My Geospring

yikes semipro. 2011. if you are going to have to pay anyway could you troubleshoot and they send you the part or parts? just wired one a few days ago. got back to the job and the woman was complaining that she couldn't get two showers out of the 50 gal geo but could from the 50 gal reg electric type. so the plumber turned it up to 130 degrees. she got out of the shower 20 minutes earlier and the unit was still running 1 to 1.5 hours after. is that normal with yours? if you are going to have to pay anyway could you troubleshoot and they send you the part or parts?

fbelec said:

yikes semipro. 2011. if you are going to have to pay anyway could you troubleshoot and they send you the part or parts? just wired one a few days ago. got back to the job and the woman was complaining that she couldn't get two showers out of the 50 gal geo but could from the 50 gal reg electric type. so the plumber turned it up to 130 degrees. she got out of the shower 20 minutes earlier and the unit was still running 1 to 1.5 hours after. is that normal with yours? if you are going to have to pay anyway could you troubleshoot and they send you the part or parts?

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Yes that is normal for mine running in heat pump only mode.

fbelec said:

yikes semipro. 2011. if you are going to have to pay anyway could you troubleshoot and they send you the part or parts? just wired one a few days ago. got back to the job and the woman was complaining that she couldn't get two showers out of the 50 gal geo but could from the 50 gal reg electric type. so the plumber turned it up to 130 degrees. she got out of the shower 20 minutes earlier and the unit was still running 1 to 1.5 hours after. is that normal with yours? if you are going to have to pay anyway could you troubleshoot and they send you the part or parts?

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I'd be willing to install the parts myself especially if they are improved over the original stuff. It would likely require freon evac.and recharging though and although I have the know-how to do that I no longer have the tools.

Yeah, these things will run for a while in HP mode. Of course, the total power used is much less than that of resistance heating. It has a "heavy use" mode that you can put it in for faster recovery like when you have guests over.

The Geosping is well engineered and thought out. Too bad GE took the low road and built it in China.

If GE doesn't come through somehow I'm thinking I'll just call it a loss and invest in a Nyletherm or Geyser.

what is the money difference between the geo and the Nyletherm or Geyser?

A new Geospring is about $1300. Tom of Maine had some Nyletherms on Ebay for $350 but he's down to one left.
I don't want to replace the Geospring if I don't have to.

sloeffle said:

He should have two now. I had to ship mine back because I was having stratification issues with my Marathon.

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I would appreciate hearing more about the stratification sometime.

semipro said:

I would appreciate hearing more about the stratification sometime.

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I will send you a PM sometime over the next couple days.

Have a good holiday.

semipro said:

Well my 1st Gen, blue-top, Chinese built, Geospring is experiencing some problems. Can't say I wasn't expecting it based on reports by others.
Came home to no hot water last night. The GS fan was running but the compressor was not. I rebooted it the unit and the fan again started but no compressor. I rapped on the side of the unit and the compressor came on, and I'm assuming, its heating.

Called both Lowes and GE this morning. Lowe's said contact the manufacturer. GE said that I should schedule a service call and that I was responsible for all costs other than parts. I asked what if I call someone out but the unit doesn't act up. They said that was my problem. I mentioned to them that this 1st gen unit was obviously poorly built and problematic. I offered that they should credit me some money and I'd buy the newer model. They declined and offered no other options though I made it clear I was open to options.

So, I've switched the unit to resistance heating mode so we'll have hot water for the holidays. I'll switch it back to Hybrid later to see if it acts up again. We now have a very expensive "conventional" hot water heater ($1400). I suspect a class-action lawsuit is coming. I've very disappointed with GE. They had a chance to gain a devoted customer and passed it by.

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So you bought a water heater with a one year parts and labor warranty and 10 year parts only warranty. It runs ok for 5 years and then has some type of malfunction. The manufacturer say labor is on you. You say what if nothing is wrong do I still have to pay? Then you ask for a credit to buy a new one and they said no. Were you offered an extended warranty at the time of purchase?

