water heater age

need to know the age of a Mor-FLO water heater

Model:SMIITW50S5CN8
serial:JM0796199

Also is there any place to find a list of water heater companys and the way to decipher the age/date of manufacture?

This is a sheet that I put together from information I obtained from this MB. I can’t guarantee its accuracy. If anyone finds fault with any of the information on this sheet, please let me know.

According to my sheet, Mor-Flo is made by American, which would make your water heater 2007, week 96. Can’t be.
Either my sheet is wrong (probably is) and Mor-Flo is not made by American, possibly Rheem. That would make it July of 1996.

Does anyone know who makes Mor-Flo?

**Water Heater **Manufacture Dates From Serial Numbers

American - The first two numbers are the year, and the second two numbers are the week.

**AO Smith -**Can be confusing; digits may be comprised of letters & numbers. May be one, two, or no letters.
If two letters first, next two numbers are year.
If one letter first, followed by two numbers and another letter, next two numbers are year.
If one letter first, next two numbers are year, providing no letter follows.
If two numbers first, this is year.

Bradford-White - They use a 20-year cycle. They skip the letters I, O, Q, R, U, V to make the full cycle.
1st Letter is the year. 2nd letter is the month.

A=84 B=85 C=86 D=87 E=88 F=89 G=90 H=91 J=92 K=93 L= 4 M=95
N=96 P=97 S=98 T=99 W=00 X=01 Y=02 Z=03 A=04 B=05 C=06 D=07

Lochinvar - Same as Bradford-White.

Rheem - The first two numbers are the month and the next two are the year.

**State - **1st position indicates the month. 2nd and 3rd position indicates the year.
97 =1997, 98 =1998, 99 =1999, 00 =2000, 01 =2001, 02 =2002

Water Heater Brand Manufactures

Brand Name — Manufacturer
A.O. Smith — A.O.Smith
ABS — Rheem
Ace — State
Ace — American
Ambassador — State
American — American
American Hardware — American
Apex – American
Aqua Temp — American
Aqua Therm – Rheem
Aqua Therm — American
Aquamatic — American
Barnett — State
Best — American
Best Deluxe — American
Bradford White — Bradford-White
Century — State
Champion — American
Cimarrom — Rheem
Citation — Rheem
Coast to coast — Rheem
Craftmaster — American
Crosley — State
De-Limier — American
Deluxe — American
Eagle — American
Earl’s Energy Saver — American
Energy Master — Rheem
Energy Saver — Lochinvar
Energy Stretcher — State
Environtemp — American
Four Most — American
Freedom — State
Freedome/Nipsco — State
General Electric — Rheem
Glascote — A.O.Smith
Golden Knight — Lochinvar
Hardware House — State
Hotmaster — American
Hotstream — American
Intertherm & miller — Rheem
Jetglas — Bradford-White
King-Cleen — American
King-Line — American
Knight — Lochinvar
Lochinvar — Lochinvar
Lowe’s — Rheem
Mainstreem — Rheem
Master Plumber — American
Master plumber/True5 — State
Mission — State
Montgomery Ward — Rheem
Mor-Flo/American — American
Nationaline ? — American or State
Neptune — American
Patriot — State
Penfield — State
Penguin — American
PermaGlas — A.O.Smith
Praline — American
Praline-Plus — American
President — State
Prestige — American
Professional — Rheem
Quaker — American
Quick-Flo – American
Raywall — American
Regency— State
Reliance — State
Revere — American
Rheem — Rheem
Rheem/Ruud — Rheem
Richmond — Rheem
Riveria — American
Ruud — Rheem
U.S. Craftmaster — American
SABH (US) — American
Sands — American
Sentinel — American
Service-Star — American
Servi-Star — Rheem
Shamrock — American
Special Deluxe — American
Standard — American
State/Kenmore — State
Super Eagle — American
Sure-Fire — American
The Plumbery — State
Thermo-King — State
Thoro-clean — American
TopLine — State
Tru Value — American
True Value — Rheem
Tru-Test — American
U.S. Supply — American
Vanguard — Rheem
Vista Therm — Rheem
XCL-Energy Saver — American

If I were to guess at this one I would say it was made in July of 1996.

http://www.fastwaterheater.com/model%20%20serial%20number.htm

here’s one for you… looks pretty new but you know…

Mor-Flo American
s/n KD1466225

what??? Im thinking 2004

any help would be appreciated or it goes down as unknown!

Let’s try April of 1993.

ok… so k=9, d=4??? is that what you say?

If you go here: http://www.fastwaterheater.com/waterheatermodels.asp
and scroll down to the “Bradford White” water heater, they are the only ones that use that code.

After speaking with the service department at American Water heaters (1-800 999-9515) They informed me that that is not a valid number.

If you get the correct number, call them and they will decode it for you.
http://www.americanwaterheater.com/support/default.aspx

American water heaters use the 1st two digits of the Serial number as the year. So something is wrong with the number.

Dave… I looked at my cheat sheet and thought the same things…

ok… i have a photo of the tag if anyone wants to check it out… if i reduce it you cannot read it but i can email it to you…

Please email it to me.

Dave,

lost our power here today… high winds… will email if it returns b4 I leave…

jeff
(sent via TREO)

You can e mail me as well if you like at ev@magnuminspections.com

email sent… to both

Thank you Jeff.

Mor-Flo is manufactured by American. They must have changed their coding, because that does not match anything for American water heaters. I would say 1994 because the second digit is 4 and the ANSI date is 1991, which I always add 2-3 years to that.

It appears to be one shiny w/h though.

You should be safe stating 1994.

yeah the house was actually a nice one to do for a change… everything was really well kept… a pleasure… xcept the garage… NO electrical… strange…

It would appear that I was correct in my post above.

The water heater you have pictured is manufactured for SABH in PA (See sticker).
That company merged with Mor-Flo according to this: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1992/211212.htm

So, the correct date would be: April of 1993.

Added with edit:
SABH, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a subsidiary of Australian Brewing Holdings, an Australian company. SABH manufactures and sells residential water heaters in the United States through its Bradford-White subsidiary, which is also headquartered in Philadelphia.

So, the water heater is actually a Bradford-White and not a Mor-Flo/American/Gamma.

Find a pdf on water heater age here: