Is it time to replace the water heater?

[HeyBub]

No, I didn't. But thanks for asking.

Shall I take from your declining to answer the question: "What's the most sensible first step?" that in no case should one check the thermostat?

[David Nebenzahl]

On 2/12/2009 8:40 PM HeyBub spake thus:

No, you're right there. Guess it's possible that someone might have turned down the control.

[Phisherman]

That's the symptoms mine had before it died. Get ready. You can flush it out and see if it improves.

[HeyBub]

Happened to me. Somebody turned down the thermostat ( or it just died of shame).

I blamed the cat.

[stevem2112]

Fair enough. There must always be more to the story. It is a gas water heater (40 gal...I think) of builder grade. The water heater is the original from when the house was built in 2001. Ihave to admit, I have been int the house for 3 years and have not had it serviced. I live alone so there are no multiple shower issues. I don't know exactly how hard the water is here in Georgia. It's not the worst I've seen, but not the best either. After thinking about it some more, the water has been a lot hotter in the past. Enough to scold you. But now, just hot enough for a shower.

Steve

Ransley....please do not reply!

[N8N]

Very true, but a threaded connection of 10-15 years might require some large tools and a helper to break loose. I did do all of this stuff, as well as replacing the T/P valve, to an 18 year old water heater but needed a 3/4" drive breaker bar and a helper to get the anode rod out (my 1/2" drive breaker bar was flexing alarmingly, and I didn't feel like testing it to failure.) My basin wrench was showing similar signs of abuse after removing the drain valve. This is why in my previous post I suggested not attempting this unless one could comfortably replace the heater on short notice. I got lucky, but I knew I was taking a risk.

That said, my heater should be good for another 5-6 years now, and when it eventually dies I'll be able to transfer the brass ball-type drain valve over to its replacement, making preventative flushing much easier and less risky.

nate

[BobK207]

On Feb 13, 6:03=A0am, [e-mail] wrote: Fair enough. There must always be more to the story. It is a gas water heater (40 gal...I think) of builder grade. The water heater is the original from when the house was built in 2001. Ihave to admit, I have been int the house for 3 years and have not had it serviced. I live alone so there are no multiple shower issues. I don't know exactly how hard the water is here in Georgia. It's not the worst I've seen, but not the best either. After thinking about it some more, the water has been a lot hotter in the past. Enough to scold you. But now, just hot enough for a shower.

Steve

Steve-

My best guess from your expanded description would be

attempt to flush sediment from drain valve, try this first...you might get lucky replace dip tub which I find to be a scary job since I've only done a couple (& anode while you're at it but anode replacement only extend life not improve w/h performance)

I'd bet a little more on the dip tube being the problem since the water heater behavior seems to be random / erratic.

A w/h new in 2001 isn't exactly a "oldster" but it really depends on local water chemistry. If there are older homes using the same water ask around.

The few heaters that I replaced in Orange County, SoCal were pretty old or VERY old 15, 17, 24, all over 10 years excpet ......one bad one at 3 years!

cheers Bob

[clare]

And if you are replacing the dip tube, get the one with the ? hook on the bottom - called a "turbulator" and you won't get deposits in the bottom neerly as quickly.

[hallerb]

I am with the plumber on this by the time you replace the dip tube, anode/s and flush the tank likely requiring a new drain valve... If your paying the plumber you will hate him if it leaks or fails to heat well or starts leaking in the next year.

will have paid plumber a lot.

better to replace tank its a guaranteed fix

If your doing all this DIY its still marginal but parts arent that costly. so your only out your time and not X hours of labor at what 80 bucks a hour?

[mm]

All the time, or at its hottest.

It's not the weather.

The water sits in the heater until it gets hot, unless the family is using a lot of hot water. You don't mentino how many others use the hot water.

I've had water faucets that turn off by themselves even though they're not designed to. Maybe something has effected your thermostat, or like someone said, maybe there is an open circuit in one element.

YEAH, YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID GAS OR ELECTRIC. SOMETHING MADE ME ASSUME ELECTRIC AND i WASTED TIME WRITING SOME OF WHAT FOLLOWS. bUT i'M POSTING ANYHOE. tO HELP YOU REMEMBER NEXT TIME TO GIVE THE IMPORTANT DETAILS.

It was some trouble, but I cut my 10 year old electric water heater open after I took it out, before I threw it away.

There were almost no deposits in the bottom of the tank. Just 1/2" deep at the center of the bowl-shaped bottom, and maybe 6" in diameter, and of course at the edge the depth was almost zero. It was

6 or 7 inches from the bottom to the heating element, so at the rate I was going, I wouldn't have hit the heating element for over 100 years.

I live in Baltiomre where our water comes from 3 reservoirs that collect from the watershed of the streams they were built on, from the rain. I don't know how much would be found in a water heater in another location.

Whatever you find, you'll know for next time how great a problem sediment is.

I didn't understand the to do over turning up the thermostat. Seems like a good idea to me, although if the thermostat is erratic like you seem to say, can those things stick at the contact points, or stick open. At any rate, maybe just replace the thermostat.

A lot of water heaters have two elements and two thermostats, a cover near the top and anotehr near the bottom of the heater. If you have that, you should do some testing with a multimeter (careful, it's

220Volts) to figure out where the problem is. My previous wh had a red light that went on when the top element was running, but the new one from what seems like the same maker doesn't have this. Instead they filled the area with styrofoam for insulation.