Please do not attempt to repair your own water heater unless you are a qualified technician.
The information below, for assorted water heater problems, assumes that the water heater has been properly installed and was operating correctly before any problems developed. These are just general guidelines, covering the most common water heating problems, thus helping to make you a more educated consumer.
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For Gas Hot Water Heaters:
Remove the inner and outer burner access covers and
check to see if the pilot light is lit.
* Caution: Many modern water heaters no longer use standing pilots. They use electronic ignition to ignite the gas. Do not attempt to manually light an electronic ignition system.
If the pilot light is not lit:
Attempt to re-light the pilot light, following the
instructions posted on your water heater. Or click here for instructions.
If the pilot light will not re-light, the problem
could be a clogged pilot line or orifice, or gas is not reaching the water heater.
Call for service.
If the pilot light will light but does not stay lit
when the gas valve control is released, the problem could be a defective or loose thermocouple, or perhaps a faulty gas control valve. Make sure the thermocouple connection to the control valve is
tight.
If the pilot light is lit:
Turn on a hot water tap and let the water run
for several minutes. Check to see if the burner comes on. If not,
run the hot water several more minutes. If the burner still does not come
on, the problem could be a defective control valve/thermostat.
Check to see
if the control valve knob is in the "on" setting and not
set to the "pilot" position.
For Electric Hot Water Heaters:
If you have no hot water from an electric Hot Water Heater, first make sure the breakers are on. Otherwise, it is most likely either a bad upper element or thermostat, or it is off on a high limit safety. Some water heaters have a resetable safety switch at the upper thermostat. This usually requires removing the upper access panel.
* Caution: High Voltage connections are behind access doors. Turn off all power to the appliance at the main panel box before removing the water heater panel. Use caution when removing the panel and double-check electrical connections with a volt meter. If you are unsure how, then you shouldn't be attempting this!
Once confirmed that the electric is off, check to see if the red reset button has popped out. If so try resetting it, you will hear a click. Then re-install the panel cover and reset the breaker. You should hear the unit start to charge. Keep in mind, that if the upper limit opens, it is usually because a thermostat stuck closed and it will do so again, requiring changing.
| Problem: Insufficient Hot Water |
Check the thermostat setting, it may be set too
low. Check for leaking faucets. There could be a dip tube problem. If the dip tube
has broken or fallen off, incoming cold water will be drawn out through
the hot water outlet without being heated. Keep in mind you really shouldn't try checking this yourself!
Other possible causes include clogged burners and low
gas pressure, which would also require a service call.
| Problem: Slow Hot Water Recovery |
Sediment buildup on the bottom of the water heater can do this. Flushing the
water heater may help. Other possible causes may be insufficient
combustion air; caused by insufficient ventilation, or improper burner
operation.
| Problem: Discharge From TP/Relief Valve |
The relief valve will open if either the water
temperature is too high, or if the pressure gets too high. If the
inlet to the water heater is fed directly from the water main, with no
pressure relief valves or check valves between them, then when the water
is heated and expands, the extra volume of water simply
flows back toward the water main.
If however, there is a blockage
such as a check valve or pressure reducing valve with a defective bypass, then the increase in water volume has nowhere to go, and the pressure will
increase dramatically.
Placing an expansion tank in the line, at the
inlet, will give the increased volume of water someplace to go and prevent
the relief valve from opening.
Another possibility is that the City water pressure
has increased above the setting of the relief valve. Again, the
installation of an expansion tank can help solve this problem, at least with a minor to moderate increase in city pressure. A significant pressure increase will still however, cause the relief valve to open.
| Problem: Pilot Light Won't Stay Lit |
Sometimes a draft will blow the pilot light out.
Make sure the burner access covers are in place. Other possible causes include
dirt in the gas line, loose thermocouple connections, or a defective
thermocouple. For more on this problem, click here.
| Problem: Popping or Banging Noise |
Scale can build up in the bottom of the tank;
causing all sorts of noises to occur while the water heater is heating
water. Try flushing the tank.
| Problem: Hot Water Smells Really Bad! |
Certain types of bacteria can react with the
magnesium anode rod resulting in a rotten egg odor. Cleaning the tank using
chlorine bleach, or changing the anode rod to aluminum usually solves
the problem.
All tanks eventually leak! It's like death and taxes! No fix for this, sorry! Replace the water heater.
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