# Forum Home Renovation Solar Electrical Systems  Warranty Question re Solar Hot Water Tank

## vgreen

Hi,  
I hope someone here can help me.  
My copper hot water tank has imploded due to the vacuum release valve failing. Thevalve is out of warranty but the tank is still under warranty.  
A licensed plumber has explained to me that the vacuum release valve (otherwisecalled "vacuum breaker valve", "air inlet valve") keeps theatmospheric pressure inside the tank equal to the pressure outside. It is setto open when it detects a drop in pressure inside the tank. If the mains areturned off and there is no water coming into the tank (and thus stabilizing thepressure) and the water drains out of the tank through people taking a shower,or emptying the pipes in order to change a tap washer, the tank can depressurizeand collapse, especially if it is made of a soft metal like copper.    My question is,if an out of warranty valve fails and this leads to the (within warranty) tankimploding, does this void the warranty on the tank?  Cheers,  VG

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## Bloss

The warranty comes from the retailer who sold you the system and the whole system has to work as intended. If you bought as a fully installed system then whoever you bought it from has to cover you - in other words regardless of the various bits and pieces or who manufactured what your retailer warrants your systems and they have to deal with the supply line issues behind that. That's their consumer law obligation. You should not allow pushback based on manufacturers warranties - these are effectively none of your concern - the warranty risk is with the retailer who sold to you and you have a contract only with them. There is no contract between you and any manufacturer (you didn't deal with the manufacturer - the retailer did, either directly or through a distributor). 
Of course it is often messy, but you need to head into talks on that basis - clearly, firmly and persistently stating who you think is responsible. The real problem is that you are presumably without hot water and want this fixed ASAP - if you head down a 'who's responsible' path then time will drag and you are the only one for whom that is a negative! So it might be you have to get it replaced (there is no repair for that tank) and then have the battle over the cost - again that puts you at a disadvantage, but you have to choose which is the least worst option. 
Despite that it will also depend how old the system is. You don't say, but if it is several years old then the odds of you getting anything decrease as you have had full use of the working system for all that time so although it is the primary component which has failed it has done so due to another one - you might get some pro-rata offer or more likely a 'discount' from a new system - or nothing. 
In summary - your choice is really whether you want a fight and delay with low likelihood of a win, or hot water ASAP and see if you can get any joy afterwards. Not what you want to hear, but that's my view - and I'd be getting my hot water back!

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## vgreen

Thanks Old Chippy, that's very good advice.  
To clarify some of your questions, the supplier is also the manufacturer, and the system is only 3 years old.  
However, I've now spoken to Consumer Protection, who echoed your thoughts on warranty versus expected performance of a product. They referred to the Trade Practices Act regards warranties. I mentioned this to the supplier. The very next day, the managing director, who hadn't contacted me at all, nor responded to my email, promptly informed me that he would replace the tank for free. Hopefully, this will be done in the next few days. 
Thanks again for your help. 
Cheers
VG

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## Bloss

That's a great result - and good that the supplier/ manufacturer is prepared to back their product - and you should recommend them for that too!  
And tell people how the Forum helped too!   :2thumbsup:  
Bloss

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