DBCOOPER said:

So you bought a water heater with a one year parts and labor warranty and 10 year parts only warranty. It runs ok for 5 years and then has some type of malfunction. The manufacturer say labor is on you. You say what if nothing is wrong do I still have to pay? Then you ask for a credit to buy a new one and they said no. Were you offered an extended warranty at the time of purchase?

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Pretty much although something is wrong and after 4 years not 5. The problem occurs intermittently and I would be stuck paying for the service call where the outcome could well be the repair person saying "its not acting up now so there's nothing I can do".
I feel that extended warranties are a scam and that manufacturers have replaced quality design and manufacturing.with the proffering of insurance against premature failure. Were I the only one experiencing problems I wouldn't be so adamant about this. However, extensive issues with the quality of this model are well documented. As it stands now I may have paid over $300/year for "rental" of this water heater. I, like many others, purchased this unit with cost versus benefit in mind. If the things are only going to last 4 years that really skews the payoff results.

As an update: I posted essentially what I posted initially here to GE's website as a review of the unit and GE moderators have censored it. I can't say I'm surprised. The mods request you revise and resubmit but don't provide instructions on how to do this and its not readily apparent on their website.

I'm shopping for a clothes washer for my mother in law for Christmas. Think I"m considering GE...think again.

sloeffle said:

He should have two now. I had to ship mine back because I was having stratification issues with my Marathon.

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When I spoke toTon (Nyletherm) fromMaine, he told me I could not return it. Did he tell you differently. Thx

I'm sympathetic semipro. 4 years is disappointing, but in the meantime you do have a working 'conventional' HWH running on the element. At my usage levels I would figure I saved $200-300/year versus elec conventional and in 4 years that is 800-1200 in savings to date, prob in excess of the upcharge on the unit over a conventional tank. Not all early adopters are so lucky.

Can you get a decent install/service manual for this unit from the interbloobs or GE? If it is just a controller board or sensor, I am sure you can fix it yourself. If its the compressor....well that's another story.

not sure if this is the case now but i have seen lugs on a compressor for the wiring to connect. i've had a service call to troubleshoot a condenser when i got there the fan was running but no compressor. whi look into the problem i found the lug a crimp on connector was loose and carboned up. with help from my friend the wire brush i was able to clean and attach a new crimp on and they were on their way

I have always had mine in heat pump only mode since the install almost 2 years ago. I put it on hybrid/high demand as we had family over for the holidays and were using a ton of hot water. Turns out the elements might be bad. Was throwing code f-9/f10. Looked up the codes and it says check upper or lower element.

Switched it back to heat pump only and have been fine. I do have the extended warranty from Lowes and might call it in. Regardless this unit has already paid for itself. I installed it for practically nothing after local utility rebates and federal tax credits.

It draws 560 watts in heat pump mode vs 4500 running the elements.

650 watts. splitting hairs. Also it is good to run the elements every few months for a bit, help keep the corrosion off them.

woodgeek said:

I'm sympathetic semipro. 4 years is disappointing, but in the meantime you do have a working 'conventional' HWH running on the element. At my usage levels I would figure I saved $200-300/year versus elec conventional and in 4 years that is 800-1200 in savings to date, prob in excess of the upcharge on the unit over a conventional tank. Not all early adopters are so lucky.

Can you get a decent install/service manual for this unit from the interbloobs or GE? If it is just a controller board or sensor, I am sure you can fix it yourself. If its the compressor....well that's another story.

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semi, you got a local college/community college or HVAC program nearby? At this rate I'd call in and see what they could do with your unit, especially if you're able to provide the parts for them. Who knows, professor might be interested in assigning a special project to a student in need of some extra credit...

Had a minor issue with mine. I have only ran it in heat pump only mode since I installed it about 1.5 years ago. No issues until now. It;s already paid for itself. Here in CT i got a 400 federal and 400 local utility rebate and purchased it at lowes on sale for $900. So cost me about $100 and installed it myself. Saved me a fortune so far as it draws 575 watts in heat pump mode per my Effergy whole house energy monitor vs the 4500 watt unit it replaced. I have probably saved hundreds since I installed it. I also have the 10 year warranty from lowes.

