I have a 40 gallon water heater with copper pipes in the house. My problem is very low hot water pressure. The cold seems to be working fine. I also seem to run out of hot water fairly quickly while showering. This is a U.S. Craftmaster water heater that looks to be fairly new, though, I just bought the house about 4 months ago so I really have no idea to its age . Any help as to what is the problem is, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

RickJ

As for low pressure:

Is the low hot pressure from all faucets in the house or just one...or a few.

First remove the aerators from each faucet and check to see if there's any debris buildup on the screens of them. If so, clean them out and see if that helps.

Another thing that comes to mind is maybe a valve not fully open. If you have a valve on the line out of the water tank be sure it's fully open.

Those are the two things I know to check on that part of it...

As for running out of hot:

If it's an old shower head, it may be that it's just allowing too much water to pass...as in 4 or more gallons per minute. That's the problem in 95% of the cases we run into.

Hardware stores will carry a restricter washer for about a dime that you can put on it to try.

You might also check the temperature dial on the tank and be sure that it's at least at the mark that they call standard. I don't know what temp. that is, but typically there will be an arrow or dark line at a point midway between the lowest and highest setting.

I hope something here helps

labman

Most low pressure problems are caused by crud in the line. May be near where the water comes out of the tank, or between the cold water line and the tank. Often you can flush loose crud out.

Check to see if the inlet and outlet of the tank is reversed and also make sure the cold water inlet has a tube to run it down to bottom.

Poke back around old questions for better instructions on flushing crud out. Tom, our real plumber may be off line until after the hurricane.

zoso43512

Thank you for your guys' input. I have been looking at other threads on the matter. Sorry for the same question as many others, I am new to this site and was having a little trouble feeling my way around at first. I will try to flush the heater out a little and see what happens. I did take the screens out of the kitchen sink and the two bathroom sinks and found little rocks and white stuff in them. For the showers though I am assuming you have to take the whole fixture out of the walls??? To clean them out. (I also have a gas boiler as a furnace. I know absolutely nothing on how this thing runs. It has nothing to do with the water heater though does it? It seems about the time I kicked the furnace on is about the time I started to run out of hot water a little faster. I will probably post a new question about the heating in the heating department.) As for the cold waterpipe that runs to the bottom of the tank, How do I find out if it does or not? Also, there are no shut off valves anywhere near the water heater. Well, there is one sitting right above the tank from the cold water line, but it just turns and turns so I am thinking it does not work. Thanks again guys.

speedball1

Is your water heater gas or electric? When you shower do youmean you shower in a tub or a shower enclosure? Ifyou need instructions on how to flush your heater click on back. The temperature the factory rcomends is 120 degrees. The "little rocks and white stuff" you see on the aerator screens could be mineral build up,( calcium carbonate) mixed with pieces of white plastic from a dip tube that's gone bad. If the cold water shut off on the heater's bad you will need to shut the house down at the house shut off.
Running out of hot water too soon can be caused a faulty lower element if you have a electric heater or a bad dip tube if either gas or electric. Flush the heater and let me know what you find. regards, tom

zoso43512

Tom,
Ok sorry it took so long to get back. The water heater is Gas. All faucets have low pressure. I have a tub/shower and a shower inclosure. I hooked a hose up to the outlet on the bottom of the heater and "Flushed" it out for about a minute. Nothing abnormal came out. Had clear water the whole time. It might have been a tad "milky" at first but not really. If I need to check the dip tube, how is that done? Sounds difficult to me. Thanks again.

speedball1

The dip tube is located under the large hex nut on top of the heater. Good luck, Tom

zoso43512

Thank you all for your help. Sorry it took so long to update. Very busy. The problem was the dip tube. It was totally gone. Only the threads were left. Now I have nice long HOT showers. Wonder what happened to the rest of the tube. The tank is only 6 years old. Thanks again.

speedball1

Zoso,
Glad a new dip tube solved your problem. You ask," Wonder what happened to the rest of the tube."
The rest of the dip tub has disintegrated into little white chunks and now lives on the bottom of the tank where it won't bother anyone. Good luck, Tom