wrote:

On Jan 7, 8:46 am, "David L. Martel" wrote:

Jay,

Yes the dip tube is installed by default. But brand new products are
sometimes not put together correctly so it might be the dip tube.
Your local library will have books on home repair and maintenance. You
need to buy a voltmeter and learn to use it if you don't have one. Your
problem predates the new water heater so I suspect you have a leak, either
in a pipe or in a single handle faucet. I suspect that you bought a new
water heater when there was nothing wrong with the old one. Welcome to the
DIY Homeowners Club, we all make stupid mistakes. It's how we learn.

Dave M.


The GF has a similar problem on a gas water tank. Now - I looked on
the web, but did not see (or could not find) any picture of what this
dip tube looks like or how to replace it if it is broken.

Would anyone have a link to this type of information by any chance?

thanks.

Here you go:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/water-heater1.htm

The dip tube is on the cold water inlet and carries the cold
water to the bottom of the tank. As the water is heated, it
rises to the top of the tank where it is taken out by the hot
out to the fixtures. If the dip tube is broken or missing,
cold water will be drawn out of the supply side before it has
time to be heated.

It is kind of like locating an airconditioning register too
close to a return.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX