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Water heater not making HOT water

Baked

Baked

Lifer
Due to work, I'm usually not at home. The other day, I turned on the hot water and waited... and waited... and waited... and no hot water came out. Just lukewarm water came out. I know when the plumber reinstalled the water heater, he changed a couple of copper connector tubes that's used to connect the water heater to the wall pipes to aluminum connector tubes, saying that it's more flexible. I didn't think much about it at the time, but now that I think about it, why do you need tubes connected to a stationary object to be flexible? I know copper is used in plumbing 'cause it has the best heat retention/cost ratio. The damn plumber probably just stole my copper pipes so he can charge another client more money for the "change order."

But could this simple switch in connector tubes be the cause of me not getting hot water? Or is there some kind of switch or knob on the water heater that's affecting the temperature of the water?

Ps. This is an electric water heat.
 
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It could be anything, obviously the heater or its elements could be shot. If it's natural gas, check the pilot first. I doubt it's the connections either unless he completely kinked one or something.

Edit: thermostat is another common thing to check. I wouldn't necessarily correlate the recent changes to this problem, especially if the heater is a few years old. They aren't the most reliable appliances in the house, they tend to need service every few years.
 
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the tubes have nothing to do with it...even if they were reversed you'd get hot water.

Check your breaker.
 
check the breaker
but even resetting may only temporarily fix it
if the heater elements are corroded through which then caused the breaker to trip, you'll have to replace the elements
 
There should also be a knob that control water temperature. Make sure it's not turned all the way off.
 
I once had this happen in a rental house. Replaced the element, waited a while for the water to heat up, still no hot water. Thought all the breakers were fine, then discovered that there was another panel on the house's exterior (WTF?). All looked fine there, too, but it turned out that the breaker had tripped but didn't switch off fully (again, WTF?). Cycled the breaker and all was well.

Too bad it took 2 days to figure all this out / get landlord support. Winter water is very cold, even in San Antonio.
 
How old is the water heater? Do you have softened water? With hard water you'll probably get large mineral buildup around the element after 4-5 years if you don't clean it every year.

Just turn it off, drain it, and pull the elements out and see if they are corroded/covered with minerals. If you need to replace them they are only like $10 at lowes.. only takes a half hour max.
 
I will have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's with my water heater make and model and ask them about this element component.

I didn't know you have to clean the element annually.
 
Baked said:
I will have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's with my water heater make and model and ask them about this element component.

I didn't know you have to clean the element annually.
Click to expand...

While you are there, ask them about a tool to take the element out.

To take my element out, I had to buy a special socket.
 
Baked said:
I will have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's with my water heater make and model and ask them about this element component.

I didn't know you have to clean the element annually.
Click to expand...


They make universal elements. Go to home-depot, they have a better selection. And yeah, you'll need the special water heater element socket to get them out.

It's fairly easy:

1) Buy socket tool, and 2 universal elements
2) Turn off power to water heater
3) Turn off water supply to water heater
4) Drain water heater
5) Remove as much sediment as possible from bottom of tank
6) Replace elements
7) Turn water back on, and let fill completely!! (otherwise you'll burn out the elements)
8) Turn power back on
 
bignateyk said:
7) Turn water back on, and let fill completely!! (otherwise you'll burn out the elements)
Click to expand...

To make sure the tank is full, he will need to open a hot water faucet somewhere in the house.

If you turn the water on, and do not bleed the air out of the heater, the air compresses and prevents the tank from filling up.
 
Baked said:
I know copper is used in plumbing 'cause it has the best heat retention/cost ratio.
Click to expand...
wtf? No it doesn't. Copper is a horrible thing to use for pipes because it conducts heat like crazy; hot water running through them is cooled off by air around the pipes. Newer installations use plastic because plastic acts like an insulator.


Anyway, your thing is not working because he turned the thermostat down. My parents replaced their water heater last year and the installer guy turned the thermostat to minimum so it wouldn't turn on while he was working on it (it's disabled in several other places for safety reasons). Turn the temperature back up and you'll be good to go.
 
I will try to turn up the thermostat on the water heater 1st then. Thanks for the tip.

Update: Found the problem. The plumber set the top thermostat to medium and the bottom thermostat to off. I adjusted both to hot and pushed the reset button. We'll see what kind of water I'll get tonight.
 
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I've been living in same house for over 15 yrs now. I've had to fix the hot water heater (HWH) several times. After checking the breakers, have a look at your thermostat. In almost every instance I've had to fix the darn thing it's been the thermostat. The element(s) has never yet burned out even once.

If my HWH stops working, the first thing I do is use a simple voltage tester like this:
http://www.professionalequipment.co...ls-line-voltage-tester-ct101/circuit-testers/

Pull the cover off the thermostat (remove a few screws). Use the voltage tester to make sure you have elec power coming in to you HWH. The little LED lights up if there is elec power. (You can also unscrew the plate, usually on top of the HWH, and check the elec line coming in at that point.)

If there is no power coming in, check to make sure the breaker hasn't kicked or there isn't a burnt-out fuse somewhere in between the HWH and the breaker box.

If power is coming in, make sure your thermostat is turned up high, then check the wires going in to element part. If the thermostat is 'on' but no power is going to the element(s), it's your thermostat that is the problem.

If there is power to the element(s) but it's not heating, then your element is bad.

Once you're familiar with the HWH heater, this takes only about 20 minutes or less and the tool costs just a few bucks. It's fairly simple. Before you replace the thermostat or element (if needed) turn off the power at the breaker box.

Oh, and before pulling the element I suggest turning off the water service to the HWH and draining the water level in it to a point below the element. Otherwise you'll have a mess to clean up. Be sure to turn the water back on to fill the tank of the HWH BEFORE restoring the power. If the element is not submerged it can burn up quickly and you'll have to replace it again.

Good luck.

BTW: There are numerous DIY sites with pictures etc., just google.

Fern
 
rdp6 said:
I once had this happen in a rental house. Replaced the element, waited a while for the water to heat up, still no hot water. Thought all the breakers were fine, then discovered that there was another panel on the house's exterior (WTF?). All looked fine there, too, but it turned out that the breaker had tripped but didn't switch off fully (again, WTF?). Cycled the breaker and all was well.

Too bad it took 2 days to figure all this out / get landlord support. Winter water is very cold, even in San Antonio.
Click to expand...


OP, it's one of three things: breaker, element, or thermostat bad/set too low.

rdp6: a lot of brands of breakers are like that - a tripped breaker doesn't go to the "off" position. It has to be turned off, then reset. One reason is for this: "gee, who turned off the breaker" vs. "uh oh, something tripped the breaker; there might be a problem."
 
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