Suddenly I find myself running out of hot water during my morning shower. As I go along, I have to adjust the amount of cold water mixed in. What could this be a symptom of ? Can I just turn the thermostat up ?
Your heater has lost some capacity. When is the last time you flushed the crud out? If that doesn't help, an electric heater could have a dead heating element, a gas or electric unit may have a tired thermostat. If the initial temperature is around the usual 140 F then plan on working on the problem this weekend. Good luck.
Joe
the dip tube is shot. they're usually easy enough to replace.
I am not the original poster but I have never flushed crud out. I didn't know there was any. Tell me about it. Pat
If electric, it is likely one of the two heater elements is dead. Otherwise it is likely a bad dip tube.
How old is it? If it is about 10-13 years, it may have had a defective dip tube. A while back they replaced them free, but I don't think you can have that done anymore. You also may have had problems with the strainers in your faucet clogging with white stuff. Replacing the dip tube and rinsing the heater will take care of it.
If it is older, you may wish to consider replacing it. Either of the above fixes are not expensive however and they should buy you more time.
well when i replace my last heater, with the water drained out it weighed about twice of what it did when put in about 10 yrs. before.. looking inside the pipe in the heater you could see what looked like a white powder, chunks of mineral deposits(thats the crud he is talking about)... with a heater full of crud the tank cannot hold a full 40 gallons or more of water and that is the reason you run out of hot water so quick.. some say you should flush it about once every six months or once a year.. but if you have never flushed it before and you had it for a few years then you might disturn the crud in it when trying to drain the crud out now and its best to leave it alone.....
When was the tank flushed out? How old is the tank?
Probably a broken dip tube. Any good plumber oughta be able to fix you up.
People before you taking longer showers.
Okay.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
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