I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious fix?
thanks

From:


I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious fix?
thanks

Depends on what kind of water heater it is. Sounds like a problem with the
thermostat.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious fix?
thanks


This is Turtle.

It would be nice to know what type hot water tank you have natural gas / propane
/ electric / solar heat / or what ever kind it is.

TURTLE

wrote:

I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious fix?
thanks


Do you have a tempering valve in the hot water line?

If you do, it may be sticking open once in a while and feeding you
pretty cool water even though the water from the tank is HOT.

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

If it is a regular gas water heater 8 yrs is not old if you have good
water, for some water it is old, where I live they last 30 yrs.
Thermostats are cheap to fix

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious fix?
thanks

My solar heater did this for a time. The plastic dip tube which puts the
cold water on the bottom of the tank making for natural separation, warm on
top and cold on the bottom, split. The water now could feed from the top and
drain from the top. Making for some not so warm showers. The dip tube cost
less than 10 bucks and was not hard to install at all.
WAG

wrote:
I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious fix?
thanks

Hi,
Do you clean the tank(flush) reguglarly once or twice a year?
When burner is on look at the flame. Does it look normal?
Tony

Flame looks good. I did forget to mention that it's a natural gas
heater.

I doubt it's ever been flushed/drained.


wrote:
I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address
it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious
fix?
thanks

On 2 Jan 2005 05:33:56 -0800, wrote:

Flame looks good. I did forget to mention that it's a natural gas
heater.

I doubt it's ever been flushed/drained.


wrote:
I'm assuming I have a failing hot water heater but thought I'd run it
by others first.

On some days The water is nice and hot and some other days it's much
cooler. No rhyme or reason for the fluctuations.(thermostat settings
the same) Wifey is starting to get annoyed so it's time to address
it.
It's about 8yrs old.

Is my best bet to replace the whole thing? or is there an obvious
fix?
thanks

Dont you just love the temperature accuracy of these new gas valves?
Bubba