Hi. I just joined this site with a problem. Does anyone know of any tricks to the control box on this hot water heater? It seems my Whirlpool Energy Smart Water Heaters' control box went kafooey. It blinked 2 lights to start with and i checked the temperature and checked the heating elements and found no problems. I filled the tank back up and turn the breaker back on and it blinked one light, indicating no water in the tank, ( which there was). Whirlpool says its the control box. Does anyone know of a place to get these at a lower cost than from Whirlpool? I'm gonna have to take out a second mortgage to get one from them . Is there a website i can find cheapish replacement parts for this? Advice?
Thanks.

 

Whirlpool Energy Saver Water Heater

Hi. Does anyone know of any tricks to the control box on this hot water heater? It seems my Whirlpool Energy Smart Water Heaters' control box went kafooey. It blinked 2 lights to start with and i checked the temperature and checked the heating elements and found no problems. I filled the tank back up and turned the breaker back on and it blinked one light, indicating no water in the tank, ( which there was). Whirlpool says its the control box. Does anyone know of a place to get these at a lower cost than from Whirlpool? I'm gonna have to take out a second mortgage to get one from them . Is there a website i can find cheapish replacement parts for this? Advice?
Thanks.

 

If it costs a ton of money to fix it, I would just replace it with a regular water heater.

The savings with a water heater is by not using it! Or by heating only warm water most of the time, then only hot water when taking a shower or bath.

For doing that, you can buy a separate water heater timer like this...
(Has manual on/off button too.)
http://www.theenergyconscious.com/pow1036.html

You can save by...
Washing clothes in cold water.
Taking fewer showers/baths.
Set water heater to off when not taking showers/baths, then you have warm water left for a day or so. Turn on about an hour before taking shower/bath.

 

Whirlpool Energy Saver water heater

I have this heater and it is junk. You should have a 12 year warranty. I am currently trying to get mine back on. I bought it at Lowes but they won,t replace them and do not have parts. i called the number for Whirlpool service and got a foreign woman whom I could hardly understand. We went thru some checkpoints without any conclusion. This happened on this past Fridayso I am without hot water all weekend and will have to call them back on Mondayand see if they will send a control board.

DO NOT BUY THIS WATER HEATER!!!!!!!

 

...I am without hot water all weekend...

If you have a big pot or pan, you can heat up water in it a bit on the stove, then this makes washing greasy dishes a WHOLE lot easier!

(I do that when camping. Trying to wash greasy dishes in cold water is NASTY!)

 

I have the same water heater and it's been trouble free since I installed it about 5 years ago.

OH NO why did I say that. It's to good to be true.

You might be hearing from me, I hope not.

 

Whirlpool water heater

Most of these that I've worked on,have been in parts warranty.Most of those units had 10 year part warranties.Look on the I.D.plate,will give model/serial and all info you need,along with Whirlpool 800 number.Usually the part is overnighted to you.Hope this helps

 

Those Whirlpool water heaters are lemons & should be avoided at all costs, the gas "Flamelock" ones are the worst there was a class-action lawsuit on them & from what I understand it did not help matters. :furious: Still junk.

 

I have information on this one: I have the Whirlpool Energy Smart Electric water heater, purchased at a Lowe's store January 2006, and installed then. I did have a problem of no hot water in February 2009. The green light was "ON" the control board as it should be, but no hot water. I have a business repairing/installing electric water heaters so I started trouble shooting this one. No luck, everything goes back to the control board. I go back to Lowe's where the employee of this area is a friend of mine. He informs me that there has been a problem with these units, particularly the control board and that Lowe's store has removed them from the shelves. I call the 1-877-817-6750 (I'm looking at my paperwork) for the tech center to ask what to do. All they asked was if I was the original consumer purchaser, which I am. The tech guy asked a few more questions, then stated he was shipping out a new control board ASAP. This was under the terms of the original warranty, BUT-the warranty has changed so that the original consumer purchaser would now have life-time warranty on the control board. That is why he needed more info. Also, under the original warranty, the customer pays shipping-Blah! In Feb. '09 I paid $15.36 shipping to get the new control board. I replaced it when it came in and have had no other problems with it since. NOW--I'm this type person: since they did not want the old control board back, I decided to see what may be wrong with it. I'm not an electronics person, but I took each component of that board out, checked it as I learned how and found---nothing! I'm sure I didn't do something right but it doesn't matter, I had fun. SO-I'm saying to you: Whirlpool is giving you the run-a-round as far as the control board according to what the techy told me. They should replace the board FREE of charge to you, you pay shipping. I would call the number I gave you, be polite but firm about them having problems with these boards and see what you can work out with them. Good Luck, David