Around the holidays we had many guests over and a large hot water demand. I switched the setting to high demand and it started beeping and giving a F9/F10 error. I looked up the code and it says to check upper and lower element. Perhaps its because I never actually ran the elements from the start. If I reset it the heat pump will kick in and I will have hot water but within 24 hours it will throw the code.

I tested the upper and lower elements with my meter. It appears the lower element is shorted as I got no continuity when testing.

Will call GE on Monday as the water heater line is closed on the weekends. Hopefully they will send a new element. If they give me a hard time I can purchase one online for $11.75. It appears to use a common GE electric element. I am sure I could call in Lowes with the extended warranty to cover it but its probably not worth the hassle over a $11.75 part that I can quickly change myself.

Edit: Just saw this post above. Perhaps this is what happened as I have had it in heat pump only mode since the start. Don't think the elements ever really were used.

650 watts. splitting hairs. Also it is good to run the elements every few months for a bit, help keep the corrosion off them.

On a related note. You can currently purchase one in CT for $599 at any Lowes. It appears they are including the $400 utility rebate instantly on the purchase. My brother in law from Massachusetts purchased one in CT and took it back to Mass and installed it. That is almost half the msrp price of $1200.

The reviews on Lowes have been stellar. Almost 5 stars out of 749 reviews. I think they fixed the issues with the earlier versions and the newer versons seems to be a solid product with practically no issues.

Just shutting power off to it will put it in test mode which will test each part individually. I actually don't like that feature because it doesn't allow you to run it on a generator at 650 watts.

STIHLY DAN said:

Just shutting power off to it will put it in test mode which will test each part individually. I actually don't like that feature because it doesn't allow you to run it on a generator at 650 watts.

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If the startup test fails for an element test the heat pump will still run. Seems it has some kind of software programming to kick the heat pump on despite a failed element at startup. I have had a bad lower element that required me to restart the unit every so often and it kicked back on in heat pump only with no issues. In a jam you could just disconnect the elements and the unit will stick kick the heat pump on.

Recently had a bad element on mine. In fact I have always ran it in heat pump only mode since day one and never actually used the elements. Seem my post above where I switched it to high demand during the holidays as I had very high hot water usage.

I tested the lower element and it was bad. Not continuity with my meter. The unit will still revert to heat pump mode with a bad element. So I guess you could disconnecte your elements and run it on generator power.

When I called GE about my bad element. They sent out 2 new ones for free no questions asked. The tech I talked to mentioned they had similar issues with people who ran their units it heat pump only mode from day one.

The suggestion was to make sure the elements were used at least a few times a month.

Those running in heat pump only mode. I suggest running them.

Got around to changing my elements. Man were they in bad shape. I never used them so perhaps this why they looks so bad. The ones ge sent out for replacement were much thicker and double the element. I flushed the tank and inspected the anode rod and everything was clean. I am on city water so dont have any water hardness issues.

For those running in heat pump only mode I suggest firing up the elements every now and then. I think they might need to run every now and then to keep them in good condition. Perhaps GE used a cheap element considering the one they sent me was much better quality.

Brian26 said:

I am on city water so dont have any water hardness issues.

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That didn't make any difference last place we lived; it came from wells. My well now w/o the softener on is 1/3 the hardness of that city water.

Soft water is actually worse.

Brian26 said:

Got around to changing my elements. Man were they in bad shape. I never used them so perhaps this why they looks so bad. The ones ge sent out for replacement were much thicker and double the element. I flushed the tank and inspected the anode rod and everything was clean. I am on city water so dont have any water hardness issues.

For those running in heat pump only mode I suggest firing up the elements every now and then. I think they might need to run every now and then to keep them in good condition. Perhaps GE used a cheap element considering the one they sent me was much better quality.

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Brian, where was the anode? Cold water inlet? I have had one on order for a year now at the supply house.