# Insta Hot Power Max Disaster...



## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Yikes!


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

I know...


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Oh, sorry to hear that! I bought a propane-powered portable shower a couple of years ago for the horses and had the same issue. Left it in the barn (thought I'd drained it, but apparently not enough) and one of the pipes burst. I had a welder fix it. Maybe an option for you too? I don't know how long the patch-up job will last, but he says it's good for life. In any case, this was just a small unit, I think I paid 200$ or so for it. Yours looks considerably bigger. Might be worth finding a local welder to patch the leak!!!


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

An update on the Insta-Hot Power Max Equine Washer fiasco...

The company, Eccotemp, was not great to deal with. They were very polite, but they stuck to their "You are an idiot" stance, and would not waver. Fortunately for me, Schneider's was more compassionate and sent a replacement unit, which was, I feel, above and beyond what they needed to do. I mean, Schneider's is just the messenger, not the responsible party, right? 

Schneider's also sort of implied that I was an idiot. "You understand, ma'am, that you CANNOT leave this unit in the cold, right? And if you DO leave it out in the cold, you have to take an air compressor and VERY CAREFULLY blow all the water out of the pipes, or you will be right back in the same situation, and your new unit WILL BREAK!! It WILL FREEZE! Do you understand?!?"

And I think that it could be successfully argued that I WAS an idiot for leaving it in my tack room, but nowhere did it say not to: it just said remove drain plug to prevent freezing when the weather dips below freezing. 

Which I did. 

Anyway, yea Schneider's! Thank you very much!! Five stars for service!!! 
:clap:


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Captain Evil said:


> Anyway, yea Schneider's! Thank you very much!! Five stars for service!!!
> :clap:


You need to shout that out far and wide, good customer service should be shared.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Sorry to hear your disaster!
I use the KISS principle in washing horses. At the back of our house, I have a hot and cold tap, that I can join with that hose splitter thinghy, and then I just use one of those water pistols with multi settings
We do have a pressure washer, that hubby uses, but I don't bother with it
If I really had to wash a horse in winter, I would haul to the indoor I ride at,and use their wash rack
So, if it was drained, no water left to freeze up attachments, do you know as to why it would do what it did? Sounds like there was resistence somewhere or a block, that caused the water to back up


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

See, that is why some companies go out of their way with disclaimers, versus assuming some simple basic principle is an understood given.
Thus, we get warnings on coffee mugs, that the contains are hot and can burn, warning not to eat those desiccants in pill bottles
I do believe that the company was not at fault, beyond not being explicate enough, assuming something was just basic common sense-sorry!
I imagine you might have helped them realize that they need to have more details in their instructions!


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

I have the same exact water heater. I have read the instructions- all they say is to open the drain when it freezes. The ads all show snow on the ground and encourage winter bathing and general barn cleaning. 

I saw how the water hose within coils when I was setting it up and so I brought it in before it our first freeze. We have major freezing issues here and start having to blow out our hoses in Oct. BUT- I can easily see how the instructions do not clarify that it NEEDS to be blown out in the winter. 

I am glad Schneider’s made it right.


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

Smilie said:


> See, that is why some companies go out of their way with disclaimers, versus assuming some simple basic principle is an understood given.
> 
> I do believe that the company was not at fault, beyond not being explicate enough, assuming something was just basic common sense-sorry!
> I imagine you might have helped them realize that they need to have more details in their instructions!


Well, Smilie, I agree with you, mostly. I shouldn't have put it in my unheated tack room, especially since it froze, but I don't think I am 100% culpable because....

They were very insistent that their instructions had to be followed to avoid freezing. Page 8 reads: *Read the maintenance section of draining the unit entirely to avoid freeze issues.

Page 12 reads: Upon completion of use or storage, open drain valve (...) to ensure draining of water.

Page 13 reads: "WARNING: If the outside temperature is around or below freezing (32 degrees F, 0 degrees C), ensure that the drain valve is opened and water drained from the unit after each use to avoid internal damage to the water regulator. 

You will also need to unhook the outgoing water line to ensure that any water in the heat exchanger is drained. Failure to properly drain your unit will cause water damage which may or may not be repairable. 

Please check the warranty information found on our website at www.eccotemp.com/freeze.htm for more information on freezing issues. (That link goes to "Page not found": non-functioning link)

That is the sum of their freezing information. 

So to me, that sounds as though you have to remove the drain plug when it is at or below freezing before storing it. If you are storing it in a warm place, why remove the drain plug to avoid freezing - it's not gonna freeze. and, if you are just using it when it is freezing, you can't remove the drain plug or it won't work. So it is confusing.

Also, I have a horse water system in my barn, where I just turn on a farm pump attached to a hose, and as long as I drain the hose, it won't freeze, even here in Maine. So even though I shouldn't have left it the Power Max in my barn, there were extenuating circumstances.

But that is not what my epic fight was about. I will admit culpability on the freezing issue. My fight was because they kept saying the manual I had expressly told me to not ever let the unit freeze. I wanted them to show me where in the manual it said that, page number please, and it took five technicians and one customer relations manager FOUR HOURS to admit that it wasn't in there.anyway, I won't store the next one in the barn...


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## Kaifyre (Jun 16, 2016)

My horses just don't get a bath for 6 or 7 months out of the year. We don't have a wash rack, so any washing would have to be done outside. Thus far this winter season has started out fairly mild, with temps in the 30s, but we're usually well below freezing right now. In another month or so we'll have highs in the negatives (at least in a normal year, not sure what's going to happen this winter) and I don't care how warm your water is, temps that cold make bathing a no go. Which is really frustrating for me since Thunder the Shire likes to wallow in his own filth and is just gross all the time. Can't wait till I can get him mostly shedded out in the spring so I can give him his first bath of the year - he doesn't get a bath until I can get his 4-inch long pelt thinned out a bit lol

-- Kai


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Yes, when I used to show, late in the season, there was a reason I had to bath horses at times.. Living in Alberta, winter can come almost anytime!
While still living at our other house, and when I used to take quite few horses to the Alberta Horse iMprovement program, mid Sept. , and before I had a hot water tap outside, I re ]call washing horses in the snow, with a hose run into my laundry room window, hooking up to that hot water cold water tap combo.
Hense, the hot water tap now outside the back door of present house, although I have not shown seriously in years, thus no longer need to wash horses when it gets cold.
I simply don't wash horses once it gets to freezing. Freezing takes advantage of any water residue, and my horse trailer door freezes shut after a freeze thaw cycle.
I also can't use the taps on the outside of my house, to make up beet pulp, once it freezes hard, as they become frozen. Doesn't take much!


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