Beware the water heater-yurt scammer
An RV water heater for $49 is like one of those ruggedly handsome guys (or glamorous gals) who wants to be your Facebook friend. Too good to be true. I almost fell for the water heater.
If you know anyone who’s been duped by one of those charming fake wanna-be-your-friend shysters, you’ll agree with me that a fake water heater is a better deal. You lose only the price of the appliance (which never arrives) and all the critical information you gave the seller, like maybe your identity.
The other way you lose your heart too. Not good.
Anyway, rather than order the $49 water heater I found scam alerts about the sellers thereof. They offer all sorts of camping stuff at too-good-to-be-true prices — not just water heaters but also tents. Especially tents. Shopping for a yurt? You’ve been warned.
I almost got drawn into looking at their tents, awnings and yurts. The scammers know just how to tempt us.
But instead I summoned my partner in crime Terri to help me get my old water heater working again. (If you’re an English teacher or grammar-fixated for some other reason, you noted the absence of a comma before the name “Terri” and understand she’s not my only partner in crime.)
A 23-year-old water heater is not the norm. That’s 161 dog years, and most dogs live longer than water heaters. If you can make sense of what I just said, you’re ahead of me. I thought it sounded good. Let’s just say the water heater has been working on borrowed time for at least a decade.
Advice: If you’ve got one that’s no longer working, try draining it. Wish I’d thought of that. But how do you drain a water heater when the valve is on top? I’m asking. I really am.
Moot question now. We removed it. I’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say we could’ve used two people from an old carnival sideshow — the strong man and a contortionist. Not that the strong man was really part of those sideshows. He had his own act, swinging a big hammer to ring a bell. Was that a scam? Guys paid to try. I never saw anybody but him ring the bell.
Moving right along. if you’ve ever worked on anything in a small RV, especially plumbing, you’ve probably tested the limits of your body contorting abilities and possibly also your strength. If you’ve wrestled an old styrofoam-encased water heater from a very tight space, you’re part of an elite group. We should meet online for therapy.
Did we fix the water heater? Not exactly. It fixed itself. We just jostled it. I jostled, Terri supervised. That’s her role.
Water ran out — rusty and then clear. Once reinstalled, it worked!
If you have zero interest in old water heaters, at least there’s a moral:
Among life’s greatest rewards are the surprise successes that happen when you ignore sensible advice.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Beware the water heater-yurt scammer
