How many things can break in one month? >:-|

[TOtrees]

What's your "someone has it out for me" story? I'll go first.

I somehow accidentally and without knowing flipped the main switch on a power bar mounted on the underside of a shelf at the back of a tank rack.

That caused a heater to not work. I noticed the water was cool one day, but I thought the heater was just old, so I put in another heater (fortunately I didn't remove the old heater, just yet).

Couple days later, my auto change system waste water reservoir overflowed, all over the basement floor. This is normally emptied every few days by a sump pump with a float switch. Fortunately, the floor is concrete. 

I pulled the pump from the reservoir (no small feat since it's under a rack shelf, and the piping for the waste water to go to the sink on the other side of the room had to be cut), and the pump seems fine. Naturally I assumed the float switch wasn't working. Drained the reservoir via hose to buy myself a couple days. Got around to testing the float switch. It's working too. WTF? 

If the system works when I plug it in this outlet, but not in that power bar...

Smacks forehead.

Flips switch. 

Tests pump and switch, both work. Realized the "broken" heater is on the same power bar. Now it works too. Yay! Fortunately nothing else on that bar. 

Reinstall pump in reservoir, add a 3/4 pvc union to the pump outlet, so I can remove/maintain it easier if necessary.

Buy a cheap water sensor/alarm from amazon, so I'll know if future problems occur. Set alarm in place. 

Not 2 days later, alarm goes off. Yay! It works. Why's it going off? Race downstairs. Pump is running, water is spraying over the place where I added the union. Take it apart, again. Lower/inner half of the union assembly is split vertically, so it can't seal. Have to discard/replace [kids, don't put female plastic fittings on male metal fittings]. Buy replacement parts (not a union, all metal fittings), reassemble, yippee. 

Yesterday morning, I come downstairs at oh six hundred (oh it sucks). On my way past the basement stairs I hear... is that water... gushing?  Sounds like a waterfall. Groggily, I go to inspect. The housing of my whole-house water filter (dedicated for the auto change system) is cracked 60% of the way around the rim. Since the auto change timer is after the filter, it receives full household pressure all the time. Saving grace is that the crack is facing the wall not the room, and close to the sink and floor drain. I'm glad water is cheap I must have lost a ton overnight. So now I have to replace the filter housing (= replace the filter), AND add a pressure regulator ahead of it. Oddly, it has run for 2-3 years without any issue. 

What's next, he wonders with trepidation? 

[HelplessNewbie]

I am sorry this happened all at the same time. Maybe nothing further will occur for a long while...

[Guppysnail]

They say things happen in groups of three. So hopefully that’s all for quite some time. Sorry about all your troubles. 

[Colu]

Just bad luck  you've had your fair share and it should be plain sailing from now on I have had heaters fail  no leaks fingers crossed 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Colu

[TOtrees]

Thanks @HelplessNewbie @Guppysnail @dasaltemelosguy @Colu . I hope it’s clear sailing too. 

I got the replacement filter housing and pressure regulator in the mail today, and  and grabbed the necessary fitting from HD this evening. Maybe I can work some improvements in the placement of the tubing lines into the repair job. 🙂

[nabokovfan87]

I am very sorry for all your struggles.  I couldn't imagine.  Definitely double check, test, have redundancies.  There is a lot of great information out there and some brilliant hobbyists out there with information.  If only we could find it easily!

[TOtrees]

Still going on #%&*!#}

Yesterday I again heard water splashing from upstairs. This time one of the low-gph emitters on the auto fill system had popped off (again, something that's never happened before), but the angle of the T-connector was such that it was shooting all the way across the room (the sound I'd heard from upstairs was the thin jet of water from the 1/4" plastic tubing hitting the plastic sheet on the opposite wall). Probably running for 15 mins or so. Most of the water ended up on the floor and down the floor drain, thankfully. The absolute worst part was my 13yo son was in the next room, gaming with a friend. I heard the water from upstairs, and he couldn't get his posterior off the couch long enough to look and see what was up. Anyways, one more thing, fixed. 

NOW can there be no more problems?