Water Heaters - Loss of Hot Water
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dave77062
04-15-06, 10:51 AM
I am getting a loss of hot water at a tub and no where else in the house. The situtation is this, if you open the hot water at this specific tub, it is hot for a while, about half full, and then the water goes cold. I then lose the hot water for a couple of minutes to the other faucets throughout the house but then they start working again. We can shower daily, wash clothes,run the dishwasher etc with no loss of hot water. The problem only occurs at this one particular faucet. The hot water heater is old, I would guess around 90' as we bought this house used and it was built around that time. The water heater seems to supply sufficient hot water for everything else, I only lose it when you open the valve at that tub. I thought it might be the valve at that tub but that would not explain the loss of hot water to the rest of the house? I am stumped and need help. Any ideas?
razz
04-18-06, 10:13 AM
If you have a 60-gal tub, half full is 30 gallons, while a 5-minute shower uses only 10 gallons and a dishwasher 20. It's most likely you're exceeding the capacity of your water heater.
majakdragon
04-18-06, 11:01 AM
dave77062, Welcome to the DIY Forums.
I am taking a wild stab at this problem. You may have a bad (broken or compromised) dip tube. In the mid 90's there was a lawsuit from the materials in water heaters dip tubes disintegrating.
The dip tube takes the cold incoming water to the bottom of the tank and pushes the hot water out. If the tube is bad, it "short circuits" the water and cold mixes with the hot prematurely. Using the tub may be depleting the hot water faster than your other fixtures. The dip tube is under the nipple going into the tank on the cold side. It just sits there (has a flange on the top that keeps it from falling into the tank.)
You could disassemble the cold pipe and pull the tube out and inspect it. At 16 years old, it's getting time for a new heater anyways. Good luck.
I am taking a wild stab at this problem. You may have a bad (broken or compromised) dip tube. In the mid 90's there was a lawsuit from the materials in water heaters dip tubes disintegrating.
The dip tube takes the cold incoming water to the bottom of the tank and pushes the hot water out. If the tube is bad, it "short circuits" the water and cold mixes with the hot prematurely. Using the tub may be depleting the hot water faster than your other fixtures. The dip tube is under the nipple going into the tank on the cold side. It just sits there (has a flange on the top that keeps it from falling into the tank.)
You could disassemble the cold pipe and pull the tube out and inspect it. At 16 years old, it's getting time for a new heater anyways. Good luck.