What if you skipped a year of solar water heater upkeep?

I get the “it looked fine until it wasn’t” thing, but I’m not totally convinced that missing a year is always a recipe for disaster. Like, yeah, hard water can be brutal, but what about folks with soft water or newer systems? I’ve heard some manufacturers even say you can stretch maintenance intervals if your setup’s in good shape and you’re not seeing any warning signs.

Pressure relief valve? Yeah, I’ve seen those seize up and then you’re in for a surprise shower (not the good kind).

Isn’t it possible that some of these issues are more about luck (or bad luck) than strict schedules? I mean, my neighbor skipped two years - nothing happened. Meanwhile, my cousin was religious about checks and still had a valve fail out of nowhere. Makes me wonder if there’s a sweet spot between overdoing it and just being aware of your system’s quirks.

Anyone ever tried those smart leak detectors? Do they actually catch stuff early enough to make skipping a check less risky, or is that just wishful thinking?

Anyone ever tried those smart leak detectors?

I get where you’re coming from, but I wouldn’t chalk it all up to luck. Skipping a year might not bite you right away, especially with soft water or a newer setup, but those “it looked fine until it wasn’t” moments can get expensive fast. I’ve seen a pressure relief valve seize up and dump hot water into a crawlspace - no warning, just a mess. Smart leak detectors are cool for catching leaks, but they won’t help if your system’s slowly losing efficiency or building up scale. For me, it’s less about strict schedules and more about not giving small problems a chance to turn into big ones.

Skipped maintenance on a client’s solar water heater once because they insisted it was “running just fine.” Six months later, the heat exchanger was half clogged with scale and efficiency had tanked. No leaks, so their fancy detector didn’t say a word. Catching leaks is great, but it’s the stuff you can’t see - or hear - that’ll get you. I’d rather check things over than trust a gadget to save me from a big repair bill.

I get where you’re coming from, but do you think there’s ever a point where the tech is actually more reliable than a manual check? I mean, I’ve seen some of those detectors pick up tiny leaks way before anyone would notice. Not saying you should skip maintenance, but sometimes it feels like we’re doubling up on work if the system’s got all the latest sensors. Or maybe I’m just too trusting of gadgets...

Skipped a year once because I figured the sensors would catch anything major. Ended up with a small leak that the system didn’t flag, probably because it was slow. Cost me more to fix later. Is tech helpful? Sure. But I don’t fully trust it to catch everything yet.