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Broken hot water system
McRed
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For the last two or so weeks my house's hot water system has been playing up. All of a sudden it has only been heating the water enough that showering even with only the hot tap turned on is barely hot enough (I'm situated in Australia, we're getting into winter down here). I'd probably just ignore the issue, but since only the hot tap is on, there then isn't enough pressure without the "cold" tap. To add to this, the barely hot water doesn't last anywhere near as long as it used to before running out and running cold.
I definitely wouldn't say I'm much of a handyman, but I'm quite sure it's a tank based electric system (as opposed to being gas based). So far I've tried what I believe is called "bleeding" the system, which apparently drains the tank of any steam (along with it's current water load), which fixed a problem with my last residence's system, which had a problem where it only held a small amount of hot water (for it's size) at a time before running cold. The temperature was fine, apparently though it's capacity was being taken up by steam.
Before I call a professional, is there anything else I could do myself with a pair of hands and a toolkit to fix the problem myself?
tldr: My hot water system isn't hot enough, and doesn't last enough anymore. What can I do before I call a plumber?
I definitely wouldn't say I'm much of a handyman, but I'm quite sure it's a tank based electric system (as opposed to being gas based). So far I've tried what I believe is called "bleeding" the system, which apparently drains the tank of any steam (along with it's current water load), which fixed a problem with my last residence's system, which had a problem where it only held a small amount of hot water (for it's size) at a time before running cold. The temperature was fine, apparently though it's capacity was being taken up by steam.
Before I call a professional, is there anything else I could do myself with a pair of hands and a toolkit to fix the problem myself?
tldr: My hot water system isn't hot enough, and doesn't last enough anymore. What can I do before I call a plumber?
McRed on
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Also, I'm not sure but I think its an electrician's problem when the heating goes in these things. Maybe hit up the manufacturer's website, see if there's any info on common problems there?
If it's an electric water heater, I say just change the heating elements yourself. The elements run like $5-$15 USD depending on the power and take like 20 seconds to swap, not counting time to drain the thing. Just turn off the water, turn off power to it at the breaker, drain, and swap. Just takes a wrench and a screwdriver.
You have a burned-out element. For the record (and any future water-heater-related problems in H/A), this whole "bleeding" thing is rubbish--if there was steam in the tank, you would have no water, as the tank would have ruptured. What's happening is that the top element has burned out, so the heater has no way of keeping the water hot once the bottom element has done its work.*
If you have the tool, and the inclination, and the means to turn off the power to the heater (at the breaker box), and if it belongs to you and not a landlord, then you can by all means fix it easily. Let me know and I'll walk you through it.
*Lengthy explanation of how these things work:
There are two elements in the tank: one at the bottom, and one at the top. Larger heaters, in the 80-100gal and up range, have three, though the majority of residental heaters are around 50-60gal. Each element does the same thing, but for a different purpose--instead of both heating the water, the lower element actually does the lion's share of the heating, while the upper element is there to keep the heated water, well, heated. Without the top element, the water can quickly cool back down (and can actually make your electricity bill rise, as the lower element has to work more often), leading to a lack of hot water or a distinctive drop in temperature.
Why do elements burn out? Often it's due to age, or cheap parts, but usually it's because of human error. The elements need to be submerged in water while they have electricity in them, since they run so hot. Exposure to air will instantly burn them out. Most often this happens when a person, either an absent-minded professional or a unknowing homeowner/super, turns the main water to a building off to perform maintenance on another fixture without turning off the breaker for the water heater.
Since it's difficult to do any kind of work when the system is full of water, the person will drain the pipes using a low point, like a hose bibb or a basement faucet. This also siphons water out of the water heater, dropping the water level in the tank and exposing the element to air.
It's an easy fix, but inconvenient in the meanwhile, since lukewarm water doesn't make for a very nice shower. The simple way to prevent it is to remember to turn off the breaker when doing any kind of work on the building's water system.
The best way to find out is just by looking everywhere, but that's not very practical. What you can do is turn off all the water faucets in the house--everything that uses water, shut it off and leave it off. Make sure anyone else in the house knows not to use any water for the next few minutes at all (since any running water will fail the test).
Go outside and uncover the meter. You should see a little dial on the face--it actually looks more like an asterisk. If it's spinning, there's water moving, and that water has to go somewhere. So if every single outlet in the house is turned off, the only place for that water to go is though a leak.