Water Heaters - no water pressure w/ hot water

my kitchen sink has very little pressure when the hot is turned on, the pressure in the rest of the house is fine

also, in other areas of the house the hot water takes a while to heat up
can anyone tell me what might cause this....do i need a new hot water heater

More info will help us here. Did it do this before?? Are just start. ??? How old is the H/W tank?? Or are you on a boiler?? How far is it to the other room for hot water . Did you just move into the home???


ED ;)

We need the answer to Ed's questions, plus it would be good to know if you have galvanized, copper, or PVC piping.

The further the distance from the hot water tank, the longer it will take for the water to get hot. You have to first drain the cold water that has been sitting in the pipes between the hot water heater and the faucet.

You may have something clogging up the supply for the hot water. Turn off the supply valve under the sink and disconnect the tube that goes up to the sink. Hold a rag over the top of the valve and turn it on and off quickly several times. Reconnect the tubing and see if this makes a difference. There may also be something that got by the valve and is clogging at or in the faucet.

i moved into the house about 1 year ago and i always had this problem

the h/w heater is down stairs and the heater sits about 10 feet from where the sink if it were down stairs

the tank is at least 7 to 10 years old

FYI...once the water heats it very hot it just takes long and there is no pressure

There should be a cold water line shut-off valve for the water heater. Make sure that it is turned fully open counter-clockwise.
What type of pipes do you have? If they're galvanized to that sink, that's most likely your problem. Replacing galvanized is the only cure for it.
Good Luck!
Mike

the pipes coming from behind the cabinates going to the faucet are copper, the pipe attached to the disposal (drain) is galvinized

by the way.....the pressure on the cold side is fine
thanks

jc

the pipes coming from behind the cabinates going to the faucet are copper, the pipe attached to the disposal (drain) is galvinized
jc

What is the piping leaving the hot water heater, galvanized or copper?

Can you trace it to where it goes thru the floor to the kitchen and confirm it is all copper from the water heater to the kitchen sink?

How old is the house? I suspect that if you have galvanized drain pipes, you probably have galvanized water supply piping also. If so, the only way to correct low flow problems is to replace the galvanized supply piping.

the pipe coming into the bottom of the heater is galvinized, i assume this is the supply line, the two lines coming into the heater on top are copper???

i can see that the galvinized pipe goes towards the main shut off valve and the other end goes towards the kitchen then goes into the ceiling and i cannot see the connection to the sink????????

wouldn't the the galvinized pipe problem slow down the cold water also?????
(it's only the hot water in the kitchen sink)
by the way the house is 48 yrs old

thanks for all your help

thanks

jim

So, the kitchen faucet seems to be the only problem. Remove the aerator from the faucet, clean it out, and I'm pretty sure that your problems will go away.

lefty

sorry for ths dumb questions, but what is the aerator and where is it

thanks

jc

i figured out the aerator question.......the pressure for the cold is strong, but the pressure for the hot is weak.....this only happnes at the kitchen sink, everywhere else in the house the hot water has strong pressure

i would think that if it is an aerator or galvinized pipe problem...both H and C would have weak pressure

thanks

jc

The areator is located at the discharge on the faucet. If it were clogged with sediment it would affect both hot and cold. As only the hot is affected I doubt this is the problem.
There should be 2 shutoff valves UNDER the sink with supply lines(flex tubing, copper,braided, vinyl wrapped) that go to each control handle on the faucet. Turn off the water to the hot side and carefully remove the supply line tube. Have a rag handy to put over the top of the opening of the valve and turn on and off quickly several times to flush out any debris that may be clogging the valve. Reconnect the line and check the water flow.
If the water flow is still restricted it may be in the hot water side of the faucet. The inner workings of the faucet may need to be replaced.
Good Luck

From your description of the lines going to and from the water heater it sounds like the galvanized line is the gas supply line as it is at the bottom of the heater. The copper lines at the top would be the cold water inlet and the hot water discharge. Running hot water and feeling the lines should tell you which is which.

What brand of faucet are you working on? Does it have one handle or two? You may be able to disassemble it and flush out the insides. Is the flow bad from the very second you open the valve or does it start good and get bad after a second or two?

Ken

I know you stated the pressure was "OK" on the other outlets in the house, double check that please. If you are copper to the sink, 9 out of 10 it's copper all the way. Basic change to copper took place LONG ago. However, EVERY HWH has 2 galvanized nipples on the top for hookup. One is in, one is out. Both will be corroded if the heater is over 5 years old. Grab your pipe wrench and r and r them. Chances are if the HWH is near or over 10 years, replace it too, you'll get your money back in 5 with the improvements.

Anyplace in the line that is black or galv pipe will corrode and will eventually fail. Period. Don't ask me why the in/out lines of any HWH are galv, but never seen one that isn't (Haven't looked at every HWH though).

Good luck and DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE CONNECTIONS!

Hi oldbe8. Welcome to the DIY forums :)

Did you realize this is an old thread from 2004? :o Thank you for your input, but we try not to bump old threads like this. The original poster is long gone, or at least has resolved this long since, I hope :o. The information is here for others to search for and add a question, but posting an answer to an old question is something we avoid.

You may have to change your setting/options so you can see the newer threads.

Thanks