I recently bought a house and have a problem with hot water. Can anyone help me with this mystery?
The 50 gal. gas water heater is maybe 3 to 5 years old. After using the shower for a few minutes the water temp drops some, so I turn down the cold to get the water warmer. By the end of the shower the hot is on all the way and the cold is off. I’m only in there for ten minutes max, so I don’t think it is possible that I’m using up all the hot water.
I drained a little water out of the tank to see if there was any sediment or other trash but I found none. I also added pipe insulation to the accessible hot supply lines but it had no effect.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Replies
How about the other hot water faucets say in the kitchen what happens there say after running hot water for 10 minutes. does that stays hot.
Does the shower have a tempering valve? That could be defective and is shutting down the hot water flow and letting in more cold water.
Been trying to think of other causes. Wouldn't of thought of that.
Good answer.
It is an old shower valve (circa 1971) with two handles. I doubt that it has a tempering valve. The lack of hot water happens at other locations as well. I appreciate your input.
If this were mine, and all of the ideas given didn't apply, I would try plumbing it incorrectly, i.e. switch the hot and cold on the water heater. I would be especially quick to try that if the existing hookup used the flexible connectors. Almost certainly wouldn't work, but there's that one in a million shot...
Longer odds than that come home everyday somewhere.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
When I had those exact same symptoms, it was because there was no dip tube in the water heater. The cold water was entering the heater about 10 inches from where the hot water was exiting, and gradually overwhelmed it.
Is there any chance the inlet and outlet are plumbed in reverse? In other words, does the cold water supply from the street enter the inlet to the tank like it should?
The water will flow through the tank in either direction, but you'll get only a limited amount of hot water if they're plumbed backward. Cold water enters the tank to replace the hot which you have removed, and the cold water sinks. The inlet is attached to a long tube to feed cold water down to the bottom. If you're taking water out at the bottom through the inlet, you will soon start picking up the new cold water which sinks to the bottom shortly after entering the tank.
Edited 3/2/2003 12:28:14 AM ET by Ted_LaRue
I had previously checked and the tank is plumbed correctly. Thanks for the thoughts.
Sounds like maybe your bottom element is burned out. As I recall, as water is drawn out, the top element comes on for quick recovery. When top of tank reaches set limit, it turns itself off and turns on the bottom element. You may be only heating 1/2 a tank at a time. Just an idea, I've had it happen before.
Thanks for the input. I did not know that a gas water heater had elements that can burn out.
Sorry Jtay, didn't pay close enough attention to your first line....
J,
Go to this site http://www.hotwater.com/frame.html?topage=FAQ/FAQtitle.htm and scroll down to question 14 then look at bulletin 35. I think this is the same problem we have had since we installed a new gas water heater about 3 years ago. One thing that leads me to believe it is the dip tube, is the fact that if I get up and take a shower first, I will run out of hot water very quickly. But...if my wife takes a shower first, then I wait about 20 minutes, I can scald myself like a lobster for 1/2 hr or more and never run out ! It seems that once it gets going, it will keep up with almost anything, demand wise, its just the initial "hit" in the morning that kills it.
If you find something else wrong, I sure would like to hear about it.
I will try this. Thanks alot. My wife thanks you also.
I've seen loose screws holding the washer on the hot valve do this. As the water runs the valve has to be opened up more to maintain flow.