Hey guys, I think my hot water heater from time to time has overflowed a little bit (few drops here n there), but recently, I turned it up all the way to the max HOT since we now have 3 people showering in the morning at the same time. Of course, this didn't help and the water overflowed pretty badly. I turned it off, let it cool and drained some hot water from my faucets. Now I've turned it back on and set it warm and watched it. It didn't overflow. After a few more showers, it overflowed again, but not as badly (about a car wash size bucket full of water). Also, the water is only hot for about 10-15 minutes if I shower at night with no one else showering. If all of us shower, it gets pretty cold pretty fast.

It’s a gas water heater, about 6 years old now.

What are some things I can do or test to see if something is broken on it?

And what does the little lever on the left side of the water heater do? It looks like a pressure reliever or something.

Thanks guys!

You are on city water and have a backflow preventer? When you turned the hot water heater up, the water in it expanded, and the excess had to go somewhere. It the past, the excess simply went back out the inlet. Cities now require backflow preventers, leaving the excess nowhere to go. The solution is an expansion tank, allowing water to flow back into it compressing the air in the top. Easy enough to install, just tee off the inlet line.

That little lever opens the relief valve. Once opened, they often get a little dire in it and leak.

You didn't say where the heater's overflowing from. The little lever T&P( Temp and pressure valve)? If so do you have a check valve or backflow preventer or a sprinkler system?

As for the hot water, several things come to mind, 1) the dip tube has fallen down from under the cold water inlet of the heater**or** 2) y7ou don't flush your heater and mineral built up on the floor of the tank is acting as insulation.
For long life and fewer troubles you should keep your heater clear of mineral build-up by flushing on a regular schedule. Let me show you how. 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 until the water runs clear. You will see a spurt of red,(rust) followed by white grains,(lime or calcium carbonate). This shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Do this monthly to keep it clear. . Be sure you put them back togather the same way you took them out. Don't forget to flush it out every month. Your heater will thank you for it. Hope this helps, Tom

Hey guys, thanks for reponses...

The water heater is acutually overheating from uptop. There seems to be a sprinkler looking pvc plastic pipe that comes down into this large tray (overflow tray I'm guessing). The overflow tray has the same pvc pipe coming out to the ground. If I pull the black level on top, the rust and build up also comes out of that same pvc piping into the overflow tray.


I don't know if I have the backflow preventor, but maybe that's the overflow tray? If I get an expansion tank, is that something I can install pretty easily? And how do I find the dip tube? Is that something I can visibly see?

Thanks again guys!