Hot water pressure issues throughout house

[ShellyPace]

My house is 14 years old, not sure how old the HW heater is, but I think it's pretty old - it crackles / bubbles a lot. I flushed it out for the second time in two years, but I never see anything come out.

A year ago the hot water stopped coming out of my kitchen sink. I changed the flexible hose underneath the sink that goes from the hot water supply to the faucet and it worked fine. Now the hot water in BOTH master bathroom sinks just dribbles out (double vanity). I changed the flexible hoses but that didn't fix it. The only other sink is the hall bath and it has wonderful pressure. It is the one closest to the HW heater.

Not sure what to do???

Thanks!

 

[Krow]

I assume you have a gas fired HWT.

Pull out the hot water cartridges/spindles from the faucets and see if you find traces of white plastic remnents. If so, your dip tube in your hot water tank may be flaking apart/breaking down. Just replace the dip tube on the tank.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

Try removing the aerators on the end of the spout and checking and cleaning the screen to see if that helps.

A WH that old is on borrowed time...start saving up, it could die tomorrow, or you could get a few more years, but it is definitely on it's last leg.

 

[ShellyPace]

Thanks

Awesome guys - thanks, I guess.

Yeah, I was thinking that I'm just avoiding the inevitable of a new hot water heater. Yes, it's a gas hw heater. I've cleaned all of the aerators in the house. It helped in the kitchen sink last week. I think I'm just fighting an ongoing battle until the thing finally dies.

What are your thoughts on a tankless hw heater? Is it worth it? I'm a single woman with a mortgage and am pretty newly self-employed so if it's not necessarily worth the money I think I'll pass. Any suggestions on a good middle-of-the road heater for austin, tx? Or anything else I can do to avoid it?

 

[ShellyPace]

Oh yeah, krow, I'm not familiar with the dip tube - can you explain that a bit more to me or send me to a site that would show me how to do that? I assume my Home Depot 1-2-3 book won't explain that one.

 

[Gary Swart]

Let me address your questions in reverse order. Dip tube replacement is quite simple, but I don't really think that is your problem. A dip tube's function is to take the incoming cold water to the bottom of the tank where is is heated. Hot water rises so you alway get hot water out of the top of the tank. If the tube breaks, the cold water doesn't go to the bottom and therefore you suffer a shortage of hot water, but it would not affect the pressure or flow of water albeit cool water. The dip tube is located directly under the nipple on top of the tank. I is flared on the top end so is just literally hangs down. To replace it you have to remove the nipple on top of the tank and fish the flared end. The drop in a new tub and replace the nipple. Tubes are available at most any hardware store or plumbing supply shop. Second question. Tankless. These are very expensive to buy and to operate, your house must be plumbed to meet their specifications, the power requirements, either gas or electric, are often too great for a home which means larger service must be installed as well as a flue if it is gas, they require frequent servicing which is expensive and often it is difficult to find a qualified service person, the amount of hot water they can supply depends on the entering water temperature which in cold northern winters can be quite cold, they do not last forever, so you are faced with a very expensive replacement. Comparisons have shown that they are not any more economical to own and operate than conventional heaters. I'd pass on the tankless idea. The GE/Rheem is a very good conventional water heater. Stay away from State and Whirlpool.

 

[Krow]

Let me address your questions in reverse order. Dip tube replacement is quite simple, but I don't really think that is your problem. A dip tube's function is to take the incoming cold water to the bottom of the tank where is is heated. .

Why would you say that? I have come across a few that had the dip tubes flaking and breaking down, and eventually the peices of plastic ended up in the catridges. Replacing the HWT did the job in all my cases.

Shelly, If you are going to replace only the dip tubes , then the tank requires a good flusshing out to make sure all the particles are out of the tank.

I'm not sure in your state, but in my neck of the woods, we could rent a HWT from the gas company for $12-$15 a month , headache free.

Check with your gas supplier to see if they offer rental tanks


The tankless hot water units are not cost effective for you. You end up paying the same price as 3 hot water tanks , by the time you are said and done.


Here is a sketch of a typical HWT and the yellow line represents the dip tube. HD carries them. You would have to remove the cold water nipple that goes into the tank in order to get it out

 

[ShellyPace]

Awesome! So I'll try replacing the dip tube and cleaning out the cartridges in my faucet (is that where you take off the handles) and flushing out the tank real good. I'll also check with the gas company about renting a tank in the case that mine quits on me.

 

[Jadnashua]

Some people love the peace of mind of renting with service, and that can be worth a lot of money. But, over the life of an average tank, you may end up paying for it twice or more.