 

Thanks for the info, good to know
I have the Whirlpool electric too, 12 year warranty
Purchased in '-05 I think

 

The OP was answered at the "Appliances" forum. New info: According to someone I know at a Lowe's store (Dec. 07) when I stated that I had seen the original post, he informed me that there was a "class-action lawsuit" against Whirlpool on these Energy Smart water heaters. It does seem the gas version was more of a problem than the electric, but the electric version had it's own unique problems. My understand from him: As long as the water heater is owned by the original purchase/consumer, the water heater will be under a life-time warranty. IF this is true, I'll bet Whirlpool will not won't to admit it. As I stated in my post in the Appliances section: The Whirlpool tech did tell me that the circuit boards of these units would be covered under a life-time warranty to the original purchaser/consumer and would be replaced free-of-charge, YOU pay shipping under the warranty terms. I will say that IF you are having a problem with a Whirlpool Energy Smart water heater, call the 1-877 number (I did not get a foreign person) and complain firmly but politely. Ask for someone higher up if necessary, be persistent. Good Luck, David

 

You can see if the water heater is still under warranty by calling the manufacturer. Normally you can order replacement parts quickly. Their number is 1-877-817-6750. If you still have warranty then it should cover the cost of the part.

I had the same problem with mine. Called the warranty number - gave them the model/serial number and they replaced it free (probably paid shipping?)..
It took about a week to get the part, but it's been working fine since (a couple years now).

 

Thanks so much for your posts. Your info was very helpful. However, Whirlpool's Indian customer service rep would not give me the satisfaction of giving me any kind of warranty on the control box. He said because i wasnt the original owner, the warranty was void, which this is the house the original owner installed it in. Its so frustrating when you call with a problem and you get this foreign person on the other line that can barely speak a lick of english. Somtimes i wish i could reach my hand through the phone and grab a neck or something. I searched online for a control box and had no luck. Whirlpool wants $75 plus $20 overnite shipping and their defective piece of crap.. I haven't had water in a week and i'm tired of showering at my in-laws all the time. They have me where they want me and there isn't much I can do about it it seems. Needless to say, i would NEVER buy a Whirlpool product.

 

did you check ebay or amazon?

 

My WH was only $270 w/10% discount
What warranty do they give on the replacement ?

 

JT
I posted the other day after reading your dilemma.

I tryed to find the part on line even though I do not need one just to see how difficult it was and the costs associated with it.

I could not find it anywhere, how ridiculous is that you can find parts for every thing under the sun on line with the exception of the Whirlpool control box.

Like I said the other day I have had mine in now for 7 years(looked at the file) and it's been trouble free. but when it breaks I think I will just replace it with a non electronic controlled HWH.

It paid for itself $238 I installed.

 

They never gave me any info about a warranty on a new part, though i didnt ask either. I just wanted to get off the qhone cause he had me on hold 3 times when i was talking to him.

The WH we have is 7 years old and we didnt have many problems til now, so i would say ur about due Sultini :laughing: just kidding... i hope you dont have problems like ours lol

 

Your right I am about due, what I should do is purchase a control box now because the elements are probably easy to find and that's about the only other thing on it that could go bad besides a leak in the main tank or TP valve.:whistling2:

 

Don't be so sure on the elements either, ours has 5500 watt elements and the hardware around me says they only stock 4500's cause those are the common ones. I have to find a plumbing store ( or I assume Lowes would have them too). And if you order something and get overnite shipping from Whirlpool (which i had no other option besides the $20 overnite shipping), don't count on it.. still waiting:furious:. I'm thinking about calling and canceling it and just buying a new one.. this is BULL!! I hope i never deal with them again..

