMEC" brand and the ignition (pilot) was battery powered. It worked kind of like a cigarette lighter, when you turned the hot water faucet on, you would hear "spark, spark, spark" and that would light the gas valve inside the calefón. It was a brand new model, and I never saw anything like it again after living in that apartment. It took 4 D batteries and in 2 years I only had to replace them once. I felt much safer with that than the NEW one we have now which has a pilot light which burns gas day and night.

 

[syngirl]

It looks to be an older model. It does not have a gas tank. There is no hot water without it. The water get warm very fast when it is on. There is no model # on the outside.

Hopefully only the front panel will have to be replaced or at least it wont need to be completely replaced. Before I call the inmobilario, my questions are these.

How much might a replacement cost?

How much is hourly labor for something like this?

Is there anything else I should be thinking about?

I know these are great situations to get ripped off as a foreigner. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,

D.J.

What happened, how did leaving a stove burner on blow up the calefon?

Yes, I don`t get it -- you had the gas on your stove, and the calefon now has scorch mark on it... I don't get how the two are related. In our house these are separate systems, can someone else explain how one of these is realted to another -- it's been a long time since I had one like the one pictured, but at our house we have a gas heater, that heats the water as it goes through, and then we have a separate gas connection to our stove. In our place if this happened it would be two separatte incidences that just happened to coincide but were not one connected to the other.

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As far as repairs go, we got badly ripped off by one guy when we had to get some repair work done. Very badly ripped off. Eventually my husband did find a good guy -- I'll ask him tonight what he did with his card and I'll pass the info onto you when I get it.

 

[EricLovesBA]

I would never never never buy a used water heater or calefon here. Btw, while most people turn off all valves, the calefon is always left on in piloto mode.

I bought a used gas water heater from a demolition place near where I live. They guaranteed it to work upon installation, which it didn't. They sent a guy out, he replaced the control unit, and it's been working fine over a year now. A decent brand can have a fairly long lifespan, so I'm not really expecting problems any time soon. Maybe the more important point is buying from a trusted seller.

 

[Rich One]

Yes, I don`t get it -- you had the gas on your stove, and the calefon now has scorch mark on it... I don't get how the two are related. In our house these are separate systems, can someone else explain how one of these is realted to another -- it's been a long time since I had one like the one pictured, but at our house we have a gas heater, that heats the water as it goes through, and then we have a separate gas connection to our stove. In our place if this happened it would be two separatte incidences that just happened to coincide but were not one connected to the other.

------

As far as repairs go, we got badly ripped off by one guy when we had to get some repair work done. Very badly ripped off. Eventually my husband did find a good guy -- I'll ask him tonight what he did with his card and I'll pass the info onto you when I get it.

From what was explained the stove burner was left on overnight, apparently located under the Calefon, thus generating heat and smoke that charred the part front of the Calefon..!

 

[Davidglen77]

From what was explained the stove burner was left on overnight, apparently located under the Calefon, thus generating heat and smoke that charred the part front of the Calefon..!

That is precisely why calefones are NOT ALLOWED to be installed within several meters of any other gas burning appliance. Check the installation codes.

 

[TehDeej]

Thanks for your responses. Just to clarify, the calfone is in the room next to the kitchen not directly over the stove.

I can't buy one myself as I am just a temporary renter. I'll contact the inmobilario and let them know whats going on.

Here's to a nice cold shower.

 

[TehDeej]

Oh man, I didn't think to try the stove with the calefon turned off. Apparently they are not connected and I guess that means I'm not responsible. Awesome!

 

[mjohnstone]

Make sure they hire a "gasista matriculado" or call Longvie for service (tel 4709 8501). You don't want to mess around with gas appliances.
In my experience, the older the calefon the better it works ... though it might be more difficult to find the spare parts. Calling the manufacturer for service (Longvie, Domec, etc.) is the way to go, their people know most of the models regardless of age & model, have the spare parts, the know how and will usually guarantee their job for X time.
They might have to take it away for a day or two if major repairs are needed (every now and then I have mine checked and once or twice they've taken it away to have it thoroughly cleaned and repainted)

 

[syngirl]

Oh man, I didn't think to try the stove with the calefon turned off. Apparently they are not connected and I guess that means I'm not responsible. Awesome!

Yes, I'm convinced that they are two separate incidences that just happened to coincide. Not your fault, and NO NEED to mention that you left the stove on to the landlord.