Review on Watts 500800 Instant Recirculating Install by Brad King

Installation in our new home was easy. However, the water does not get any hotter than that. Thanks to the Revain community members who tried to help me because I thought I had a bad sensor. But that's not the case. After several days of phone calls between WATTS and Rheem (the manufacturer of our water heater) I was told by WATTS that this pump is not compatible with all makes/models of water heaters. They are new specifically for my model and the pump didn't work. However, they don't mention it in the online specification - and they themselves admitted the lack of information when I asked. So I recommend checking with WATTS first to make sure you're ready. You can actually start by looking in your water heater manual and looking for "heat traps" in the nipple fittings on the top. hot water tank. This heat trap is designed to retain heat in the tank for better efficiency. However, with this WATTS pump you are actually extracting heat, defeating the purpose of the heat sink. The problem is that it is almost impossible to remove the heat trap nipple from the hot water tank and replace it with a regular nipple. Couldn't remove the nipples with a big pipe wrench (even looked it up on youtube - it's dangerous to damage the tank). So I pulled out the little "flaps" that are part of the heat trap (see picture) and the pump works better, but still not as advertised. I know removing the shutters will likely void my hot water tank warranty, but I wanted hot water! Disappointed. I can only give this pump a 3 because 1) WATTS says nothing about incompatibility in the spec and 2) it doesn't deliver hot water as advertised in my case, even after removing the valves in the pump. thermal trap. I like the product, easy to install, I was very excited but disappointed. I still have a few days to decide whether to return it. It's better to have fairly warm water than very cold water for a long time without a tap, so maybe leave the pump on. Just take a look.