Bradford White water heater age from the serial number

The first character of the serial is the year letter and the second is the month letter; the rest is a production number. Bradford White's year column uses 20 letters, so every letter comes round again every 20 years, and the letter alone cannot say which of those years it means. Bradford White documents a second fact in the same serial: the production number is 7 digits before December 2007 and 8 digits after. The tool applies it, which leaves at most one year except for a 7-digit serial under year letter A, B, C or D, where two years still fit and the tool shows both and no age. A serial starting OA is a batch Bradford White documents directly: "Due to a computer error there were some OA serial water heaters manufactured. They were built in January of 1997." Enter the serial in the decoder on this page and it shows the date, the age and which characters it read, or says why this serial cannot be resolved to one date.

Because the serial carries both. The year letter repeats every 20 years, and where the production number's length does not rule one out, two real years remain. Picking one would be a guess, so the tool shows both and no age.

"My Water Heater (Determine The Age of My Water Heater)", "Determining The Age Of A Water Heater" and "How to read the serial number date code reference chart?", published by Bradford White and Bradford White For The Pro.

Bradford White's own warranty check is at warrantycenter.bradfordwhite.com, linked from www.bradfordwhite.com. Bradford White's Warranty Center says: "enter your water heater's serial number. The water heater information will include the warranty length and expiration date." Of the same box it says the information "will include the manufacture date of your water heater." This tool does not read the maker's records, so it cannot show this tank's warranty or whether it was registered.