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    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jan 14, 2008, 10:26 AM
    Luke warm temp from gas hot water heater
    About 6 days ago, we suddenly only had luke warm water from all our hot water faucets. I called the hot water heater help line and they sent me a new thermostat. I had a friend (who is a pro) install the thermostat, and still no hot water. I can see the pilot is lit. I can hear a constant "roar" from the heater, which is supposed to be indicative of a build up of minerals and sediment in the tank, however none was noted when the t-stat was installed, and the tank was flushed at that time. The "tube" leading to the old t-stat was filled with gunk, so we assumed that was the problem. But still no hot water.
    My tank is an energy saver, and is about 3- or 4 years old.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #2

    Jan 14, 2008, 11:00 AM
    You may have lost your dip tube so the cold fresh water is entering the tank at the top right where the hot is drawn out. Dip tubes fail, did you get any white, hard specs of crud when you flushed the tank? That could be part of the dip tube.
    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #3

    Jan 14, 2008, 11:13 AM
    Someone flushed the tank for me, so I didn't see the contents exiting. Are dip tubes easily replaced?
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #4

    Jan 14, 2008, 11:18 AM
    Not too hard but a lot depends on how your cold supply is connected. You need to remove the incoming cold supply pipe to the heater. That pipe could be held by a sweat fitting, dielectric union, galvanized or whatever, it must be removed to install a new dip tube. When you draw hot water for a few minutes do you hear the nain burner fire up and the exhaust tube will get too hot to tough?
    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #5

    Jan 14, 2008, 11:50 AM
    My heater is roaring all the time, I don't notice any sound getting any louder when drawing hot water.
    I did forget to mention that the exhaust passes through the wall in my bedroom on the second floor (over the water heater). Is it normal for that wall to be very hot? I noticed the wall was very hot about two weeks before the hot water went out. It is hot all the time, there is no cool down period noted.
    No need to get too involved, there's no way I could do this myself. I'm sure I need to call a plumber, I just don't want to get ripped off because I am ignorant.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #6

    Jan 14, 2008, 01:03 PM
    Nytzsi, if you hear roaring all the time and the exhaust is too hot to touch all the time I think you should shut down the gas supply. Something is very wrong if it never stops firing and this could become a safety issue. If you call a plumber try the yellow pages for your area and call a licensed plumber. Like any industry there may be a crook or two out there but most plumbers value their reputation and word of mouth referrals.
    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #7

    Jan 14, 2008, 01:18 PM
    Thank you for your help. I called the manufacturer and they had me turn off the cold water supply to see if the burner turns off once it heats the water that's already in the tank. I'm supposed to call back with the answer in about 30 minutes.
    The whole thing freaks me out, my grandfather was actually killed by a hot water heater bursting.
    Anyway... to clear up what sounded like me bashing your business... I live in las vegas - everyone is a crook in las vegas. I have a half-finished hard wood floor from a contractor I hired at a home show that never finished. I also have some very screwed up stamped concrete stairs in front of my house that were created by someone that was referred to me by a trusted friend that's a contractor.
    By the way... anyone know any good contractors of any type in Las Vegas?
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #8

    Jan 14, 2008, 01:24 PM
    I am sure I am not smarter than the manufacturer but I would not shut off that supply line and allow the heater to continue to operate. That water will expand, if the heater is actually heating, and if you do not have an expansion tank it will eventually blow oopen the PRV on the side of the tank. Did that roar sound stop when you shut off the gas supply? It should have if the sounds was the main burner flame. I better understand your situation in LV, I'd be leary too after what you have ben exposed to.
    KISS's Avatar
    KISS Posts: 12,510, Reputation: 839
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    #9

    Jan 14, 2008, 01:48 PM
    I don't like the sounds of this. Draining a little water from the bottom of the tank would be enough to determine whether the water is hot.

    When you turn off the cold water supply there is no place for the colder water to expand to so your depending on the temperature and pressure relief valve to function. In general when the supply is turned off, you should open a hot water faucet even though nothing will come out.

    The broken dip tube seems very plausible and it has to have a cause. Some causes are:
    1) Not draining sediment from the tank monthly.
    2) Not using Dialectric unions if there is galvanized to copper fittings near the tank.
    3) The water requires a water softener so that sediment is not likely to preform
    4) The sacrificial anode rod has been sacrificed. They are replaceable too.
    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #10

    Jan 14, 2008, 03:01 PM
    The tank eventually stopped firing when water heated up with no new cold being introduced. When I turned the cold input back on then hot water worked in the house, we'll see if it lasts past 50 gallons. My guess is no.
    The GE Hot Water Heater Hotline was a complete bust. When completing their test I called back and they guy had no idea what I was talking about. When I asked to be transferred to the gal that was previously helping me he got fairly rude. He put me on hold for a long time, and then told me I needed to test the temperature with some thermometer I'm supposed to have handy. Well, I don't have one handy and he thought that was pretty ridiculous. I just told him I'd call back after I go buy one. I won't be calling back. If the water runs cold after 50 gallons I'll call a real plumber. Thanks guys for all your help.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #11

    Jan 14, 2008, 03:16 PM
    Did you just say GE? I sure hope that this was a gas GE water heater because that's what I have been assuming. GE makes both gas and electric sold exclisively through Home Depot. Home Depot water heater specialists at 1-800-HOMEDEPOT may be able to give you some additional help but don't hold your breathe.
    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #12

    Jan 14, 2008, 04:52 PM
    Wow, look at you!
    Well, I had a 1 year in home warranty with the depot, but that was in 2004. I'm mechanically inclined but terrified of hot things and pokey things... that's basically everything. My husband is NOT mechanically inclined whatsoever, and is not afraid of anything - and thinks he's very handy... God save us all.
    I'll call a plumber. I'm still hoping it's the dip tubes or some other various part, I just don't want to deal with installing another whole unit.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #13

    Jan 14, 2008, 06:12 PM
    Check the label on the side of the tank. HD warranty may have expired but the GE warranty runs longer. GE SmartWater: Gas Water Heaters: 12 Year Limited Warranty
    Nytzsi's Avatar
    Nytzsi Posts: 7, Reputation: 1
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    #14

    Jan 17, 2008, 11:59 PM
    Follow up note:
    Thanks guys for all your help.
    The GE hot water heater hotline you are supposed to call offered no help whatsoever. They DID send me a new thermostat when I said the tank was no longer supplying hot water. But after that did not resolve my issue and I called back, they wanted me to run tests that are beyond the normal consumer. So I called a plumber and he checked out my tank, and let me know I needed a new dip tube. They told me they could not locate the part, so if I could get it from GE then they would (of course) only charge me for installation. So I spent an hour on the phone today with GE, and they flat out refused to send me anything without talking to the plumber. There's no way my plumber is going to sit on hold for 30 minutes to talk to these people to get me a part. I told them I had a 4 year old in the house, that we have not had hot water in 2 weeks, and there was no budging. I almost got them to give me the parts line to order and PAY for the part, however they then changed their minds.
    Frustrated, I call my husband and say, "forget it, lets just get a new hot water heater, this 9 year parts warranty with GE is useless.
    So we go to home depot, and when we tell them that our heater failed after 3 years on and 1 month, they said you can trade our old one for a new one, minus the difference in years off our warranty.
    A new tank was 450 after tax, however we got almost a 300 trade in value on our old tank. We didn't have to bring our old tank in either, just the serial number plate.
    I wanted to pass this on to the experts here as it may be help to someone else in the future.
    Thanks again,
    Nytz

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