3 Most Common Hot Water System Repairs
When your hot water system breaks down, it's vital to find out what is wrong with it so you can get it fixed as soon as possible. A good local plumber can diagnose the problem and recommend a solution. Here are three of the most common types of hot water system repairs.
1. New Dip Tube
The function of the dip tube is to carry clean, cold water into the lower part of your water heater. The heat source transfers heat to the water, causing it to heat up, lose density and rise to the top of the tank. This movement creates convection, allowing the whole tank of water to heat up.
Dip tubes are one of the parts of a hot water system that most often fail. When this tube splits or cracks, the result is cold water dumping into the upper part of the tank, which ruins the convection cycle and results in water not heating efficiently.
The most common sign of a broken dip tube is water coming out of your water heater lukewarm rather than hot. Fortunately, it is a relatively simple and inexpensive task for a plumber to remove the broken dip tube and replace it with a new one.
2. Replacing or Repairing a Faulty Burner
Gas water heaters rely on gas combustion to create heat. A faulty gas burner does not allow gas to flow freely, which can result in the flame going out and the water failing to heat up.
Watch out for the pilot light regularly going out, and call a hot water service who can repair or replace the damaged burner. Do not ignore this problem by simply relighting the pilot light each time it goes out as problems with burners can lead to gas leaks or incomplete combustion, which produces dangerous carbon monoxide.
3. Fitting a New Heating Element
Electric water heaters do not have burners. Instead, they contain heating elements, which can burn out. Depending on how many heating elements your water heater contains, this problem could result in the water not heating up at all or failing to reach the desired temperature.
Never try to replace a burned-out heating element yourself. This repair requires a skilled professional to open up the water heater, identify and remove the damaged heating element and fit a new element to replace it. Making a mistake with this kind of repair could lead to a dangerous electrical fault.
For more information about common hot water heater repairs, contact a local hot water system repair service.