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Water Heater Rumbling Noise

  
  
  

water heater noiseA customer just called and asked about why her water heater was making a thumping noise. Specifically, she said the sound was similar to the noise that her clothes dryer makes when she has a pair of tennis shoes rolling around inside.

I asked her when the last time she drained her water heater, and she didn't know. The water heater was 5 years old. It sounded to me like it had never been touched since it was installed. What happens is that you get a layer of sediment at the base of the water heater. If your water heater is gas, this sediment effectively creates a barrier and slows the transfer of heat from the burner to the water, making the unit burn longer to heat your water (and also costing you more money). This sediment makes your water heater inefficient and causes it to make a gurgle or rumbling sound. If your water heater is electric, the sediment builds up on the heating elements and eventually flakes off.

All of this sediment collects on the bottom of the water heater's tank and effectively displaces the amount of water available turning a 40 gallon tank, for example, into a 38 gallon tank.

This customer's water heater was gas and the analogy I used was for her to imagine cooking spaghetti sauce. Imagine a delicious thick sauce on the stove. As the heat builds up from the burner below, the sauce is so thick and heavy it can't boil and instead develops a large bubble that finally burps out. This is what happens at the bottom of your gas water heater, but instead of sauce its sediment. Here is some information on flushing your water heater.

Plumbing Leak At Water Heater Drain Line

  
  
  

water heater tpr valveWe went to a customer's house yesterday because he had water coming from a pipe by his front door. He was calling it a plumbing leak, but if is coming from a pipe that is intentionally placed there, it is probably mechanical in nature. There are a few situations where you would see this. One is from the air conditioning condensation pan, and the other is from the temperature and pressure relief valve (TPR) of your water heater.

You typically would only see the a/c condensation drain line dripping if the a/c is running, and it is fairly humid outside.

I put my hand under the pipe and the water was hot, and so it narrowed it down to the TPR valve of the water heater. The water heater happened to be on the exact opposite side of the wall, so it was pretty obvious. The TPR valve opens if the pressure in the tank exceeds 150 psi or if the temperature in the tank is higher than 210 degrees.

Sometimes the TPR valve is bad and it needs to be replaced and at other times it is operating properly and doing its job to prevent an explosion. You can go inside the house and turn on a hot water faucet this will allow hot water to drain out of the tank and cold incoming water to cool the tank down. I would also check the thermostat's setting. You probably have room to turn it down, save some energy, and still maintain your comfort.

Some people will test the TPR valve by flipping up the tab on the end, and this is a good idea. However, many times the TPR won't stop leaking after toggling it. You can try a gentle tap with a hammer to see if this reseats it. If not, you may have to replace the TPR valve.

Troubleshooting An Electric Water Heater

  
  
  

electric water heaterIt always seems that water heaters time their demise just perfectly-Christmas Eve, weddings and shower time.

There are several possible causes. So, check the heating elements, the thermostats and the dip tube. An electric water heater uses two heating elements to heat the water: one near the top of the tank and one near the bottom.

The bottom element does the bulk of the heating work, while the top plays backup during periods of high demand. Each element has a thermostat that you can sometimes adjust, but since the heater was working fine and only recently started acting up, I doubt that adjusting a thermostat will fix it. (You may have to replace one, however).

A broken dip tube may also be the culprit, as the device is responsible for forcing the incoming cold water down to the tank's bottom to get heated. The hot water then rises to the top and out through your showerhead. If the tube is broken, the cold and hot water mix at the top of the tank and you get hot water-initially, until it turns lukewarm.

The thermostats are located on the side of your tank under metal panels. Turn off the power to the water heater at the main service panel and remove the covers that hide the elements. The first thing to check is if the reset button has tripped on either element. To cure this, just push the red button and it should resume heating normally. Realize though, that there may be an underlying problem that made the button trip.

If you have adjustable thermostats, you can use a screwdriver to change the setting. Turn the screwdriver clockwise for hotter and counterclockwise for a cooler heat setting. Like I said earlier, I doubt this will fix your problem.

Start with the upper thermostat and test it for continuity using a multimeter. If it is faulty, remove the wires and unscrew it from the side of the tank. Install a new thermostat and adjust the settings according to the manufacturer's instructions. You can test and replace the lower thermostat in the same manner.

Next, check the heating elements. Again, use the multimeter and test each element. Disconnect one element wire, and then touch one probe of the multimeter to an element mounting bolt, and touch each of the terminal screws, one at a time. If you get a bad reading, you need to replace the element.

To replace the element, drain the tank. Attach a hose to the bottom of the tank at the hose connection and open the valve. You will have to allow air into the system to get the water flowing, so open the nearest hot water faucet after you close the cold water supply valve at the top of the tank.

Once the tank is drained, remove the wires from the heating element and then unscrew the mounting bolts that hold the element in place. Remove the element and replace it with a new one of the same rating. You may find that once you have the element out, it may be covered with caked-on sediment. This could also be the culprit.

After you reattach the mounting bolts and screws, you will have to fill the tank back up with water and turn the power back on, as well as adjust the thermostats. With any luck, you will be enjoying hot showers in no time.

