Hot Water Heater


  #1  
Old 01-27-03, 06:37 PM
mbfloyd
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Cool Hot Water Heater

Hello all.
Glad to be here.
My question is: I just recently got married and up until she moved in my home I had no problems with hot water. Now it seems (according to her) that my hot water runs out really quick. So I started checking out my water heater and I noticed some corrosion on one of the copper pipes connected to the cold inlet of the heater, it has a blue valve connected at the wall. My heater is only 3 1/2 years old, I realize the water is hard in this part of the country, however I don't have a water softener installed in my home. Could this be contributing to the heating problem? The heater is a electric Rheem 40 gal. Is replacement of the heater coils an option? Or do I need a bigger heater? Help?...

Thanks in advance
 
  #2  
Old 01-27-03, 07:38 PM
L
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A 40 gal. heater should be plenty for the 2 of you if it is working properly. If you are taking consecutive showers, how long does the hot water last?

Could be that the lower element is not coming on (either a bad element or a bad thermostat could cause that). Or it's possible that the dip tube is bad. Taking just one shower might not be enough demand on the hot water to expose the problem, but it would show up when you take 2 consecutive showers.

Start by letting us know just how long the hot water really lasts, and we can go from there.
 
  #3  
Old 01-27-03, 07:44 PM
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Simple way to test if the bottom element is a problem, and you don't even need to ohm meter, in morning before you take showers, shut the power off to the heater in breaker box, remove bottom panel on water heater, and touch the tank, if it feels hot then the element is working, if cold it's not working.
 
  #4  
Old 01-27-03, 08:45 PM
mbfloyd
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Thanks for your fast response. The hot water usually last 10 minutes if we are in seperate showers at the same time. If she is in the shower for 20 minutes, I get only 3 to 5 minutes of hot water.
 
  #5  
Old 01-27-03, 09:00 PM
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You could check the bottom of the heater right now to see if it hot, just shut the power off 1st, if the tank feels cold, the bottom element is out.
 
 

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