Hot Water Heater Blues
#11
I have a natural gas hot water heater. Tank type. 40 gallons or so.

This thing seems to take an unusually long time to heat up sometimes. Tonight, three of us bathed and I'm guessing drained the tank. LOML waited 1 1/2 hours to take a bath and her water was lukewarm at best.

The times I've checked the heater, everything seems OK. I flushed it a few years ago, so I don't believe it's a sediment buildup issue. The burner comes on and fires blue flames all around.

What else could be wrong with it? Thermostat?
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#12
(05-11-2019, 10:15 PM)DieselDennis Wrote: I have a natural gas hot water heater. Tank type. 40 gallons or so.

This thing seems to take an unusually long time to heat up sometimes. Tonight, three of us bathed and I'm guessing drained the tank. LOML waited 1 1/2 hours to take a bath and her water was lukewarm at best.

The times I've checked the heater, everything seems OK.  I flushed it a few years ago, so I don't believe it's a sediment buildup issue.  The burner comes on and fires blue flames all around.

What else could be wrong with it? Thermostat?

What is the thermostat set on??
John T.
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#13
A few years? Hard water? I've seen enough sediment build up, especially with gas models where there is only a drain valve(no access to the inside like on electric models where the heating elements can be removed) to coat the bottom and be very difficult to clean off. That sediment is a really good insulator. One way to try and loosen/eliminate sediment is to drain the tank, close the drain, remove the anode rod and pour in white vinegar. Letting that soak can loosen the sediment so it can be flushed.
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#14
Yes. Sounds like sediment
Steve

Missouri






 
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#15
It should take about 45 minutes to reheat, I think.
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#16
After some more research last night. A dip tube problem has now entered the mix. If I changed it out, it would be a good time to try and flush some sediment too.

Water is all nice & hot this morning, btw.
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#17
40 gallon... three baths.
40 gallons is pretty small for a family. I'd expect to see 40 gallon heater in a smallish condo or smallish 2 bedroom 2 bath home.
The wife and I had a 40gallon in the last house just because it was only the two of us. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 and 1/2 but we had issues with enough hot water for house guests.
Neil Summers Home Inspections




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#18
My family of 7 kids moved into a remodeled '20's brick house when I was a HS sophomore.

Discovered not a lot of hot water, but we were used to it in old house and learned to cope.

A few years later my brother got a good deal on a new water heater and decided to put it in the old house.

Discovered they had reversed "in" and "out" water lines. 
Rolleyes

So after all kids were gone they had plenty of hot water
Laugh
"Truth is a highway leading to freedom"  --Kris Kristofferson

Wild Turkey
We may see the writing on the wall, but all we do is criticize the handwriting.
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#19
A couple of basic facts.

A generic 40 gal water heater will have a recovery rate of 35 to 40 gallons per hour based on a temp rise of 80 degrees if it is relatively clean inside.  A 1/4" of scale in the tank will reduce the recovery dramatically.

Useable hot water from a conventional tank style heater is about 65% depending on the flow rate and what is acceptable as an outlet temp. losing the dip tube will drastically reduce that as cold water is no longer taken to the bottom of the tank but mixes with tank water close to the outlet.  

3 baths can mean dramatically different things.  How much hot water was used in each and what was the time frame?
Blackhat

Bad experiences come from poor decisions. So do good stories. 


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#20
(05-12-2019, 12:03 PM)Wild Turkey Wrote: My family of 7 kids moved into a remodeled '20's brick house when I was a HS sophomore.

Discovered not a lot of hot water, but we were used to it in old house and learned to cope.

A few years later my brother got a good deal on a new water heater and decided to put it in the old house.

Discovered they had reversed "in" and "out" water lines. 
Rolleyes

So after all kids were gone they had plenty of hot water
Laugh

          Thats very very common. My parents house never seemed to have much hot water so I finally turned the hot water on went out and grabbed both pipes and yup the in was hot the the out was cold...  I have found that problem in many friends houses as well. It's amazing how much more hot water you have when it's hooked up right.

Course with us here in TX by the time it's full on summer the water from the water main will be at 80-85* so the waterheater doesn't work much then and I often don't even turn the hot water on in the summer. (too friggin hot here)
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