Testing Your Water Heater

Moving beyond the shower head, let’s determine if the water heater is defective. Make sure there are no appliances using hot water for at least a half hour to make sure the water has a chance to completely heat to the set temperature. Next, plug the bath tub and turn the faucet all the way to hot. Monitor the flow and when the water starts turning cold, turn off the water faucet. If your bathtub is about 1/3 full, (standard tub size is about 120 gallons) your water heater is more than likely doing its job and there are no problems with the heater.

If you do not get at least 1/3 tub full of water, it is possible that the dip tube inside the water tank is defective and mixing cold water with hot water. The dip tube is a pipe that extends to the bottom 1/3 of the tank and where cold water enters. Hot water is forced out of the top of the water tank away from the cold water entry point. If a bad dip tube is the problem, you can simply have that replaced.

Another check you can perform is to verify that there are no sediments at the bottom of the tank. If you live in an area with hard water, it is possible that sediments built up at the bottom of the tank. This build up prevents the gas heater from coming in contact with the water and can dramatically reduce the transfer of heat from the heater element to the water. Sediment is not so much of a problem with electric systems. You can also flush your system to alleviate sediment problems. Sometimes the electrical element can be encrusted with sediment and if this is the case, the element may need to be replaced or cleaned.

About the only time you need to replace the water heater is when it leaks. At that point, the damage is too great to repair and will become worse with time.