Before you sink money into your water heater, you might consider its age and how many more useful years it has left. If it is 6 years old, is it worth sinking $100 and a few hours of your time into it? Maybe. Most water heaters are out of warranty by this age and it could last a few more months or a few more years. You might consider replacing your water heater.

Water Heater Safety

  
  
  

water heater safetyWhen you are done reading this, you need to check your water heater. Your water heater has a safety device called a Temperature & Relief Valve (T&P Valve). This valve is connected to a drain pipe to take hot water and pressure out of the tank. It is a vital safety device that opens if the temperature of the tank exceeds 210 degrees or if the pressure in the tank exceeds 150 psi. The drain line runs from the T&P valve downward to the exterior of the building, a floor drain, etc.

This drain line is critical for your safety. It carries away potentially scalding hot water, or highly pressurized hot water, or both, to allow cold incoming water into the tank which should prevent boiling. The diameter of this discharge line cannot be less than the T&P valve's discharge outlet and has to be made of heat-resistant material (no garden hose, PVC, etc.) The most common violation I see is that the drain line is "trapped".

This drain line must be gravity fed, i.e. it can't have any uphill rise in the pipe. This would "trap" water in the pipe and act as an obstruction for the hot, pressurized water. This water could also freeze which would be the equivalent of not having a T&P valve installed at all. A T&P valve doesn't open often, but when it does, the water and pressure inside the tank needs to make a quick exit, or the tank could explode.

In many cases, fixing the drain line is easy. Many drain lines are connected with a flexible copper line and you can bend them in such a way as to remove any uphill rise. In some cases though, you may have to replace or re-route the drain line altogether.

Water Heater: Inadequate Hot Water

  
  
  

water heater dip tubeA water heater that starts out with hot water and gradually cools to luke-warm water can have many possible causes, from high usage to an undersized tank to a plethora of other water heater maladies. One of the possibilities that most homeowners don't consider is a damaged dip tube.

A dip tube is attached to the cold water inlet and forces the incoming cold water down to the bottom of the tank to get hot. Hot water is more buoyant than cold water and therefore it rises to the top of the tank and exits to your shower. If the dip tube is broken or cracked, the cold incoming water can't get to the bottom of the tank to get hot, and instead mixes with the warm water at the top of the tank on its way to your shower. You would typically start with a nice hot shower and, fairly quickly, the water would get cooler.

The fix here is to replace the dip tube. You will need to remove the cold water inlet nipple and pull out whatever is left of the dip tube and insert a new one.

As usual, you need to consider the age of your water heater. It may not be worth it to spend the money to repair your old one rather than replacing it with a new water heater. I've seen many instances where a homeowner spent a couple hundred dollars to repair an old water heater, and then the tank leaks the following month. You may want to bite the bullet and apply the money towards a new one.

Water Heaters in Las Vegas

  
  
  

water heaters in las vegasAs the weather gets colder, its probably a good idea to insulate your water heater. This is as easy as buying a water heater jacket and throwing it around the water heater. Most water heaters in Las Vegas are kept in the garage where it is much cooler than the air conditioned house. The outer skin of the water heater transfers the cooler air temperature ultimately to the tank, although there is insulation between the skin and the tank.

So go to the store and buy a jacket for your water heater. Secure it around the tank and keep it warm and snuggly. While you are at it, you can buy some pipe insulation and wrap the pipes at the top of the water heater. One pipe will be the hot water outlet and the other is the cold water inlet. Wrap the pipes, particularly the hot pipe, to slow down the transfer of heat through the copper pipe to the ambient air.

Your water heater should have heat traps built into these pipes or fittings to keep the hot water from creeping up and out of the tank as it becomes more buoyant than the cold incoming water. This can also be accomplished by creating a high loop with the copper flex lines to the point where the pipe rises higher than the point that it enters the wall.

Water Heater Trouble

  
  
  

water heater troubleMany water heaters have been replaced prematurely due to an inexperienced person trying to diagnose and fix the problem. Common sense and isolating the problem would go a long way in determining the problem and ultimately how to fix it. This advice is also good for the problems that we all face in our everyday lives.

So here is what happened...a homeowner reported water heater trouble; he is not getting much hot water. It is not as hot as it once was, nor does it last very long. The homeowner tells me that this has been going on for several weeks and in fact he replaced the water heater just last week and it still is doing the same thing....I'm seeing a pattern here.

I went to the property and sure enough the water heater was brand new. When I looked at it, the burner was firing and didn't stop. I realized what was happening. I asked him about his water bill. Sure enough, his water bill was MUCH higher than normal, as was his gas bill. I went to the street, pulled off the water meter cover and the meter was moving like crazy. I told him he had a slab leak on the hot water line. I turned off the valve supplying water to the water heater and the meter stopped moving.

What was happening was since there was a leak in the hot water line AFTER the water heater, the water was constantly running through the water heater and out of the broken pipe under the slab. The water never stayed in the tank long enough to get warm. This explains the water heater constantly firing and the high gas bill. The high water bill obviously was from the leak in the pipe flowing 24/7.

Had the homeowner isolated the problem and figured out that his high utility bills and water heater were all related, he wouldn't have replaced the water heater and saved some cash.

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