If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
|
Posted by Jazz on December 21, 2006, 11:36 am
Hi all, if you do a search in this group for my email address, youll
find a post I posted a few months ago. Basically, my water heater was
not staying hot enough. I replaced both heating elements and all seemed
to go back to normal. We had hot water enough to last both our showeres
without any cold water entering the scene.
However, it has been a few onths since then and the hot water is
getting weak again. We cant even get the tub filled half way without
the hot water going bye bye. The replacing of the heating elements
helped for a few months, but now blah!
Then, my wife JUST NOW calls me telling me a horror story about a girl
she works with having to go home today becasue her hot water heater
busted and water was every where.
A friend of mine who works on them suggested i turn the thermostat up,
and it that doesnt work, replace the thermostat. And if THAT doesnt
work, get a new water heater (it is about 12 or 13 years old as it is.)
My question; Do i need to worry about my water heater blowing up
anytime soon? Are there signs that the sucker is gonna blow? And if so,
am I experiencing some of these sings? (gulp).
Thanks for everyones help in my former post, and thanks in advance to
this one!
Jazz Mann
|
 
| |
Posted by Pop` on December 21, 2006, 12:11 pm
Jazz wrote:
> Hi all, if you do a search in this group for my email address, youll
> find a post I posted a few months ago. Basically, my water heater was
> not staying hot enough. I replaced both heating elements and all
> seemed to go back to normal. We had hot water enough to last both our
> showeres without any cold water entering the scene.
>
> However, it has been a few onths since then and the hot water is
> getting weak again. We cant even get the tub filled half way without
> the hot water going bye bye. The replacing of the heating elements
> helped for a few months, but now blah!
>
> Then, my wife JUST NOW calls me telling me a horror story about a girl
> she works with having to go home today becasue her hot water heater
> busted and water was every where.
>
> A friend of mine who works on them suggested i turn the thermostat up,
> and it that doesnt work, replace the thermostat. And if THAT doesnt
> work, get a new water heater (it is about 12 or 13 years old as it
> is.)
>
> My question; Do i need to worry about my water heater blowing up
> anytime soon? Are there signs that the sucker is gonna blow? And if
> so, am I experiencing some of these sings? (gulp).
>
> Thanks for everyones help in my former post, and thanks in advance to
> this one!
> Jazz Mann
It doesn't sound like you'd have any worry over the tank rupturing. Too hot
water, boiling sounds, or the tank on but emptied of water, things like that
might cause it to rupture but if it's "just" not heating you're probably
fine. So, no, I don't see where anything you have would cause a worry about
it exploding.
It is possible that it could spring a leak though, but you're onto the task
now so ... still should be fine.
From what you describe, I'll bet the anode (not the heating elements) has
never been replaced? That's gunk up a tank pretty bad in ten years or so
and cause what you describe. You could try lettint water run out the
faucet near the bottom of it for a bit and see if that helps, but it's
probably too late to save it.
From http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/page1.php?QNum=1286
A hot water heater is built so that hot water is drawn out of its top and
cold water enters it at its bottom. Since hot water is less dense than cold
water, the hot water floats on the cold water and they don't mix
significantly. As you take your shower, you slowly deplete the hot water at
the top of the tank and the level of cold water rises upward. But the shower
doesn't turn cold until almost all the hot water has left the tank and the
cold water level has risen to its top.
HTH
Pop`
|
|
Posted by Pop` on December 21, 2006, 12:13 pm
PS http://home.howstuffworks.com/water-heater.htm
Jazz wrote:
> Hi all, if you do a search in this group for my email address, youll
> find a post I posted a few months ago. Basically, my water heater was
> not staying hot enough. I replaced both heating elements and all
> seemed to go back to normal. We had hot water enough to last both our
> showeres without any cold water entering the scene.
>
> However, it has been a few onths since then and the hot water is
> getting weak again. We cant even get the tub filled half way without
> the hot water going bye bye. The replacing of the heating elements
> helped for a few months, but now blah!
>
> Then, my wife JUST NOW calls me telling me a horror story about a girl
> she works with having to go home today becasue her hot water heater
> busted and water was every where.
>
> A friend of mine who works on them suggested i turn the thermostat up,
> and it that doesnt work, replace the thermostat. And if THAT doesnt
> work, get a new water heater (it is about 12 or 13 years old as it
> is.)
>
> My question; Do i need to worry about my water heater blowing up
> anytime soon? Are there signs that the sucker is gonna blow? And if
> so, am I experiencing some of these sings? (gulp).
>
> Thanks for everyones help in my former post, and thanks in advance to
> this one!
