sanrico
New Member
Hi everyone, I have a Bradford White Defender 50 gallon water heater. I think it's about 15 years old. I have always set the thermostat to the red notch, but in the past few weeks, our hot water hasn't been as hot as normal. Showers felt lukewarm and when washing dishes, the water wouldn't get as hot as needed.
I flushed the tank to make sure there wasn't too much sediment settled at the bottom. I also took out the burner and cleaned it, along with the intake screen, which had a lot of sediment in it. The problem persisted.
I did some YouTube research and figured I needed a new dip tube. Before going to the hardware store, I bumped the thermostat up a notch as pictured below. Suddenly, the water is too hot. During my morning shower, I had to back off the heat, and while washing dishes and hands, the water can get uncomfortably hot. Not dangerously scalding, but hotter than we are used to.
I'm guessing the dip tube isn't the problem after all since I suddenly have very hot water again? Is it normal for a thermostat setting to vary so much between notches? Or does that need to be replaced? Anything else I should examine?
Thank you very much.
I flushed the tank to make sure there wasn't too much sediment settled at the bottom. I also took out the burner and cleaned it, along with the intake screen, which had a lot of sediment in it. The problem persisted.
I did some YouTube research and figured I needed a new dip tube. Before going to the hardware store, I bumped the thermostat up a notch as pictured below. Suddenly, the water is too hot. During my morning shower, I had to back off the heat, and while washing dishes and hands, the water can get uncomfortably hot. Not dangerously scalding, but hotter than we are used to.
I'm guessing the dip tube isn't the problem after all since I suddenly have very hot water again? Is it normal for a thermostat setting to vary so much between notches? Or does that need to be replaced? Anything else I should examine?
Thank you very much.