i’m hoping someone can help me on this one. i run out of hot water after taking a shower for about ten minutes. had an older hot water heater, so replaced it. same problem. installed a new shower manifold and still same problem. i’m at a loss now. anybody seen this problem before and fixed it? thanks for any advice in advance!!
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Is there still hot water available at other fixtures in the house when it goes cold in the shower?
In my WH, some dipstick had installed the dip tube in the wrong hole, so the hot water was being drawn off the bottom of the tank and the cold water was entering at the top of the tank, falling in a plume down to the bottom of the tank and thence, unheated, out the hot water port. It seems unlikely that the same thing would happen to you on two WH in a row, but the symptoms are a close enough match I felt I should mention the possibility.
Edited 3/26/2004 12:37 am ET by Uncle Dunc
Could be the WH was installed backwards -- hot and cold swapped. If the piping is backwards, the new heater is apt to be installed backwards.
Not likely on a new WH, but if the lower thermostat or element is out on an electric you'll only get a little hot water.
Could be that there's a defective tempering valve somewhere.
Could be that you're simply taking showers that are too long. Your standard 40 gallon electric is good for maybe 10 minutes.
If you have a 40 gal electric, you may just be using all the hot water in the tank. In a 40 gal electric, the tank is really about 36 or 37 gals. Of that, the water on the bottom (beneath the element) is very cold. Hence, we you start your shower with a hot tank, you only have about 25 or 30 gallons of hot water. Depending on temperatures and flow rates, the amount of hot water can be used pretty quickly. I suggest that you turn the thermostat up.
I doubt that it can be plumbed wrong, you will not get hot water for anywhere near 10 minutes if the hot and cold are exchanged.
Bill
do you mean they mixed the water feeds where its says cold & hot ??
OK, true confession time. I don't know for a fact that the dip tube is on the hot water port. The only thing I know for sure is that there is no dip tube on the cold water port. I discovered this when I turned the water back on after replacing the drain valve and heard the water splashing on the bottom of the tank as if it had fallen several feet.
I have three reasons for believing the dip tube is on the hot water port, but no proof. One, there are several other "features" of the house that suggest the same kind of thinking. Two, if the hot water were being drawn off the top of the tank, just a foot away from the cold water inlet, I think the temperature of the hot water would go down much faster than it does.
Three, if I run some hot water after not running any for several hours, the water is only moderately hot, somewhere around 100F. If I wait twenty minutes and run some more hot water, it comes out much closer to the thermostat setting of 120F. Which makes me think that when the system has been idle for a while, I'm getting stratified cooler water off the bottom of the tank, but after the thermostat kicks in and runs the burner for a while, even the water on the bottom of the tank is hot.
The hot and cold pipes are connected to the correct ports.
I haven't fixed it yet because I'm too depressed to do it myself and too broke to pay somebody to do it, and it's not a hazard, just an inconvenience.
wireing is goofy..one leg of the 220 is out..so it don't have enough juice to re generate fast enough..?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Is this a problem that's recently cropped up, or something that's been going on for a long time and you're just getting around to dealing with?
If we are here to help others, what are the others here for?
Is it electric or gas? Direct vent or power vent? What climate do you live in? When you run the water hot from a faucet, what is the water temperature?
When you say "shower manifold" do you mean the valve(s) that you turn on and off in the shower? Did you install a new shower head, too? If not, how old is the old one?
well, guys, i appreciate you all answering and asking questions. here's answers to your questions:
to dan = the piping has been double checked and is hooked up correctly. also, it is a high boy and have checked both the upper and lower thermostats. not sure about tempering valve. it is a 50 gal. and never ran out of hot water this quick with old one til problem showed up.
to boss hog = yeah, as i just wrote to dan, it started just a short time ago with the old water heater.
to waynel5 = it is an electric heater with direct vent. i live in san antonio, tx and weather has been very mild. haven't checked the temperature at a faucet but when i run out of water in shower it runs out at all faucets. but if it had been shower manifold valve leaking and cycling cold water back thru (was told this by plumber) it would do same thing. yep, by "shower manifold" i do mean the on/off control, it is single handle type. changed the shower head.
guess if i can't resolve this i will retrain to take shorter showers.
thanks, all
"to waynel5 = it is an electric heater with direct vent."
I have never heard of an electric WH with a vent.
Or is it a gas heater that used electricity for a vent fan and/or electronic ignition.
Sounds like it's probably an electrical problem of some sort. You've got a few possibilities:
#1. Sphere said it: one leg of the 220 is off, so your elements are heating at about 25% cap. Check your line right back to the breaker panel. This is fairly likely, as it would persist through the change-out of both your faucet and HW tank. All it takes is a loose screw where the wire comes into the breaker, or a loose wire-nut in a junction box somewhere.
#2. One thermostat is defective. You said they'd both been checked, though. Also, the same problem with two HW units in succession is weird--unless the installer stripped the old tank for parts and used them on the new one; highly unlikely....
#3. Your temp is set too low. The button-down minds in our world are busy decreeing that 120F is the highest safe temp. This is IMHO pure bullcracky. I take baths at higher temps than that--when I can find the time to do so, LOL. Most likely your new unit came pre-set to 120F on both 'stats. Can't speak to how your old tank was set. Set them to 140, unless you have a valid reason for not doing so--like a non-responsible person living in the house (toddler/alzheimer's victim).
#4. The diff between the upper and lower 'stats isn't sufficient to cause the proper cycling effect. Check the manual that came with the new unit and make sure you have them adjusted so that the lower one will cut in when the upper one cuts out.
Let us know what happens....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Generally the upper and lower stats should be set the same, or the upper a little higher. The only way the lower won't kick in is if it's turned way down.
Having one side of the 240V line off is one possibility, though unlikely. In any event it's easy to check with a voltmeter at the heater.
I have heard of a defective valve causing this sort of problem, but if it did you'd generally notice warm water from a cold water faucet somewhere, or be able to feel the warm water in the cold water pipes (more that 5 feet or so from the hot water heater). Note that it could be any single-handle control, not just the shower. Also, it could be caused by a Y hose on a utility sink or some such.
Most modern single-handle controls have a design that pretty much makes this sort of thing impossible.
Having one side of the 240V line off is one possibility, though unlikely. In any event it's easy to check with a voltmeter at the heater.
I'd still recommend physically checking all the joints in the run right back to the breaker itself. If you've got a loose connection, it could be intermittent--and you'd then stand a chance of missing it. Put a buzz-box or a radio on each 120v leg of the line, then go on down and wiggle everything until you get a joint that makes the sound stop and start.
I do consider this possibility to be the most probable cause of the problem, considering all the remedies already tried without success.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
If one side of the 240 is off you don't get not heat period. There are 240 volt not 120/240 systems.
The only "exception" to this is if one of the elements is shorted to ground then you could get some heat (depending on where the short was) wtih one leg of the 240 and the ground completing the circuit.
Actually, if one side of the **SERVICE** is open you can have exactly this situation and (possibly) not notice it. All the other junk on the "dead" service leg will draw current through the water heater. So long as there's nothing big on that leg the stuff there will seem to operate normally (though lights may be a hair dim, etc) but the WH will only get warm.
It's electrical..did ya miss my post?
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
do you have an amprobe ? if so when you take a shower and run out of water have the panel cover off & check if it is drawing the right ampes make sure you are dry ??
you know it does sound like the breaker could be bad. make sure you are getting 220v off the breaker before you do what i previously said