Help: Hot Water Heater Question

[stingray]

Sometimes the hot water runs out too quickly during showering in the morning. Never had this problem before. Is the hot water heater going bad or is there a fix? thanks

[rj]

If it is electric ?, you probably have a bad element or thermostat, most electric heaters use 2 elements to heat the water, if 1 goes bad the other will still heat but not very well, running out of hot water early is usually a good indicator of a bad element or thermostat,usually the lower one goes first, that is the one that is used the most,, easy fix but how old is the heater? if it is 15-20 yrs old I would replace the whole thing.

some more info here

http://home.howstuffworks.com/water-heater2.htm

[gmoore]

might be a sediment buildup in the tank. if its electric it coulf be one of the elements gone or bad thermostat. gary

[stingray]

Thanks. Can't remember when I replaced the last one which tells me that it must have been some time ago. Probably time to replace it before it floods the laundry room.

Rich, I may stop by tomorrow to drop off the gas tank. Would have been by sooner but have had alot going on. Hope to see ya but will leave it near the barn if you're not there. See ya!

[Bill Swartz Jr.]

Just replaced mine two months ago. It was rated for 9 years and it was 16 years old. I started to get paranoid about when it was gonna cut loose on me. The bottom was all rusted from sittin' on the garage cement floor. Over the years I musta put a half dozen thermostats in it. The water would get so hot that steam would come out of the spigot and the safety valve never blew. It was a Sears.
I got my new one at Homey Depot. Installed it myself and it's workin' great. I raised it abouve the floor to stop it from rusting
You can buy an installation kit that'll make the job go real easy, No sweatin' pipes.
I hate messin' with old plumbin', don't you?
George