The hot water in my recently purchased home seems to be slow in
comming and does not get very hot.
The water heater is gas and is about 15 years old.
When I lit the pilot light, I saw a lot of debris on the burner.
I brushed this off but it made no difference in the problem.

Should I replace the burner or the entire heater.

I did drain the heater, first with the water main turned off and
then flushed it with the water main on. I got a lot of redish
water out of the unit.

How does one know when a water heater has reached end of life,
other than a complete failure?

B

Brett Miller wrote:
The hot water in my recently purchased home seems to be slow in
comming and does not get very hot.
The water heater is gas and is about 15 years old.
When I lit the pilot light, I saw a lot of debris on the burner.
I brushed this off but it made no difference in the problem.

Should I replace the burner or the entire heater.

I did drain the heater, first with the water main turned off and
then flushed it with the water main on. I got a lot of redish
water out of the unit.

How does one know when a water heater has reached end of life,
other than a complete failure?

B

Red water...not good.

Gas heater *avg* life...10 years (Yes, some last longer).

Water temp is controlled by thermostat (round knob on gas control).
Turn it to higher setting.

How *long* it takes for the hot water to reach a fixture
is determined by the length of piping from the heater.

If only certain fixtures experience "tepid" water temp,
it is possible that there is a "cross-connection" between
Hot and Cold lines (could be a single-handle faucet or
a washing machine valve, for example). Don't focus
on this scenario; it is rare.

Jim

"Brett Miller" wrote in message

The hot water in my recently purchased home seems to be slow in
comming and does not get very hot.

How hot is not very hot? The thermostat can be set very low by your
standards so as not to scald. Get a thermometer and tell us just what the
temperature is. Look to see what the setting is.

Slow in coming is usually a distance or pressure problem. Once the water
that is in the pipe is pushed out by the water in the heater, the how water
is there. Does not matter what the temperature is, it is either there or
not.


The water heater is gas and is about 15 years old.
When I lit the pilot light, I saw a lot of debris on the burner.
I brushed this off but it made no difference in the problem.

As long as the flame is working properly the debris does not really matter.
Chances are it may be corrossion of what is above the burner starting to
corrode and flake off. If it blocks the burner, yes a problem, if it does
not and the flame is the same, you get the same heat.


Should I replace the burner or the entire heater.

If the burner is working properly, that is not the proble and replacing it
is a waste of money. There may be other problems though.


I did drain the heater, first with the water main turned off and
then flushed it with the water main on. I got a lot of redish
water out of the unit.

If there is sediment on the bottom it will retard heat transfer. Flush once
in a while to prevent it.


How does one know when a water heater has reached end of life,
other than a complete failure?

You don't get hot water any more for one thing. Leaks is another. At 15
years it may or may not be on the way out. Some will go 20 or more. Start
with the basics like the thermostat setting.

There is only one thing to do with a 15yr old gas hot water heater,
especially one that is giving any hint of problems. Replace it before
it bursts a leak and you have potentially huge damage. Knowing it's 15
years old, I'd replace it even if it was still working fine. 10yrs or
so is the typical life of these and they can go without warning.

wrote in message
ps.com...
There is only one thing to do with a 15yr old gas hot water heater,
especially one that is giving any hint of problems. Replace it before
it bursts a leak and you have potentially huge damage. Knowing it's 15
years old, I'd replace it even if it was still working fine. 10yrs or
so is the typical life of these and they can go without warning.

That probably depends a lot on the installation, mainaintence, and local
water conditions. Replace the anode every several years may make a big
difference.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=water+heater+anode

Bob

On Sun, 01 May 2005 04:32:43 -0400, Brett Miller
wrote:

The hot water in my recently purchased home seems to be slow in
comming and does not get very hot.
The water heater is gas and is about 15 years old.
When I lit the pilot light, I saw a lot of debris on the burner.
I brushed this off but it made no difference in the problem.

Should I replace the burner or the entire heater.

I did drain the heater, first with the water main turned off and
then flushed it with the water main on. I got a lot of redish
water out of the unit.

How does one know when a water heater has reached end of life,
other than a complete failure?

B

Your flame is fine. Doesn't have to be perfect.

What is NOT fine, is the thick layer of crud that is built up on the
floor and walls inside the tank. It is like a layer of insulation and
you are just wasting gas heating the crud when you are trying to heat
the water.

Get rid of it now.

So Speedy Jim,
How does one know when a water heater has reached end of life,
other than a complete failure????

And, other then rust, what does the red water mean?
Should I change the burner first?
Should I turn the heat selector all the way up and see what the temp
at the faucet is?

Thanks
BM




On Sun, 01 May 2005 09:20:15 -0400, Speedy Jim wrote:

Brett Miller wrote:
The hot water in my recently purchased home seems to be slow in
comming and does not get very hot.
The water heater is gas and is about 15 years old.
When I lit the pilot light, I saw a lot of debris on the burner.
I brushed this off but it made no difference in the problem.

Should I replace the burner or the entire heater.

I did drain the heater, first with the water main turned off and
then flushed it with the water main on. I got a lot of redish
water out of the unit.

How does one know when a water heater has reached end of life,
other than a complete failure?

B

Red water...not good.

Gas heater *avg* life...10 years (Yes, some last longer).

Water temp is controlled by thermostat (round knob on gas control).
Turn it to higher setting.

How *long* it takes for the hot water to reach a fixture
is determined by the length of piping from the heater.

If only certain fixtures experience "tepid" water temp,
it is possible that there is a "cross-connection" between
Hot and Cold lines (could be a single-handle faucet or
a washing machine valve, for example). Don't focus
on this scenario; it is rare.

Jim