Water heaters experience a fairly substantial amount of wear and tear simply as a result of how much hot water most people use every day. The water heater in most homes ends up running for anywhere from three to five hours each day. Tankless water heaters usually don’t run quite as much since they just provide hot water on demand. That means there’s less wear and tear, which is part of the reason why tankless water heaters last longer and usually have fewer issues. Nonetheless, both traditional and tankless water heaters can end up developing a variety of issues. In this article, we’ll look at some of the most common water heater issues and the signs to look for that indicate you need to have a plumber either repair your water heater or install a replacement.
No Hot Water
One obvious sign you need to have a plumber check out your water heater is if it suddenly won’t run and you’re left without hot water. Having no hot water often indicates either an electrical issue if you have an electric water heater or an issue with your gas supply if you have a gas unit. It could also mean that both of the electric heating elements are worn out and you need to have them replaced or that the gas burner assembly or igniter is faulty.
If you have an older gas unit, you also want to make sure that the pilot light is still lit. If you can’t get it to light, you may just need to have a plumber replace the pilot thermocouple or unclog the pilot gas tube. There’s also a chance that your water heater is just completely dead and has to be replaced. Depending on what issue the plumber finds during the inspection and the age and overall condition of the water heater, they’ll also be able to advise you on whether it’s worth repairing the unit or not.
Water Never Gets Fully Hot
Another issue you may encounter is that your water heater sometimes or never heats the water to the correct temperature. This most commonly happens because the unit’s temperature control/thermostat is faulty or worn out and can’t read the water temperature correctly. This issue can also lead to the unit sometimes or always heating the water to a higher temperature than it should. In this case, you’ll usually also notice that the pressure-relief valve often opens and allows some water out of the tank whenever the temperature and thus pressure inside the tank are too high. If you have a traditional electric water heater and the water usually isn’t fully hot, it can also mean that one of the electric heating elements has failed. Luckily, these issues typically just require a fairly easy and inexpensive repair.
If you have a tankless water heater that isn’t getting the water fully hot, it likely means that there’s a large buildup of mineral deposits inside the unit. Descaling the unit once or twice a year helps to prevent this issue, and you can sometimes fix this problem just by descaling the unit as well. However, if there’s a huge amount of limescale present, your only option may be for a plumber to replace the unit’s heat exchanger. This is a much more costly fix and is often not worth doing unless you can expect it will get you another 10 or so years of life out of the water heater. If the unit is already 15+ years old, installing a replacement may be more cost effective.
Water Heater Takes a Long Time to Reheat
With a traditional water heater, you’ll always have to wait a minimum of 30 minutes or so from when you run out of hot water until the water in the tank is again fully heated. With a larger electric unit, you may even need to wait an hour or two. If you find that this “recovery time” is much longer than it used to be, it indicates your water heater isn’t heating as effectively as it should for one reason or another. It could be that the burner assembly is dirty and the burner flames aren’t producing as much heat or that there’s a faulty electric heating element. Unfortunately, it can also just mean the water heater is beginning to fail and is no longer capable of working effectively. In this case, you may want to consider replacing your water heater.
Water Leaking From the Tank
Generally speaking, the worst issue you can encounter with a traditional water heater is water leaking out of the bottom of the tank or around the seam near the top. Water can also sometimes start dripping out of either the pressure-relief valve or the drain valve due to a worn-out valve seal. This normally isn’t a major issue since all it requires to stop the leak is for a plumber to install a new valve. If you notice the tank is leaking, you need to immediately call our plumbers so they can drain the tank and then replace the water heater. That’s because this issue is fatal and will eventually result in the tank failing and causing extensive flooding.
Hot Water Is Discolored
Showering in rusty-looking or discolored hot water is obviously unpleasant. Even more than that, it’s generally a strong indication that your water heater tank has rusted. Draining the water heater will often make your hot water clear again. However, this is just a temporary solution since rust will quickly start leaching out into the water and causing it to look discolored again fairly soon. If the tank has rusted to the point where the hot water looks rusty, it also means there’s a high chance the tank is almost rusted through in spots and will soon start leaking. As such, the best option when facing this issue is to schedule a water heater replacement as soon as you can.
Hot Water Smells Bad
If you have an older tank water heater, you may eventually notice that your hot water has a bad odor that smells similar to sulfur or rotten eggs. This smell is from hydrogen sulfide within the water and sometimes indicates the presence of bacteria within the water heater tank. While the bacteria generally aren’t harmful to people, they can quickly cause major damage to the water heater tank. Certain types of bacteria “feed” on metals including iron, which is the primary component in steel. That means the smell is a sign that bacteria inside the tank are actively feeding on and weakening/corroding the steel, which can eventually cause the tank to begin leaking. In some cases, just shutting off the water heater and draining it will fix this issue. However, you may need to turn the heat all the way up after refilling the tank to kill the bacteria and then drain it a second time.
The rotten egg smell can also mean that sulfates in the water are starting to corrode the tank as a result of the anode rod being worn out. This rod has a metallic coating that helps to prevent sulfate ions in the water from corroding the tank. Instead, the coating on the rod gets corroded, which means it eventually gets eaten away until there’s not enough of it left for the anode rod to do its job. That’s why you normally want to have a plumber replace the anode rod every five years at the least to help protect the tank from corrosion and lessen the chances of it springing a leak.
Our Plumbing Solutions
AZ Family Plumbing provides reliable plumbing solutions and is ready to help when you need any water heater services in Glendale, AZ. Our team has decades of professional plumbing experience and specializes in all aspects of water heater repair, maintenance and installation services. When you need help with your water heater or any other plumbing, drain or sewer services, give us a call to get the top-notch workmanship you need at a fair, honest price.
