Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    thebutcher7236's Avatar
    thebutcher7236 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Mar 2, 2008, 10:28 AM
    Hot Water lasts only 7 minutes and then is back in 10 minutes.
    I recently just moved into a new place and I have had water heater problems since the first date of moving in. When we first moved in we had only about 5 minutes of hot water before it ran out barely warm/cold. We replaced it with another used hot water heater to find out that we needed to replace the thermostats on the water heater. We did that and now we still only have about 7 minutes of hot water before it runs out luke warm/cold.
    When we take a shower, we have to turn on the hot water full blast in the shower and then add cold water to the shower. Every minute or so, we have to adjust the cold water because the water starts getting colder and colder by the minute. After about 7 minutes, you go to turn downt he cold water again, to find that you can't turn it down anymore because it is not turned off completely, and the water coming out of the hot water is barely luke warm...
    We don't know where to start with fixing this problem...
    We have already replaced the thermostats and we have to turn up the water heater temp. pretty high to even get to take a 7 minute shower (if that!)
    Once we get out of the shower, I can go about five minutes later and get extremely hot water again in the sink closest to the hot water heater.
    This isn't just a problem in the shower... it is all over the entire house. I can run about a couple of kitchen sinks full of water and then the hot water is lukewarm/cold again. However, it still only takes about 10 minutes for me to have that hot water back again of 5-7 minutes of hot water use. I hope someone can please help assist me on what I need to do to fix this problem. I don't want to go out and buy a brand new water heater to fix my problem, if there is something else that I can do to save me money. Thank you for taking your time out to read this and hopefully help me in the right direction that I need to take.
    Have a wonderful day!
    Sincerely,
    Stacy:)
    hkstroud's Avatar
    hkstroud Posts: 11,929, Reputation: 899
    Home Improvement & Construction Expert
    		  
    #2

    Mar 2, 2008, 11:25 AM
    Did you check the heating elements? Sounds like bottom element not working.
    thebutcher7236's Avatar
    thebutcher7236 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #3

    Mar 2, 2008, 11:32 AM
    Thank you for your response, but yes both have been replaced
    hkstroud's Avatar
    hkstroud Posts: 11,929, Reputation: 899
    Home Improvement & Construction Expert
    		  
    #4

    Mar 2, 2008, 11:38 AM
    OK, who installed the water heater? Did the installer do any soldering near the cold water input connection?
Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions
 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

New water heater, hot water in shower only lasts 3 minutes [ 40 Answers ]

I have been in this apartment 6 months and have never been able to have a warm shower longer than 3 minutes. I told my landlord and he replaced the water heater. But that didn't solve the problem. So he had a plumber come over and the plumber said maybe the water heater was defective. But then he...

Water runs out after 10 minutes takes hour to come back on [ 6 Answers ]

Okay a couple of months ago the water heater we had started leaking so my landlord replaced it. Ever since when you take a shower or use any water really you better make it fast because it runs out after 10-15 minutes I mean completely out no water at all. Then it takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour...

2 minutes of hot water & then turns cold [ 3 Answers ]

Dear all, I bought a condo a week back and there seems to be this problem of us not having hot water from any of the outlets for more than a minute or 2. Our water heater runs on gas and there doesn't seem to be any problem with the air, which is heating up the house all right. Kindly help!...

View more questions Search