I apologize if this is the wrong forum for such questions. But I’m sure there are some folks here with some plumbing/appliance know how.
As of about a month ago I’m a homeowner. Murphy must have moved into the extra bedroom because I no longer have hot water. I’ve done some research and cannot find anything that describes my problem and subsequent solution.
The heater is a fairly new gas powered unit. The burner and pilot light work but no hot water is circulating. I’ve had it on high for the last few hours and still no hot water. The flame is still, well, aflame. I know next to nothing about plumbing except what I’ve just learned researching.
Seems simple enough but I cannot find any information about this problem.
Is there some sort of pump that sends the hot water throughout the house? That’s about the only thing I can think of.
That’s the wierd thing, though. The pilot light works just fine and there’s a flame. Is it possible that just my hot water pipe froze? If so, how could I fix that.
I’m confused. Are you getting cold water when you open the hot water valve, or is no water coming out? If the heater is firing and cold water is coming out, then the water heater may need to be replaced. If you are not getting any water, then the valve on the pipe going to the water heater may be shut off.
Water is coming out of the faucets and shower, but it isn’t warm. It doesn’t make sense to me though. The fire is going, so the water in the heater has to be heating up. For some reason it’s just not hot coming out of the faucet.
Yes it is. If you’re getting even a trickle of water through your hot water faucet, turn it on, and leave it on. Keep an eye on it! Eventually the water flowing through the pipe should warm and erode the icey blockage.
If you have no flow, the pipe may be frozen solid. Dumping heat to the crawlspace can help with that, as can warmer weather. Some people use electrical pipe heating tapes to keep their water flowing in winter.
Ok, one more question, did the heater work until recently?
Here’s a picture, showing what’s inside a heater. Usually, the cold water comes out at the bottom of the tank and rises to the top after it is heated by the boiler.
Water heaters sometimes fail when the inlet tube corrodes and falls off at he top of the tank. This allows the cold water from the inlet to take a short route to the outlet. The water is still warm for a little while, but it may not be as hot and/or may not be warm for as long.
Squink may be onto something. We have mild winters and slab on grade foundations around here; I didn’t think about frozen pipes.
Well the sink is running and I’m getting water (not a ton of pressure but more than a trickle) when turned to hot. Of course, it’s not hot, but slightly warmer than the cold setting. I’ll keep this running for awhile. I’d imagine ice would break through pretty quickly with the water going, but we’ll see.
So yeah, it seems like a pretty simple appliance. Not as much to it as I would have thought. The pressure release valve and drain valve both are releasing cold water. (on purpose, not a leak) One takes water from the top, one from the bottom.)
Perhaps my heater defies physics somehow. Reason would have it that if I have a roaring fire below a container of water I should have hot water. Very strange, but a learning experience.
Oh yeah, the hot water did work until this afternoon sometime.
Maybe the temperature setting was bumped. Just for grins, try adjusting the temperature control to a hotter setting. I’m guessing that it’s a broken tube, but I’m no plumber.
Perhaps there’s a leak in the system such that cold water is constantly replacing hot water in your heater. Try shutting off all the taps in the house and check your water meter to see whether it’s moving.
First off when you say there is a flame, do you mean the main burner, or just the pilot light? If you are only getting the pilot light the water won’t get hot.
Secondly with the hot water tap turned on, feel the pipes coming out of the top of the water heater, one should be cold, and the other hot. If instead of hot, it is cool, it is probably the dip tube as has been mentioned.
It sounds like you use your hot water tank for both heat and hot water. What I suspect is happening is that you are using your heat so much that the tank gets depleted of hot water.
Try turning off the heat for about 1 to 2 hours and check to see if you get hot water from the faucet (and don’t keep checking, give it a chance).
This assumes that the full fire is under the hot water tank, not just the pilot light.
It’s not the pump, the pump is working from what you describe, a broken pump would mean no heat, but you would still have hot water, or at least water from the taps…
An update on my post right above, if that is the case there is
>>>There is NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR HOT WATER TANK<<
It’s just you are exceeding the capacity of the tank’s ability to produce hot water.
(so no need to call someone to tell you that and charge you for a hour)
Definately sounds like the dip tube broke. They are replaceable, but depending on the piping leading to the water heater (all soldered, etc.), a plumber may be needed.
Sometimes when a dip tube breaks up you get small pieces of plastic coming out of you taps or stuck in the faucet screens. You mentioned that the water pressure on hot was a bit low, try looking at the screen - it is probably clogged with little white pieces of the plastic. That is the remnants of you dip tube.
By “fairly new” do you potentially mean, “still under warranty”?
For what it’s worth, the “dip tube” is the cold water inlet. It takes incoming cold water, and ensures that said water goes to the bottom of the tank (you know, where the fire is). Convection will make the water at the top (where you draw off the water) hot. If the dip tube is broken, then you’re replacing the water that you’re drawing off with cold water coming in, and as such you never get the hot water from below. You probably have a drain below… try opening it (carefully!) and see if hot water comes out there.
I’m going to second the motion that the flame you are seeing might be just the pilot. That produces just a small jet of flame. The burner is probably circular, several inches in diameter, and makes a lot of flame, comparatively. Since you’ve figured out how to look inside the unit, try this: turn down the thermostat on the tank to the “vacation” position or whatever is may be called. At this point only the pilot should be on. Now crank up the thermostat all the way. If you still see just the same small blue flame, then the main valve isn’t opening for some reason and it’s time to call a pro (and welcome to the financial joys of maintaining a home).
One other possibility, almost too obvious to mention: this time of year it can take a few minutes for the pipes to warm up and stop sucking all the heat out of the passing water. You have left the water on for several minutes to see if it eventually warms up, haven’t you?
And welcome to the SDMB! You’ll find the place lots o’ fun after you stop having to take cold showers. . . .
If that’t the case, then the most likely cause of the problem is a busted thermocouple. The thermocouple controls whether the main burner can be lit. They do go bad.