If Your Hot Water System Suddenly Stops Working: What to Do
If Your Hot Water System Suddenly Stops Working: What to Do
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We've stumbled on this great article pertaining to What Would Cause My Electric Water Heater to Stop Working? below on the internet and decided it made perfect sense to relate it with you on this site.
Many modern houses make use of an electrical hot water heater for their furnace, due to its convenience and ease of use. However, similar to any other electric appliances, issues may arise with its usage, unexpectedly. It can be actually frustrating to get up to a cool shower rather than a hot one or having your bathroom with water that isn't warm enough or even also hot. Whatever the case might be, water heater problems can be fairly aggravating. Luckily, we've made a checklist of possible remedies to your hot water heater issues. There are a variety of aspects that could trigger a lot of these problems, maybe an issue with the power supply, the electric heating element, or the thermostat. Prior to doing anything, ensure you switch off the primary power supply for security. Whatever the trouble is, getting it taken care of should not posture excessive of a concern if you comply with these actions:
Call A Professional:
If after changing all faulty components and resetting your temperature level, the water heater still isn't working, you might require to contact a professional plumber for a professional opinion. The issue with your heater could be that the hot and cold faucets have been changed or it might be undersized for the amount of warm water required in your home. Whatever the situation might be, an expert plumber would help fix the trouble.
Check Your Power Supply:
As standard as this may seem, it is really required. Without ample power, your water heater will not work. So the first thing to do when your water suddenly stops working is to verify that it isn't a power trouble. Inspect if the fuse is burnt out or the breaker tripped. If the circuit breaker is the problem, merely transform it off and on again. Replace any type of broken or worn-out fuse. Check the device with power after these adjustments to see if it's now working.
Inspect Your Thermostat:
If your water heater still isn't functioning or the water appearing isn't warm enough, you may need to inspect the temperature level setups on your top thermostat. Ensure the circuit breaker is switched off before doing anything. Open up the access panel and press the red button for temperature reset above the thermostat. This ought to assist heat up the water. Transform the breaker back on as well as check if the problem has been dealt with.
Inspect the Heating Element in the Water Heater:
If it's not a power issue, then try checking out your heating element if it is still working. Test each of your burner to be sure the problem isn't with any one of them. If any one of them is faulty, change that component and after that inspect whether the hot water is back on.
Final thought
Water heater problems are not constantly significant. A lot of them are due to minor issues like a blown fuse or damaged burner. Changing the faulty components need to suffice. Nonetheless, if you are still not able to resolve the problem, give a call to your nearest plumber to come to get it dealt with.
Common Reasons Why Your Hot Water Heater Isn’t Working
Water Gets Too Hot
Ouch! You wanted a hot shower, not boiling! If you have a newer model electric water heater, your water heater works with a thermostat (actually, two thermostats). If this thermostat has been jostled — or purposely reset — by someone in your home, the water flow will be much hotter than you expected.
FIX: Adjust the thermostat to a more moderate setting for producing hot water. Forty-nine degrees Celsius is recommended to prevent scalding.
Water Doesn’t Get Hot
This is the opposite of the previous problem, but it’s almost as bad. Your flow of hot water is merely lukewarm or even incoming cold water. Once again, an incorrect thermostat setting, or a faulty thermocouple in a gas water heater, could be to blame. Another explanation might be that there’s no power to the water heater (in the case of an electric heater) or the pilot light has gone out (if you have a gas unit).
FIX: Adjust your thermostat as necessary. If that doesn’t do the trick, check the power supply. Another possibility is the replacement of a damaged thermocouple in gas water heaters.
Leaking Water Heater
A leaking water heater (a sign may be low hot water pressure, or not enough hot water to shower) might be a reason to push the panic button… but first, take a few minutes to check where the leakage is coming from. Leaks near the top of the heater tend to indicate a problem with a valve, which won’t need a major repair. However, a leak from the water heater base is more serious.
FIX: You may need a qualified plumber to replace your drain valve or TPR (temperature pressure relief) valve. When your water heater is leaking from below, your plumber might be able to fix it if you call them soon enough. Otherwise, you will need to have a new water heater installed.
Noisy Water Heater
Sometimes your water heater might make some peculiar noises, loud enough to compete with your singing in the shower. Are these a cause for alarm? It depends on exactly what kind of sounds you are hearing. Sizzles and rumbles are both red flags, indicating a heavy sediment buildup in your hot water tank that might cause a breakdown in the near future. In addition, banging is a sign of a water hammer, which can lead to serious damage to your pipes.
FIX: To stop sizzling or rumbling, turn off the tank and have it flushed by a reliable plumbing company ASAP. Ask your plumber to install a water hammer arrestor to quiet down the banging and save the pipes.
Pilot Light Keeps Going Out
Many pilot lights go out once in a while, but when your water heater pilot light keeps going out continually, it’s a problem. And the chances are good that that problem stems from either a shortage of combustible air or a malfunctioning thermocouple.
FIX: Increase the air supply around your water heater by cleaning dust and lint off the appliance and clearing any clutter from the area around it. A bad thermocouple will require expert plumbing repair and is more than basic gas water heater troubleshooting.
Water Smells Bad
The water from your residential plumbing pipes should smell neutral. If it has a strong unpleasant odour, something’s wrong. To check whether your water heater is at fault, turn on a hot water faucet and let it run for a few minutes. And, yes, use your nose to determine exactly what you are smelling.
FIX: For a garlicky odour, relight the pilot light on your water tank. When you detect the scent of garbage, you’ll need a professional plumber to flush the hot water tank and possibly replace the anode rod. A strong smell of rotten eggs could signal a hazardous gas leak; turn off the gas supply if possible, get everyone out of your house, and make an emergency call to the gas company.
Water Looks Brown Or Rusted
The first thing to do is ask yourself, “Is the brown, rusty-looking water coming only from my hot water taps?” If the answer is yes, then most likely, either the anode rod or the water heater interior is starting to rust, especially if your hot water heater is nearing the end of its life expectancy. (A “no” answer means the issue does not originate from the hot water heater but rather from the water supply.)
FIX: Contact a plumber to inspect the water heater. If you catch the problem quickly enough, it might be fixable. Otherwise, you’ll need a water heater replacement. Consider installation of an efficient new tankless water heater.
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