Water Heater Trouble: Symptoms, Causes, and Solutions

Today's homeowners have grown accustomed to obtaining hot water with a simple twist of a tap, thanks to water heaters that offer years of reliable service. You may therefore find yourself shocked when one day you lose that ready access to hot water or experience other strange issues with your water heater.

Once you understand how to interpret a change in your water heater's performance or behavior, you can get a clearer idea what that change might mean and the fixes your plumbing technician might have to make. Take a look at some common water heater symptoms, along with their potential causes and solutions.

Insufficient Hot Water

Few experiences can prove more eye-opening than receiving a torrent of ice-cold water instead of the hot shower you expected. If you don't get any hot water after turning the appropriate taps, your electric water heater may have stopped receiving electrical power. Check for a blown fuse or breaker that needs resetting.

Two thermostats on the water heater work together to regulate your hot water temperature, with 120 degrees Fahrenheit as a common setting. If your water doesn't get hot enough, your plumber will examine the thermostat setting and adjust them as needed. This simple step could solve your problem.

If the water heater produces hot water only briefly before cooling off, your plumber may need to replace its lower heating element. If your water heater can only raise the water temperature to lukewarm levels, its upper heating element may have failed. If you've never enjoyed sufficiently hot water, you might need a larger water heater

Low Hot Water Pressure

Even if your water heater provides consistent water temperatures, you might not feel satisfied with the pressure of that hot water. If you can't obtain more than a thin stream of hot water, mineral sediment known as limescale may have lined the bottom of the tank. If so, your plumber can drain and clean the tank.

Other parts of the water heater assembly can also cause low hot water pressure. Potential culprits include broken or leaky pipes, crimped or wrong-sized feed lines, a main water shutoff valve that needs adjusting, or even a blockage in your shower head or faucet tap..

Disturbing Noises From Your Water Heater

If your water heater has developed a problem, it may communicate its distress to you audibly. For instance, you might hear banging or popping noises coming from the tank. These sounds typically indicate that your plumber needs to clean limescale buildup out of the tank.

Water heaters' heating elements occasionally make hissing or crackling noises as part of their normal operation. However, you may need to get the heating elements checked if you hear this sound all the time. A whistling noise from the water heater could mean that the device's pressure or temperature valves require tightening.

Discolored or Otherwise Unappealing Water

Discolored, smelly, or foul-tasting water can plague homes for a variety of reasons, from municipal water supply issues to deteriorating pipes. However, if you only notice these symptoms when you run hot water, they may stem from a water heater problem that requires professional attention.

Mineral deposits in your water heater's tank can turn your hot water brown. These minerals may come from the water entering the tank, or they may have leached out of rusty parts of the tank itself. While your plumber can replace a faulty anode rod to help prevent further corrosion, a rusty tank may need replacing.

The same sediment that affects a water heater's performance can also harbor bacteria. This bacteria can affect the smell and taste of your hot water. You may need to flush out your water tank with a small amount of white vinegar to restore the quality of your hot water.

If you suspect a problem with your water heater, ask the experienced technicians at Oak Creek Plumbing for help. We can inspect the water heater, replace individual components that have failed, or replace a water heater that has reached the end of its useful life. Contact us today to schedule our services.