> Jazz Mann
|
|
Posted by Joseph Meehan on December 21, 2006, 12:34 pm
Jazz wrote:
> Hi all, if you do a search in this group for my email address, youll
> find a post I posted a few months ago. Basically, my water heater was
> not staying hot enough. I replaced both heating elements and all
> seemed to go back to normal. We had hot water enough to last both our
> showeres without any cold water entering the scene.
>
> However, it has been a few onths since then and the hot water is
> getting weak again. We cant even get the tub filled half way without
> the hot water going bye bye. The replacing of the heating elements
> helped for a few months, but now blah!
>
> Then, my wife JUST NOW calls me telling me a horror story about a girl
> she works with having to go home today becasue her hot water heater
> busted and water was every where.
>
> A friend of mine who works on them suggested i turn the thermostat up,
That is not likely to work.
> and it that doesnt work, replace the thermostat.
That would not test the thermostat. The thermostat does not control how
much water is hot, only how hot it can get.
> And if THAT doesnt
> work, get a new water heater (it is about 12 or 13 years old as it
> is.)
That advice may be good. How long do water heaters last in your area.
Where I live with good water we get about 20 years or better on most water
heaters. But in some areas 10 years is really old.
If your neighbors are having problems at 10 -15 years, I would suggest
replacing it. I think in my area, I would likely replace it even though it
might have a few more years on it.
>
> My question; Do i need to worry about my water heater blowing up
> anytime soon? Are there signs that the sucker is gonna blow? And if
> so, am I experiencing some of these sings? (gulp).
Not likely to blow up. There are some very good safety devices to
prevent that. Leaking however is another matter. It is possible that your
water heater has a build up inside that has reduced the capacity to the
point that you will need to replace it to fix it. If that is true, it is
likely that it also is close to a leak failure.
If money is really tight and if your neighbors are getting along with
water heaters that are older, then I would check the heating elements (
resistance check ) and check out the thermostat. (does it provide hot water
to start with and then after a partly full tub run out of hot water or is
the water not too hot to start with?
Unless you can really identify a failed heating element or thermostat, I
suggest replacing it at that age.
>
> Thanks for everyones help in my former post, and thanks in advance to
> this one!
> Jazz Mann
--
Joseph Meehan
Dia 's Muire duit
|
|
Posted by dpb on December 21, 2006, 2:12 pm
Jazz wrote:
...
> not staying hot enough. I replaced both heating elements and all seemed
> to go back to normal. We had hot water enough to last both our showeres
...
> However, it has been a few onths since then and the hot water is
> getting weak again. We cant even get the tub filled half way without
> the hot water going bye bye. The replacing of the heating elements
> helped for a few months, but now blah!
...
Sounds like an element failed again --
Couple of possibilities --
1. Just a random "infant mortality" failure. Sometimes happens.
2. How hard is your water? Did you find a lot of scale ("egg shell")
deposits in the bottom of the tank when you replaced the elements last
time? Did you clean all that out, if so? If not, quite possible if
you have very hard water the lower element got covered over again and
burned out again.
In TN, w/ mostly well water and all the limestone there, water was
_extremely_ hard and would collect over an inch of deposits in a year.
Twice a year cleanout was sufficient to keep elements indefinitely,
forget and would burn out reliably on a yearly basis. Replacement w/o
cleanout would be scenario two above without fail.
Don't raise thermostat temperature, that's not the problem, all you'll
do is increase your power bill and risk lifting safety and won't have
any more hot water by volume than you now have (just what you get will
be hotter which isn't what you need)...
|
Page 1 of 2 1 2 > last >>
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Calibration of Water Temp Instruments; Hot Water Heating System | December 30, 2005, 10:47 am |
| how do you replace hot water tank elements? | August 25, 2005, 5:20 am |
| Water Heater Elements, Can I Make This Replacement? | June 10, 2006, 11:28 am |
| HELP! - water does not come back On after turning the water main back On | December 17, 2006, 7:20 pm |
| I replaced a shower faucet and now I see a little rusty water | September 7, 2005, 9:42 am |
| Washer cold water won't fill after filler hoses replaced: the rest of the story | October 15, 2006, 4:36 pm |
| Some help with range elements | February 9, 2006, 11:29 am |
| How to prevent exposure to elements? | December 3, 2005, 5:11 pm |
| Can UF cable just be left out to the elements? | June 18, 2007, 1:58 pm |
| Maytag Washing Machine: How Do They Adj. Water Temp. ? | December 18, 2005, 6:53 pm |
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap