Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help!
  Advanced
Register  |  Log in  
   Ask    
 Answer  
  Help  

Ask QuestionsprogressAnswer QuestionsprogressBuild ReputationprogressBecome an Expert
 
Free Answers in 3 Easy Steps

Register Now
3 Steps

At Ask Me Help Desk you can ask questions in any topic and have them answered for free by our experts. To ask questions or participate in answering them you must register for a free account. By registering you will be able to:
  • Get free answers from experts in any of our 300+ topics.
  • Accept money for answers that you provide.
  • Communicate privately with other members (PM).
  • See fewer ads.

Home > Home & Garden > Plumbing   »   Gas Hot Water Heater runs out of water

 
Question Tools Search this Question Display Modes
Question
 
 
#1  
Old Jan 7, 2007, 05:03 AM
techrec79
New Member
techrec79 is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 2
techrec79 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.
Gas Hot Water Heater runs out of water

I have a 2 year old Gas Hot Water Heater in my house 50 gallon I believe. It runs out of water after about 5 minutes and the water does not seem as hot as it should be (It's turned to 3 on a max scale of 4 on the heater). The pilot light is on. Can you tell me what might cause the hot water to run out so fast. Nothing else is drawing the hot water.

Thanks,

Eric

Reply With Quote
 
     

Answers
 
 
Old Jan 7, 2007, 06:06 AM   #2  
speedball1
Plumbing Expert
speedball1 is offline
 
speedball1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Sarasota, Fl.
Posts: 12,679
speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.
Pay to call speedball1 for advice ($.95/min)
Call speedball1 via Skype™
Hi Eric,

Mineral build up comes to mind. Does the heater pop and make noise as it's heating? Running out of water in a gas heater tells us one thing. You are drawing hot water out of the heater faster then the heater can heat the cold water coming in to replace it. Mineral build on the floor of the heater will act as a insulator keeping the heater from operating at full capacity. The solution is to flush your heater on a monthly maintenance schedule.
If you do not flush,(not drain) your heater on a regular basis it will build up mineral on the bottom of the tank. This mineral could act as insulation and cut back on the ability to heat the water. Let me show you how to flush your heater. Attach a hose to the boiler drain at the bottom of the tank. With the pressure on, open the boiler drain and let it run untill the water runs clear. You will see a spurt of red,(rust) and some white grains,(lime or calcium carbonate). The whole thing shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Don't forget to flush it out every month. Your heater will thank you for it. You might want to consider cleaning the screens on your areators if you have a high mineral buildup. If thev problem still persists after you have flushed, you will have to drain the heater, remove the boiler drain and go up in the bottom of the tank with a wood or plastic rod, (not metal) and try to break up the mineral and flush it out. Good luck, Tom
  Reply With Quote
 
     
 
 
Old Feb 13, 2007, 08:48 AM   #3  
doug238
Ultra Member
doug238 is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: atlanta metro area
Posts: 1,514
doug238 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.
typically, a water heater that runs out too quickly has a dip tube problem. either damaged or worn or defective. another cause could be the t & p leaking from too much pressure or too hot. check the t & p piping, is it hot? an electric water heater could be a bottom element out also.
  Reply With Quote
 
     
 
 
Old Feb 13, 2007, 09:14 AM   #4  
labman
Dogs Expert
labman is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern US
Posts: 10,597
labman See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.labman See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.labman See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.labman See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.labman See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.labman See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.
Another vote for the dip tube. And no, it is not the heating element since you said it was a gas heater.

Remove the cold water inlet. You should be able to see the flange of a plastic tube inside. No tube, and incoming cold water cuts straight across to the outlet. Berrr!
  Reply With Quote
 
     
 
 
Old Feb 13, 2007, 03:46 PM   #5  
speedball1
Plumbing Expert
speedball1 is offline
 
speedball1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Sarasota, Fl.
Posts: 12,679
speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.speedball1 See this member's comment history on his/her Profile page.
Pay to call speedball1 for advice ($.95/min)
Call speedball1 via Skype™
Duhh! I agree that the dip tube could be shot. Tom

Comments on this post
labman agrees: I hope missing that isn't a reflection on your health. I forgot to mention that once the cold water is fixed the flushing is a good idea. May see a bunch of platic fragments.
  Reply With Quote
 
     


Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

 
Similar Sponsors

Similar Questions
Question Asker Topic Answers Last Post
Can one shut off water main valve but leave gas hot water tank on? jersey-joan Plumbing 4 Mar 6, 2008 08:18 PM
Water Heater Vent Fan runs constantly VIN442 Plumbing 1 Nov 23, 2006 11:19 AM
Does putting gas hot water heater dial on PILOT put pilot light out? jersey-joan Plumbing 1 Aug 15, 2006 10:48 AM
Hot water runs out after 5-10 minutes askme1 Plumbing 5 Mar 6, 2006 03:53 PM
Brand new water heater: Starts off hot, then water gets cold after few seconds leilap Plumbing 1 Apr 18, 2005 04:30 PM




Copyright ©2003 - 2007, Ask Me Help Desk.
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 07:37 PM.

Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.0.0 RC6 © 2006, Crawlability, Inc.