Hot Water Heater Failure

I recently began to have small white flakes appear in the aerator of my kitchen sink faucet. Then it started in the bathroom tub faucet. When my husband took the faucet apart to see if something was blocking it, a roll of something which looked like, and felt like a single thickness of rolled up plastic, which crumbled in my hand as I tried to unroll it. Can you tell me what this is and how to solve my water flow problem.

Theresa,
It sounds like the dip tube in your water heater has disintegrated. This was a common thing a few years back. It is fairly easy to fix.

Can my water heater fail due to the water service being shut off?

Terry,
No.

Is there really any such thing as a hot water heater? Why is it that we need to heat hot water anyway? Is it not already hot to begin with? A water heater or a cold water heater maybe, but not a hot water heater.

Kyle,
If I told you why the column was titled that way, I would have to kill you. :->

In the past few days I have started noticing a "greasy black sediment" in my drinking water cups that contain tap water (we use county water). Since this started, I make sure that the interior of the cups are clean before putting tap water in them.

I suspect that the hot water heater may be starting to fail as this is more noticeable when I use the kitchen faucet after the family has taken showers in upstairs bathrooms.

Our water heater was installed in 6/92, and has never been flushed out.

I called our local county extension service and they recommended that we have the water heater checked before having the water tested.

Do water heaters emit sediment when they are failng, or do you think this could be related to something else? (We had the interior polybeutelene pipes replaced with copper in 2002).

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

GB,
Yes, I believe this is your heater.

Tim -

We're having the same corrosion problems on our water heater... just about 3-4 years old. Could it possibly have anything to do with having a whole-house water filtration system and the salt that the system requires?

Thanks!

I replaced the temperature/pressure relief valve on my hot water tank because water was dripping out of the overflow pipe. Within a week the new valve started dripping. Any suggestions and remendies to solve this problem besides hiring a plumber? I turned down the thermostate when the new valve was installed.

I will be leasing my home at the end of the month and moving out of state. My water heater is from 1994. I am not having problems now - but I am considering replacing it. I am worried that the bottom will corrode. Will it start slowing leaking - or will the bottom break open?

I have a well and a water softner. The water pressure has diminished substantially especially the hot water. I'm also having some rusty water coming through on the cold water line. It starts out clear then will be rusty and then it will clear. The water heater is approx. 20 years old. I'm wondering if it is the water softner, water heater or something with the well system (pressure switch, tank, or pump).

What I am thinking is that the old RR Steam Engines got plugged up with gypsum (white sands). The railroad pipelined mountain water to use to avoid the task and cost of cleaning the boilers.

We install water softeners in our homes and the water improves as far as soap use and rinsing, laundry and bathing. The salt content passing from the softeners mess up pipes, valves and health of individuals on low sodium diets (heart trouble & high blood pressure). The salt soft water can not be used in evaporative coolers or spas......

We got our softener and our hot water heaters still fill up with gypsum. They become inefficient at heating water and the energy bill goes up. My assumption is water softeners do not remove gypsum.

I am trying to find out for sure if Gypsum is a different mineral than the water softeners are designed to work with. I have not been able to get clarification.

Common salt flush water softeners are supposed to remove calcium and magnesium.

Gypsum is calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H20).

Does the common water softener break calcium (Ca) out of the gypsum and if so, what is created or remains to plug and foul the hot water heaters?.

How common is this problem? If different equipment is needed or supplemental equipment is needed no one is talking at least not yet.

Is removing gypsum cost prohibitive?

Hi,
Doing some plumbing here and stupidly shut off the cold water supply to my hot water tank while it was reheating(propane).
When I realized what I had done, I stupidly turned on the water supply again. The water was boiling at this point.
The water heater failed. Now the water comes out the top of the heater at the exhaust chimney port.
Q: Do I need a new water heater or can I repair it? Thank you?

I have a ge20p6a waterheater that seems to all of a sudden not be drawing electricity it is about 4 years old and we have very hard water it was working fine and the just stopped heating the water it does not act like it is drawn electricity but I have check the breaker and all the wires and they have the proper amount of electricity flowing could you tell me what else could make it behave this way.

