There is a dip tube defect in water heaters from the early 90's:
"The water heater was manufactured between 1993 and 1996. The
stamped-on code on the data plate should include the year."
The company which made all the dip tubes was sold and the new owners
changed the formula.

http://www.ci.wilsonville.or.us/depa...er/diptube.htm
The symptom is gel like goo or white particles on your aerator screens.
Installing a new dip tube solves the problem.
Richard

Bob M. wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I recently bought a house with a gas water heater and am getting odd
results. Sometimes, i have plenty of hot water, other times, i can
only get luke warm water. It is not due to other sources of water
consuption. The variablity holds true even when the dishwater,

Does the thing still have the dip tube? It's a $5 plastic tube that goes
inside the tank on the cold water side, carrying the cold water all the way
to the bottom. Heat rises, and this helps separate the hot and cold water.
You'll have to disconnect the cold water pipe at the top of the heater to
find out.