Water Heaters - Very low hot water pressure in the whole house

Hi guys,

I need some advice. Like the title says I have very low hot water pressure on every faucet in the house.
My house is 3 years old and so is the water heater. It is a
75 gallon PowerVent 2 (Rheem). The plumbing in the house
is PVC except the first couple of feet coming out of the heater.
I have to admit that I never flushed the heater before the problem occurred. I flushed it now but no improvement.
When I turn on a hot water faucet I have good pressure
for about 5 seconds and then it drops.
When I flush the heater with the water supply on I have pretty
strong stream coming out of the drain. Does that mean my supply side is ok??

I am stumped at this point. I would appreciate any advice you guys can give me.

Thanks
-Heiko

Welcome to the forums! Let's do first things first. Is your cut off valve completely turned on at the water heater? Are all your stop valves under your sinks and toilet turned completely locked on? What type faucets do you have, brand, single/multiple lever? What is your water temperature set at?

Welcome to the forums! Let's do first things first. Is your cut off valve completely turned on at the water heater? Are all your stop valves under your sinks and toilet turned completely locked on? What type faucets do you have, brand, single/multiple lever? What is your water temperature set at?

Larry,

yes my cut off valve is completely on. When I open the drain valve of the water heater I get a pretty strong flow.
All stop valves in the house are open.
The fixtures in the house are a mix. Some are multi lever some are multi lever. Brands are mixed also Delta, Grohe...
Nothing in the configuration of the faucets has changed between the time it was working and when it stopped
working.

Is the fact that the pressure is ok for the first few seconds
after you open a faucet any indication?



-Heiko

When I open the drain valve of the water heater I get a pretty strong flow.


"Flow" is a pretty subjective term. You should actually get water to come out either the pressure relief or bottom drain valve like a rocket. It should blast out at full line pressure. A "flow" could simply mean that it runs out the hole real good, but without any real pressure behind it. It should BLAST out. If not, you have a problem before the water heater. A good comparison would be to compare your flow up against that of an outdoor spigot or what can come out a laundry hookup cold water valve. That is, presuming that your cold water pressure is excellent in the house.

"Flow" is a pretty subjective term. You should actually get water to come out either the pressure relief or bottom drain valve like a rocket. It should blast out at full line pressure. A "flow" could simply mean that it runs out the hole real good, but without any real pressure behind it. It should BLAST out. If not, you have a problem before the water heater. A good comparison would be to compare your flow up against that of an outdoor spigot or what can come out a laundry hookup cold water valve. That is, presuming that your cold water pressure is excellent in the house.

Sorry, wrong choice of words. Yes there is real pressure behind when I open the pressure relief valve. It can match the pressure of an outdoor spigot for sure.

Judging from the fact would you guys agree that the problem is
on the how water side of the water heater?

How deep does the tube on the hot water side protrude into
the tank? Is it possible to snake that out?

Also the installation on the hot water side looks a little funny
to me.
There is a 20" piece of pipe going up but than the transition
to the horizontal pipe is done with 2 elbow pieces.
Something like this:
_____
__|
|
|
Water heater
Is there a reason to install it like this?

Thanks
-Heiko