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02/19/2009 10:23:23 PM · #51 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Well, blame the idjits that SAY it: the device is CALLED a "water heater", and that's what it does. Where the heck "hot water heater" came from is beyond me, but it's a personal problem, if you catch my drift?
R. |
Damn straight!
And while we're on the subject of crappy grammar, let's dispense with "lagging behind." Has there ever been anything that lags *ahead*??!! ;-) |
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02/19/2009 10:38:55 PM · #52 |
Man, don't get Bear on a roll about grammar. He's likely to go on all night!
My own water heater was stolen. That's what makes it "hot". :) |
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02/19/2009 10:43:51 PM · #53 |
| "cold water heater" ?? :-) |
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02/19/2009 10:44:07 PM · #54 |
The problem witrh water heaters and crud accumulation has less to do with the material of the heater than it does water quality.
If you have high iron/calcium/mineral content in your water, the giant water distiller (aka Water Heater) will separate the minerals from the water and conveniently store them in the bottom of the tank, limiting the quantity of actual hot water the unit will hold.
The worse your water, the shorter life span your hot water quantity will have.
Here in the mineral laden NE United States, most families use an 80 gallon unit if they want more than two decent showers.
The average lifespan of water heaters around here is about five years.
Ineresting aside......in the 30+ years that I have been a homeowner, I have replaced THREE hot water heaters.....on Christmas Eve!
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02/19/2009 10:51:49 PM · #55 |
In this whole thread, I have not seen anyone mention that there may be a gas feed problem causing the fire to be too little to heat the makeup water as it is used. There may be something causing the gas valve to not open enough to fire the burner properly, or something in a filter or orifice with a chunk of rust or crud in it.
A bad thermostat can cause that too. A weak thermocouple can cause it to take too long for the fire to come on line too.
Another thought that drifted by ; Did you pay the gas bill? : )
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02/19/2009 10:55:14 PM · #56 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by jjstager2:
And finally - on a tangent - if you haven't replaced the hoses to your washing machine in the last five years, go purchase new ones. Old hoses get brittle and weak and tend to blow as soon as you go off to work in the morning. Spend the extra couple of dollars and purchase the wire mesh protected hoses.
I'm in the insurance field and we see the hot water and washing machine hose claims occur most frequently. |
I'm with you on the washing machine hoses, but in my work as an engineer for an appliance manufacturer, I tested the performance of washing machine hoses and the results clearly showed that, contrary to what you'd expect, the mesh covered hoses were far more likely to leak or rupture than the standard rubber hoses. |
Hmmm--- what to do? Rubber vs. Mesh. |
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02/20/2009 12:01:02 AM · #57 |
UPDATE:
So I went at it today. It was much faster since I knew what I was doing and knew where the water shutoff was to my house (always a good piece of info). I got the nipple off with little difficulty, but the dip tube did not want to come out of the nipple. So instead of risking breaking it off with a shard remaining in the nipple, I inspected it and couldn't find any obvious defect. (Yes, I remember the advice to change it anyway.) I decided to leave it because of the trouble it seemed to be to get the nipple off it. Instead I flushed the tank. The first 5 gallons were very rusty red. After that it came out clear. We'll see if that helps at all. It could be the tank is just on its last leg and ready to be replaced. I'll let you know whether it can fill a jacuzzi bath tonight. |
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02/20/2009 12:28:22 AM · #58 |
Does your hot water heater have a thermostat? If so, try turning it up.
From one Doc to another ... sometimes it's the simple things. |
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02/20/2009 04:17:02 AM · #59 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
And while we're on the subject of crappy grammar, let's dispense with "lagging behind." Has there ever been anything that lags *ahead*??!! ;-) |
But it's OK to lag further and further behind, right?
R.
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02/20/2009 09:02:36 AM · #60 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
UPDATE:
So I went at it today. It was much faster since I knew what I was doing and knew where the water shutoff was to my house (always a good piece of info). I got the nipple off with little difficulty, but the dip tube did not want to come out of the nipple. So instead of risking breaking it off with a shard remaining in the nipple, I inspected it and couldn't find any obvious defect. (Yes, I remember the advice to change it anyway.) I decided to leave it because of the trouble it seemed to be to get the nipple off it. Instead I flushed the tank. The first 5 gallons were very rusty red. After that it came out clear. We'll see if that helps at all. It could be the tank is just on its last leg and ready to be replaced. I'll let you know whether it can fill a jacuzzi bath tonight. |
Jason, is this a tank you own or is it one you rent??
MAX! |
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02/20/2009 09:29:56 AM · #61 |
Preventing rusty nipples...
Regarding your Cold-Water heater. I̢۪ve always been told to install a coupling between the Copper pipes and the cast iron pipe nipples, that have a plastic ring between them. There is a special name for these, but they̢۪re great to keep the pipe nipples and the part it screws into from rusting. I would highly recommend these if you don̢۪t have them already. I don̢۪t know the nomenclature for all items, but I DIY almost always. Yes calcium can really buildup, good for bones but not water heaters. Okay the internet told me it̢۪s a Dielectric Union
I hope you don̢۪t mind me posting this here, but here is another (unrelated), tip.
Three weeks ago a Winter storm loosened our gutters, so I went out and bought a 32 foot ladder and those fantastic new gutter bolts with screw-threads. I worked in the dark, an Led Headlamp worked great, and got in the house after mounting the ladder on the garage wall, by 11:30PM. The weather forcasted high winds and snow starting at 2:00 in the morning.
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02/20/2009 09:59:53 AM · #62 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Well, blame the idjits that SAY it: the device is CALLED a "water heater", and that's what it does. Where the heck "hot water heater" came from is beyond me, but it's a personal problem, if you catch my drift?
R. |
Damn straight!
And while we're on the subject of crappy grammar, let's dispense with "lagging behind." Has there ever been anything that lags *ahead*??!! ;-) |
If your hot water heater is having problems maybe you could steal a better one? Don't forget the "Open Trench" sign. Is there another kind of trench? The one that bothers me is the comment "I could care less". That means that you do in fact care at least some. |
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02/20/2009 10:06:41 AM · #63 |
i think it's supposed to be ' i couldn't care less'
Originally posted by Niten:
The one that bothers me is the comment "I could care less". That means that you do in fact care at least some. |
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02/20/2009 10:13:35 AM · #64 |
Originally posted by Niten:
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Well, blame the idjits that SAY it: the device is CALLED a "water heater", and that's what it does. Where the heck "hot water heater" came from is beyond me, but it's a personal problem, if you catch my drift?
R. |
Damn straight!
And while we're on the subject of crappy grammar, let's dispense with "lagging behind." Has there ever been anything that lags *ahead*??!! ;-) |
If your hot water heater is having problems maybe you could steal a better one? Don't forget the "Open Trench" sign. Is there another kind of trench? The one that bothers me is the comment "I could care less". That means that you do in fact care at least some. |
Actually, there is another kind of trench. If they cover a trench to allow traffic overhead, usually with heavy steel plates, the trench is no longer open. |
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02/20/2009 10:30:09 AM · #65 |
| more horrible semantics - my sister, the vet on the Cape, uses a blue liquid to "put down" animals. It's called Fatal Plus, she wonders what the plus is for. |
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