Jason vs. the Water Heater (repost)

I am not a repairman.  I consider myself to be somewhat mechanically inclined, and thoroughly enjoy problem solving.  True to my manliness, I hate to admit defeat and call in a professional to work on things that need fixing.  I have recently enjoyed modding my kids barbie powerwheels, moving them up from 6 volt slow 4 wheelers to 12 volt powerhouses that spin out in the cul de sac.  There's nothing like supercharging a barbie toy to prove your manhood.  Their 12 volt cruisin tunes jeeps, I converted to 18 volt burnin tunes jeeps that offroad pretty well, and leave trackmarks on my neighbors grass.  Becky and I have been fortunate to pick these toys up at Goodwill and places like that, so it's an inexpensive hobby.  Frugal and manly.  So last Saturday morning we had 4 kids spinning out and racing in these mad machines.  Dad felt like super-dad.  Life was good.

Sunday morning...no hot water.  And thus began the saga of Jason vs. the Water Heater.  A true test of manliness vs machine.  A true puzzle that had real life consequences.  The jeeps, those barbie conversions were fun, but if it hadn't worked out, there were no real repurcutions.  The water heater?  Well there are only so many morning of cold-showered Becky, Rachel and Haley that a man can take.  This thing needed to be tackled, beaten and put back in working order before one more iced down household female reminded me how miserable it is to take a cold shower. 

Round 1...Jason goes to google.  Read up on water heaters.  Is clueless.  Thinks it's a thermostat though, but is still clueless as to where, what, how to fix it. 

Round 2.  Jason opens up the top access on the water heater.  Remembers this is probably stupid, since he had not turned off the power...turns off power, looks with blank stare at the thing with wires that should be the thermostat.

Round 3.  Jason visits "Man R Us" (Home Depot), purchases thermostat (surprisingly affordable)

Round 4.  Jason replaces the thermostat, resets water heater.  Goes to bed.

Round 5.  Jason wakes up to a woman who just experienced a cold shower.  Jason feels like a wee little man.

Round 6.  Jason goes to work.  Finds time to look up water heaters, realizes there are two thermostats rather than one.  Jason feels like a wee little man.

Round 7.  Jason goes to "Man R Us2" (Lowes) gets lower thermostat and heating elements (another potential fix.)

Round 8.  Jason replaces the other thermostat, resets water heater.  Goes to bed late.

Round 9.  Jason wakes up to a woman who just experienced a cold shower.  Jason feels like a wee little man.

Round 10.  Jason reads up on how to change out the elements.  Must drain the tank.

Round 11.  9pm last night (Wednesday.) Jason gets home from church on Wednesday night at about 9pm.  Starts draining tank...lots of scaley build up in the tank.

Round 12.  1AM  Jason is still trying to drain the tank, but is able to change the upper element, and finally the lower element, but tank didn't drain completely.

Round 13.  Tank fills back up, Jason turns electricity back on, goes to bed at about 1:45AM.

Round 14.  Jason greets his lovely wife who just had a hot shower.  Jason feels like a manly man.

Round 15.  Hot water runs out in the middle of the former manly man's shower.  Somethings not right.

Round 16.  Jason blogs about his woes with the water heater.  Feels like a wee little man. I'm pretty sure that the water heater has issues inside the tank I can't fix.  Water isn't moving right from top to bottom. 

The good news is that while waiting for the water heater to drain last night, I got to spend a lot of time with God.  God is not a lot of help when it comes to mechanical failures on water heaters :-).  There are large portions in my life where I would have done something else with that frustrated time.  Tonight, or this morning rather, I really did just keep an open conversation with Him.  He heard my day.  He heard about how cool the "Book of God" study went with the youth tonight, mainly because at least one of the students texted me last night and had cracked open their bible and read His word.  I think God enjoyed that as much as I did.  He heard about my worries, and my hope for things.  He heard at least one loud cry out to him when I dropped my 18volt power screw driver on my foot. 

Round 17 starts this afternoon.  With any luck, I can repair whatever is keeping the upper and lower part of my water heater from functioning correctly.  Basically there are two areas that work together to make the water heater function well.  Right now, they aren't working together, so I'm getting some hot water, but not nearly the full 60 gallons this thing should make. 

And here's the tie in (you did know there was a point right?)  How many of us are functioning like that water heater?  One side not talking to the other.  One half committed, the other half pulling us away.  This appliance is made for one thing...to make hot water.  We were made to be in a relationship with God.  We will never be fully "working" if we keep part of our lives separated from that relationship. 

Comments

[Mary Ann Anderson]

Jason, You ought to publish . I'm amazed

[Ruth Privette]

There is truth in this extended analogy. Here's hoping your women have hot water all day long by now. thanks for sharing. Ruth

[Jessica]

You had me laughing so hard because I could picture every moment. Great tie in too! I love that after all that laughing you brought it back to a picture of our relationship with God.

[Jason]

Thanks for the comments...I may need to fix some more things before I publish a water heater technical repair manual :-)

[plumbing claremont]

I also consider myself to be somewhat mechanically inclined, and thoroughly enjoy problem solving,thank's to your blog very informative.

by:jb