The manager and a different plumber came out this afternoon. The second plumber confirmed that cutting the connections to the regulator was the easy/lazy way out. The manager apologized profusely for the first plumber - the duct work is B-vent (meets code) and there is heat shielding on both sides of the wall. In a nutshell, about 80% of what the the first plumber said was incorrect.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Glad to hear it turned out ok. I'm surprised the big box store came through.

The manager must have believed in this business saying:

"If a customer is happy, they will tell a friend. If they are unhappy, they will tell ten friends!"

You have told at least ten people here that you were unhappy, but now it's fixed and better. Score one for the 'big box.'

*** A Lot More Than 10! ***
 

At this time - 19 posts and 180 views/friends (We're all friends here, right?)

The Internet - the 21st Century Town-crier! :P
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This is a bit long winded, but some might find it amusing....

I had the same hvac company that replaced the system in my commercial building come out to the house and replace my 28 year old Carrier heat pump. They did a fine job... with the heat pump.

The next day, we got up and there was no hot water, thinking that the electric hot water heater had breathed it's last, I pulled off the cover to test the elements and what not, only to find out it wasn't getting any power, and the breaker wasn't blown. Huh?... what a head scratcher.

In desperation, I pulled off the panel box cover to find that the hot water breaker was plugged in, but the wires were not connected. Wtf? Then, I noticed that the breaker was a worn out used one, and was a 30amp, not the 20 amp that was there the day before. Somehow, the moron that did the hvac work, opened the panel box and simply switched it out, his mistake was forgetting to hook it up. I still can't figure out why, even though he admitted to doing it when confronted by the owner. I can't figure out why he removed the panel box cover, the new unit draws less amps than the old one, and the county code inspector even scratched his head when he came to inspect the hvac job.

so, are you a fire inspector?

your first sentence is true of course, and i never said otherwise.

second sentence is true, and i never said otherwise.

third sentence is true, and i never said otherwise.

his post talked of a power vent, which i have never heard of and sounded bogus to me. as it turns out it was.

tom w

In my school trained and previous profession.....sort of. As you know the NFPA encompasses everything from building code to medical equipment safety standards.

I had a power vent on a tankless water heater. It's fan in the vent that drives the exhaust from combustion out the side of the house rather than letting it naturally rise through a traditional vent. It's wired into the burner so that it comes one when the burner ignites. Power vent doesn't come on, burner wont ignite. (I think)

Too be honest I have no clue what he was talking about but when a plumber makes a safety call you have a few options:

1. Get a second opinion
2. Get it inspected.
3. Don't go cheap on anything that emits carbon monoxide.

well, yeah, some furnaces have those, too. but it is integral to the design. in my experience, anyway.

i have seen them used in high effeciency furnaces where the heat exchanger is extra convoluted and wont draft properly by gravity.

i don't think i have seen any that were add ons.

tom w

come to think of it i had an external power vent on the million btu input boiler in my old office building.

but i don't think i have seen one on a water heater.

i think i am going to go to bed before i get cranky.

tom w

To be honest I have not seen a water heater without a power vent in years.

In my case the power vent was added on to a tankless heater because the original hot water heater had been put in a crawlspace and the condo built around it. When the original hot water heater failed, it could not be removed thru the crawl space access hole and a new one would not fit down the access hole. Hence I went with a tankless, mounted above the washing machine in a closet but since the original vent was on the other side of the house, the new water heater had to be power vented out the sidewall of the house.

but arent they internal?

he was talking of an add on.

tom w

I think it is better called a 'draft inducer' than a power vent.

As you know,this fan's function is to draw combustion air into the burner chamber, and then force the exhaust gas with its products of combustion out the vent.

This 'draft' must be induced by mechanical means because high-efficiency is achieved by keeping this combustion flow in contact with the heat exchanger longer, removing more of the 'heat' and resulting in a much lower temperature of the exhaust gas.

Low temperature gas does not produce as much flow by convection, since the cooler gas is less buoyant and moves slower. Without some means to move this gas along fast enough, the exhaust gases, including the very nasty carbon monoxide, can leak into the surrounding air.

The combustion process of high-efficiency water heaters is quite similar to that of high-efficiency forced-air furnaces.

I agree that adding an external power vent should not be needed for an existing heater, or a new heater unless it includes an external inducer fan as part of the installation kit.