Hi All,

I've read through a bunch of the other posts on hot water pressure and here's the scoop:

- Purged the system as per Speedball1's instructions from the drain valve until it was clear(yup there was red stuff); also cleared the pressure valve
- Nothing changed after purging the system
- Checked all stop valves and they are open all the way
- Checked all faucet screens and they are clean and clear
- From my interpretation of the water heater serial number, it's about ten years old
- It's a 46 gallon, natural gas water heater
- As with other posts here, the cold pressure is good (not great)

Ontario is almost all on well water and naturally heavy in the mineral department. The water pressure in the house is pretty weak in general but the hot water pressure is bad and seemingly getting worse.

Apparently the previous owners of the house used to complain to the neighbours about low water pressure...

Is it time for a new water heater? Could it be clogged PRV screen? Should I be checking the curb stop valve? Calling a plumber?

Andy thoughts?

Thanks! Pete

Tell me this. Is the cold pressure better in every fixture, and the hot is less in every fixture?

If so, you should start by cleaning or replacing the nipples, and or dialectric unions on the top of the water heater. This is very common. The nipples and dialectric unions on the very top of the water heater will plug up, causing low HOT water pressure to all fixtures in house. Please let me know if you would like more info on this. If you could post a picture of the top (water in and out) of your water heater I will be glad to try an help.

Hi mygirlsdad77,

I think you probably nailed it! Much thanks!
Yes, the cold water pressure is good in every fixture and the hot is less in every fixture.

If you could post some more information on changingcleaning these, that'd be great. It looks like I would have to cut and re-solder the dielectric unions.

I would post a pic but I can't seem to figure out how... looks like this, but without the plastic washer:

Installing A Dielectric Union To Join Galvanized And Copper Pipes - Plumbing System Components (http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/plumbing/systems/components/union_de/intro.htm)

Thanks for the help!

Pete

I believe Dad may be referring to heat trap nipples, (see image).l they can be found at the inlet and outlet connections on top of the water heater.
Good luck, Tom

Just break the union with a pair of pump pliers, or a couple of pipe wrenches. Once the union is loose, you can unthread the bottom threaded portion of union from the water heater. You will notice that they are almost completely plugged. If you can find a union that has the same threads as the original union, you may be able to replace just eh bottom portion. However, I would suggest cutting copper and installing completely new union. This will requier a couple of three quarter copper couplings(need to be soldered). Let me know now you feel about doing this yourself. I may be able to come up with some other easy methods that don't require soldering. But its going to take some more info from you.

Thanks Tom and Dad!

I'll try swapping out the heat trap nipples. They're likely clogged. My soldering skills are pretty good so I should be OK from here.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for your help.

Pete

No problem pete. Most likely this will solve your problem. Please do keep us posted.