"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
SJP wrote:
Hi, lately it seems as though there's barely enough hot water to take
a shower. I went downstairs to observe the hot water heater...

-There's no sign that the water heater has 'blown up' like seems to
happen whenever my dad's water heater expires
-The heater has the date 1990 on it, which I presume to be it's
installation date.
-The heater is natural gas. I didn't notice any smell...
-The heater was warm to the touch
-It hasn't been very cold here lately.

Do these things just fade away? Or do they always go out with a
bang? How do I assess the situation?

Thanks
Steve

There are several possibilities. My first guess is the dip tube is
gone. That is the right age to have the famous dip tube problem.

There are a number of other possibilities as well however and I would
guess you are not really ready to do the testing.

Ask around your neighbors. See how long their water heaters tend to
last. Local water conditions make a very big difference in how long those
heaters last. I suspect you are close enough to the end of its life that
you should not bother trying to have someone fix it when replacing it is
not going to be that much more.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


In general, gas water heaters do not fade away. While they do accumulate
gunk on the bottom which makes it use a little more energy to heat the
water, you usually can keep your heater until it starts to leak (and just
hope that it starts as a little leak and not a catastrophic one. However,
as Joseph Meehan points out, in the late 80's, early 90's there was a
problem with the longevity of the plastic dip tube used in water heaters.
This is the tube that bring the incoming cold water directly to the bottom
of the heater. If the tube is broken, the replacement cold water comes in
near the top of the heater and mixes with the exiting hot water, causing
your problem. There is no reasonable way to replace the dip tube on a 15
year old heater, so it is probably time for a new one. Dip tubes are now
made with a different plastic so you are unlikely to experience this problem
in the future with a new heater. It will mostly likely eventually fail by
leaking.
--
Peace,
BobJ