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Water heater identification and manufacture-date lookup

Use the rating plate to find your water heater’s brand, model and serial, then check whether a reviewed format can support a manufacture date.

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Collect the right information

Keep the brand, complete model and serial in separate fields. Use the manufacturer’s label-location guide, and read only what is safely accessible. Existing warranty or installation paperwork can help when a plate is faded or out of reach.

Current date coverage is limited to the manufacturer formats listed below. It does not cover every tank, tankless, hybrid, OEM or international water heater. A supported brand name alone is not enough: the full serial must match a reviewed rule.

Date decoding and documents answer different questions. Use the serial for a documented production-date interpretation; use the exact model for a matching manual. Keep installation evidence separate. Never use a date alone to determine warranty eligibility, remaining life or whether equipment is safe.

Current date and model-document coverage

A. O. Smith · Water Heater

No reviewed model document records are listed yet. A matching serial format may still return a date.

Manufacturer serial-format limits

Only the U.S. 13-digit printed YYWW plus nine-digit SAP serial layout is covered. Enter all 13 digits without spaces; the nine-digit barcode alone has no date. Coverage begins in 2017, conservatively excluding the October2016 format transition. The result gives the manufacture year and the manufacturer's production-week number, not a calendar month or day. Weeks 1–53 are accepted for completed years; current-year week codes remain unsupported because the manufacturer's week-calendar boundaries have not been verified. Older, letter-prefixed, tankless OEM and international formats are not inferred. Unit identity, installation date, warranty and safety are not verified.

A. O. Smith — October2016 printed serial-format change (opens in a new tab)

Printed page3 — Serial Number Change; YYWW date plus nine-digit numeric serial · Reviewed 2026-11-04; review due 2027-02-02.

Bradford White · Water Heater

39 model document records. These are separate from serial-date coverage.

Model-specific limits

Coverage is limited to the 10 exact base models reviewed in Bradford White's current U.S. Atmospheric Vent Gas family and a 10-character serial: two letters followed by eight digits. Other models, suffix variants, nine-character serials and the 2007 transition are not covered. Repeated year codes remain ambiguous when more than one documented year is possible; no date is returned then. Decoding does not verify unit identity, installation date, warranty, configuration or safety.

Bradford White Warranty Center — serial date-code reference (opens in a new tab)

FAQ 12: Serial Number Date Code Reference; production year/month tables and sequence-length note · Reviewed 2026-11-03; review due 2027-02-01.

Model-specific limits

Coverage is limited to the nine exact current U.S. Power Vent Gas models listed with the 19 ending and a 10-character serial: two letters followed by eight digits. Decoding is conservatively restricted to 2022 onward; this is a service coverage boundary, not a manufacturer introduction date. Earlier unsuffixed models, extra suffixes and nine-character serials are not covered. Repeated year codes remain ambiguous when multiple documented years are possible. Decoding does not verify unit identity, installation date, warranty, configuration or safety.

Bradford White Warranty Center — serial date-code reference (opens in a new tab)

FAQ 12: Serial Number Date Code Reference; production year/month tables and sequence-length note · Reviewed 2026-11-04; review due 2027-02-01.

Manufacturer serial-format limits

Manufacturer-format date interpretation for Bradford White Water Heaters matching exactly two letters followed by eight digits. A model number is optional; this rule does not verify a model, configuration, authenticity or physical unit identity. The documented eight-digit production sequence supports the conservative 2008 lower bound; nine-character serials and the 2007 transition remain unsupported. Repeated year candidates are retained; if more than one is possible, no date is returned. Installation date, warranty and safety are not determined. When an entered model has a reviewed model-specific rule, its restrictions take priority.

Bradford White Warranty Center — serial date-code reference (opens in a new tab)

FAQ 12: Serial Number Date Code Reference; production year/month tables and sequence-length note · Reviewed 2026-11-04; review due 2027-02-01.

Models and official document sources (39)

Rheem · Water Heater

No reviewed model document records are listed yet. A matching serial format may still return a date.

Manufacturer serial-format limits

Only the illustrated 10-character Rheem month/year + one plant letter + five numeric sequence characters is covered (MMYYLNNNNN). Other leading-letter, all-numeric, GE, week/year, tankless OEM and HVAC formats are not inferred. Two-digit years retain both 1900s and 2000s candidates within the recorded1931–2099 water-heater era; future dates are excluded and multiple possible years return no date. The1931 lower bound comes from Rheem's official water-heater history, not a claimed introduction date for this serial layout. A serial-derived date does not verify a model, configuration, installation date, warranty or safety.

Rheem — how to locate and read water-heating serial numbers (opens in a new tab)

How to Find your Serial Number — 12 / 09 / D / 01234 layout table · Reviewed 2026-11-04; review due 2027-02-02.

Ruud · Water Heater

No reviewed model document records are listed yet. A matching serial format may still return a date.

Manufacturer serial-format limits

Ruud-label water heaters matching exactly plant letter A, M, Q or C plus nine numeric digits: plant, two manufacturing-week digits, two year digits and five sequence digits. Initial service window is 2013–2025; the 2012 migration year is conservatively excluded. W (Marathon/Eclipse), conversion suffixes, brand prefixes, month/year layouts, tankless/OEM, international and HVAC formats are not inferred. A manufacturer week 01–53 is retained with year precision and no calendar month/day. Current-year and future week codes return no date. No model identity, installation, warranty, condition or safety verification.

Rheem/Ruud/Richmond — Technical Service Bulletin 1207 (opens in a new tab)

Page 2 of 2 — plant/week/year rating-label layout and plant identification table · Reviewed 2026-11-07; review due 2027-02-05.

Guides and manufacturer references

The guides below explain the process and cite their manufacturer or government references. Reading a guide does not add support for an unreviewed serial format.

Reading your equipment

How to find your water heater model and serial number

Locate the product label safely and copy the information needed for a useful lookup.

Reviewed

Read guide

Dates and decoding

Manufacturing date vs installation date

Understand which date a serial code can establish and which records you need for installation or warranty questions.

Reviewed

Read guide

Recalls and documents

How to check whether home equipment has been recalled

Find official U.S. notices, compare the identifiers, and understand why an empty search is not a safety clearance.

Reviewed

Read guide

Use safely accessible labels or existing records. Do not remove panels, disturb connections or open hazardous equipment to complete a lookup.

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Equipment identification information, with sources shown.