Thank you

I have the same situation that Jessica has except that I use potassium instead of salt. Does "soft" and "purified" water accelerate corrosion? How do I fix the situation?

I have noticed that our water is not as hot as it used to. I turned up the heat on the water heater (a natural gas unit) but I did not notice any significant difference in the water temperature. Could this be a sign of an imminent water heater failure? Ours id 6 years old.
Thanks.

what cause my gas propane hot water tank water inlet and outlet line colasped

Brown water is coming out of the hot water faucets. Cold water faucets run clear. Could the hot water heater be failing?

Can you tell me why my cold water pipe going into my gas hot water heater is terribly corroded at the junction with the water heater, and the hot water pipe 6 inches away is as good as the day it was installed?
Heater repair guy says $1500 for new gas hot water heater!! What did the corrosion to only the cold water pipe?

i have a gas hot watr heater have the pilot light lit but no hot wter?

My hot water system is making cracking noises like it wants to explode. I've opened the release valve but the problem persists.
Do I need a new one or do I need a new system?

Thank John

I recently replaced my hot water heater. However after about a month I noticed there was crystalized white stuff all over the bottom of the outside of the tank. It so happens I have a water softener that uses salt. Well, I had no idea how or if was even possible for salt crystals to form on the outside of the tank, espcially since there was no sign of moisture or a leak from my softener (other than a drip from where the fleck valve connects to the softener. It just didn't make any sense. So I called the plumber to replace the tank and when they did they found tons of the same white stuff coming out of the water heater. Since this was a new heater, the only thing I can figure is that salt from the softener got into the tank but HOW?? Doesn't the softener only use the brine to clean out the resin tank? Well I changed out the softener on the same day just to rule out a defective softener, but I'm at a lost as to how this happened and if I can try to prevent it in the future. Even the plumber had no idea other than maybe when the softener was regnerating at 2am, someone flushed a toilet and it drew out the brine into the tank. Is that even possible. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
-Phil

Oh I forgot to ask another question...after the plumber changed my hot water tank, we opened up a few faucets to let the air out of the system, but later that day, i flushed a toilet and it sounds lie a hammer was hitting the pipes (machine gun style). Could that cause any damage and if so, what do I need to be looking for to make sure that doesn't happen again? thanks
-Phil

My mother's house has been unoccupied for about nine months. When I was there today, there was no hot water. Do you know of a reason for this? I'm been checking the house regularly, but guess I haven't checked for hot water, until today, that is. I know her hot water heater is not too, too old.
Thanks

why does the pressure in the expansion tank need to be equal to the pressure in your hot water tank?

what problems can unequal pressure cause?

J,

Have you checked the pilot light in the water heater? Maybe it went out in the nine months the house has been unoccupied.

We had our gas hot water heater replaced about three years ago. The plumber added an expansion tank and told me to periodically check it by tapping it with a screwdriver. It should have a ringing sound when tapped but if it became a dead clunking sound, he said that meant the expansion tank had failed. It is now making that clunking sound when tapped for the past few months. I've not noticed any ill effects. What are the risks associated with a failed expansion tank.

thanks for the input on hot water tank failure......an expand tank i use and it worked......please remove my name from list failures...

I just had my water heater start leaking this weekend and it had to be replaced; our house is only 5 years old. It is a 50Gallon Natural Gas unit. We are on city water and have a water softener. The plumber noticed that we have a "Cold Water Ground" that was run from our circuit breaker to the nipple of the cold water supply (the ground was not attached to the copper pipe but the non-copper fitting on the water heater). The plumber said that this was not the correct way to run an Cold Water Ground and he fixed it. Could this improperly run ground wire have sped up the corrosion process because of the increased current? I am thinking about contacting the builder to get reimbursed for the cost of replacing the unit. Is it worth my while?

A month ago I had to replace the lower heating element on my whirlpool water heater now the top element started leaking and was causing a short and popping the breaker, I purchased a tester and found the upper thermostate was also bad, now both upper and lower thermostate and elements are good but still no hot water can you help

My hot water heat started leaking on top. It leaks at the coupling on the hot water outlet side of the top of the tank.

How can I fix this? I used the current pipe fitting (male x male reducer) and removed the old pipe tape and put new on it. But it still leaks. Any suggestions?