US Craftmaster intermittant loss of hot water

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fireman-175

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Hi,

I had a Lowes Craftmaster 80 gallon Electric installed in a new home. I am on a well with treated water entering. My plumbing system is a hybrid loop with three remote pex manifolds. I have a Grundfos UP-10 recirc pump on the tail end that is plumbed into the bottom tank drain with a check valve to prevent back flow to the manifold near the tail end of the loop. I have it running 20 hours a day. I set my temp at 130.

What seems to be happening, and I think it is intermittent versus constant, is that after about a 25 minute shower using 95-100 degree water, there is not enough hot water for another hot shower. Most of the time I can provide enough for 3 showers of 20 minutes each.

When this is a problem, I grab the outlet pipe from the tank and it is not hot. I may see the element symbol on.

So far, I have replaced the electronic thermostat (twice in 2 years), the digital nice display, the Anode with a different alloy, checked the dip tube, drained the tank for sediment, tested both upper and lower elements at about 14 ohms (or within specs).

The electronic thermostat is green when checking.

Any suggestions? Could this just be a lemon tank and for some odd reason not work properly? could the elements be corroded as to still show a good resistance, but be partially grounding to the water?
 

DonL

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"What seems to be happening, and I think it is intermittent versus constant, is that after about a 25 minute shower using 95-100 degree water, there is not enough hot water for another hot shower. Most of the time I can provide enough for 3 showers of 20 minutes each. "

You may be expecting a little more than the heating elements can keep up with, Depends on incoming water temperature.

25min to 1 hour of showering takes a bit of power to recover.

Good Luck.
 
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fireman-175

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I'd agree, but why would there be plenty of hot water in the morning to take 3 showers normally? 80 gallons is a lot of hot water, even if my wife takes 105degree showers... I calculated she is using 50 gallons of water total and 68% of that is 130 degree water or about 30 gallons. Is that all an 80 gallon can produce before it starts to equalize?
 

DonL

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What is up with this ? "I have it running 20 hours a day. I set my temp at 130."

Taking a shower with you wife would make things work better, and save water.

Why do you take 3 showers ?
 
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