 

There are different types of overnite delivery
by 9a.....by 10a....and just the next day...no specific time
If there was a guaranteed time & they fail then usually shipping is free

 

Free circuit board

You can get a circuit board for free, :thumbsup: just go to Loews hot water heater section and tell them you are the original owner and your circuit board is bad...They'll give you a replacement FREE!!!!!!! Seems there is a factory defect they neglected to tell anyone about... Call before you go they may be out and direct you to a store that has them. I just got another one, think this one is defective too.

 

Control Box Fire

I've had one of these for 5 years now. Yesterday the control box caught on fire. Good thing I happened to go into the garage for something or my house probably would have burned down. I've already replaced a heating element and the control box board in the past. India had me on hold for a long time yesterday, but they did overnight a new board via UPS for $20. Another problem: they forgot to send a new box as mine melted. I figured out the cause of the fire (I think). The main wires on the board are ALUMINUM! Major fire hazard to connect copper and aluminum. Be careful everyone!

 

Multiple threads on the same problem have been merged

 

energy saver

I bought a Whirlpool Energy Smart water heater two years ago, it has the electronic circuit board to control the heating elements. This unit worked fine until about a month ago. It quit heating the water and was giving a code for "False Start". Turning off the breaker, pressing the reset button got it started as the instructions said to do so. Another two weeks and it went out, completely. No indicator light for power to the unit, although there was. I called the 1-800-Whirlpool number as stated on the papers that came with it. No problem, bad circuit board, new boards are free to the original owner as long as the unit is in the original home it was installed in. A $20 shipping charge applied. Research on the Internet tells me that Whirlpool, actually American Water Heater, has had such a problem with these they now warrant the 6 yr., 9 yr., and lifetime units under a "lifetime" warranty with the above conditions. Would I buy another one-NO. This unit seems too fragile. Just thought I'd share. Thanks, David

Hey Thurman, friend of mine had same prob a year old Whirlpool heater, The wires on his unit were fried, melted together, I had no wire diagram or schematic, could not find anything on line about it or even where to find another one. Thanks for the post, I will pass it on. You would think there would be no shipping charge at all considering not everyone can do the repairs and would have to hire an electrcian to replace this faulty design. I agree Whirlpool folks wake up!!! C ya Thurman an thanks again james

 

I had the same problem. I got mine working again at least for now. I shut the power off at the breaker and then pushed the re-set button switch on the tank then turned the breaker back on and it seemed to fix the problem. When I turned the breaker back on you could hear the elements heating up. and so far so good.

 

I bought my Whirlpool Energy Smart Electric water heater in January of 2005. It has failed twice, in the fall of '06, and in Feb of '10. Both times they sent me a new board for free, with no shipping charge.

 

"Who" sent a free new control board w/ free shipping?



"They" sent a free new control board w/ free shipping?
Who, Lowes or Whirlpool? I'll be searching the Lowes stores for a replacement as mine failed. Curious if the new policy is a free board + free shipping. Seems like I would need a backup control board if the replacement can be expected to fail as well. Horrible service history on the electronics for this unit.

 

I guess it saves you energy by working ½ the time!

 

Okay, now y'all have me curious.

If someone would like to send me a fried/broken board, I'd be quite interested to see what ails it.

If it's something I can fix, you get it back and have a spare - and if not, you've lost nothing.

 

It seems mine gave out after a couple days. Id be glad to send you the circuit board when my new one arrives. I called whirlpool and the gal on the other end was more then happy to help. since its the weekend I have to wait till Tuesday to get the new board.
the water heater works off and on as long as I push the reset button and turn the breaker off and on. I think the board is trying to run both elements at once, cause after a few minutes of running it kicks the breaker. hmmm . I did check the ohms on the elements and continuity and all is well on that end I was getting a High Temp warning flashes but now only get fail to start Flash. I hope Whirlpool has upgraded the circuit board. If it fails again after installing the new board I think Ill go back the old style water heater.