Broken Water Heater

[Emaree]

Our water hasn't been staying hot but about fifteen or twenty minutes for about five or six days now.Two days ago we had a bad storm, which turned the power off for a little while. Then when we ran the water for a bath Saturday night, the water wasn't hot enough for a small child's bath. So we flipped the switch for the water heater, and it started getting warmer. One of the toilets near the water heater(not in the same room) had been leaking during the same time the water wouldn't stay cold last week. It was just the small part that hooks the water hose to the bottom of the toilet, but I wonder if that may have something to do with the water heater.Now the water heater may be having a burning smell around it.

[SQLit]

Toilets are USUALLY on the cold water supply. Not the hot.

When was the last time you drained the water heater? If you do not remember, I do mine once every year. When the kids were here I did it every months. Then your probably facing a replacement. My experience is that repair of older water heaters are just not worth it.

[Lou]

That smell may mean a safety issue! Do something soon. How old is the heater?

[Ken]

As Lou said, you need to have an electrician check out the water heater if you smell something burning. Most water heaters have two elements and a thermostat to control them. What you smell could be a high resistance connection to one of the elements which would drop the voltage at for of the elements and create the heat necessary for the smell. This could explain why the water temperature was not as hot as normal. He could measure the voltage to the elements and the resistance of the elements to determine if one is open or not receiving the full voltage.

As for the water leak at the toilet, I doubt it is in any way connected to your water heater problem.