 

[Bombjay]

The recomenndations on the tankless service is A good deliming once a year in locations of around only 4 grain water.("good water")
Yikes!

 

[Redwood]

Shelly,
Here is a really good information web page on the defective diptubes.
http://www.rustylayton.com/htmlxtra/diptube.html
It lists affected unit serial #'s at the bottom.

The problem is that all of the water heaters affected are over 10 years old and are on borrowed time. I would advise anyone with one of these units to consider replacement rather than doing through the expense of replacing the tube and trying to flush all the debris out if the water heater.

As far as tankless you are probably looking at about $3000 to install a good one. You are in an area of the country where there might actually be an advantage to having one. Us people up in the frozen north can only justify them when there is a car wash style shower involved and money is no objeect. Your winter water temps are not all that bad. The cheap way out is another tank type unit!

 

[Gary Slusser]

Shelly, you need a water test for hardness or check the Water Quality Report for your water company. If the hardness is 3 gpg (51.3 mg/l) or higher, your low flow problem is probably caused by hard water scale build up in the tank and hot water lines. The scale adheres to the inside of the tank. That is why you get nothing out when you drain the heater.

If you have a water softener, it probably isn't working right and if you don't have one and the water is hard, you need one. It will prevent more scale build up and the softened water will dissolve the scale in the heater and lines eventually restoring lost flow. I suggest a correctly sized softener for your water quality and family size and the SFR ([constant] service flow rate gpm ) the number of bathrooms and type of fixtures in them require, using a Clack WS-1 control valve.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

you need a new heater

The top of you rheater is corroding shut...

it is 14 years old ,, it happens.

If it is a pressure issue,..
you really dont need a dip tube, you need to
cut the out going line on the heater and see if it
s totally corroded and closed shut... at the pipe nipple

then you take a large screwdriver and hammer and break up the
corrosion at the top of the heater...pound it though into the tank.
and then put it back together. usually it is on the hot side

you will be good for a a few more years


you can get by a little longer if you want to go to all
the troubles,

but at 14 years old just get over it and buy a new one

 

[ShellyPace]

Can I flush it out?

So, I think I've decided to break down and buy a new hot water heater. Is there a way to flush out all of the pipes and get the sediment out when I do this? How can I get my faucets and shower head clean from the debris and get everything working properly once I install the new hot water heater?

Also, do you think installing the new hot water heater is something I can do with a friend who has done it before maybe, or should I definitely get a professional?

Thanks!

 

[Krow]

I would get someone that has experience in "gas fitting", first and foremost.

As far as "flushing out the pipes", I don't know of any sure way to do that with satisfactory results. The only thing that I can suggest, use the new hot water tank/system and when a debris problem pops up, deal with the faucet that has the problem, at that time.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

Back Flush The Lines

all you have to do is take out the old heater...


then put a 5 gallon bucket or trash can under the hot
line ....

then go to all your sink faucets and use some cotton or toilet paper to put behind the areators and block them up...


when no water will come out of the faucets

you turn on the cold water and hot water at the same time
and the water will flush back through the hot lines
and blow back out all the sediment into the trash can
sitting

do that to all the faucets that you can in the home
and you will usually find a good amount of junkin the can when you are done....

then install the new heater

 

[Gary Slusser]

My house is 14 years old, not sure how old the HW heater is, but I think it's pretty old - it crackles / bubbles a lot. I flushed it out for the second time in two years, but I never see anything come out.

The snap crackle pop is little steam explosions in hard water scale build up in the water heater. That is caused by moisture in the scale and it breaks the glass lining of the tank allowing moisture to eventually rust a hole through the tank.

A water softener prevents the scale build up. Draining and flushing a water heater does not get the scale out. All tankless heaters come with a maximum amount of hardness that is allowed, which is very low, or you void the warranty. Scale in a tankless heater really ruins them quick and reduces flow through them quickly.

If you get a new water heater of any kind and do not get rid of hard water, you will spend much more money to heat the water and have to replace the new heater prematurely while the scale build up reduces the recovery rate so you run out of hot water sooner than you should.

 

[ShellyPace]

Thought

So I talked to my neighbors and neither of them have replaced theirs yet. I think I actually have a year or so left in mine if I clean things up a bit.

What would happen if I did the idea of stopping up all of the faucets and flushed them back into the actual hot water heater and then flushed the hot water heater and changed the dip tube and then filled it back up???

 

[Krow]

I would try the cheapest way first. Flushing the tank shouldn't cost you anything if you DIY.

 

[Gary Slusser]

You can't flush hard water scale out of a water heater.