Water heaters are pretty resilient, but they’re not invincible. The longer you use your water heater over the years, the more prone it’s going to be to developing issues. That’s why you need to be on the lookout for any signs that your system is dealing with any kind of malfunction, so that you can deal with it as quickly as possible. The following are some of the more common water heater issues, and their symptoms. Call for repairs if you notice any of these symptoms in your own water heater.
Struggling to Provide Hot Water
If you use a lot of hot water over a short period of time, then it would make sense for your water heater to have temporary difficulty meeting demand. If your system is having a lot of trouble providing hot water, even if you haven’t used it for a while, then you might have a bigger problem. That kind of issue could be indicative of a few different problems. It’s possible you have a lot of sediment buildup in the tank, which is insulating the water inside from the heat generated by the burner assembly. It’s also possible that your burner assembly itself is clogged, and will need to be cleaned out. You’ll need to have a professional check out your water heater to know for certain.
Sudden Temperature Fluctuations
The dip tube is a PVC pipe that runs from the water line to the bottom of the tank. The purpose of the pipe is to make sure that any water flowing into the water heater will both heat up faster and remain separate from the hot water already leaving the tank. If the dip tube cracks, as can often happen due to wear and tear, then cold water can leak into the hot water as it leaves the system. This will lead to sudden changes in temperature at the faucet. If you’re experiencing hot/cold spurts of water unexpectedly while using your shower or faucets, then we suggest calling a technician as soon as possible.
Leaks
Leaks are always a problem for plumbing systems, whether large or small. Depending on where a water heater leak is located, it can hamper the system or even destroy it completely. You should never ignore a leak in your water heater, even if it seems small. Call for repairs as soon as you can, just to make sure that the issue doesn’t get any worse. You don’t want to have to replace your entire water heater years early just because a leak caused the storage tank to rupture and flood the room.
If your water heater is showing any unusual symptoms that are not listed here, we still recommend that you call a technician to check it out. Better to be cautious and check it than to ignore a potentially serious problem.
