Water heater woes

Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
11,896
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Yesterday my wife was complaining to me that we didn't have hot water. We've lived in this house for about a decade but have never really noticed any issue with the water heater (ours is gas) until this day.

So I go down and check it, notice there's some leaking, and hear the sound of gas flowing. There was no smell of gas, and no particular heat coming from there. I wasn't sure what to do so I turned off both the gas supply and the water just in case something was failing, as well as the gas knob to off. It was a 1991 Kenmore branded heater, and there was a sticker on it saying that it was guaranteed to be leak free until 2001.

So today I figure I'd try it again. I take off the cover and remove the guard to see what's in there. The lighting instructions were on a label, but partially covered by a strap holding it to some pillars. I didn't quite get it right, as I found that it would only light the pilot if I pushed it down when turned to pilot. So the pilot lights and I hold it down for about a minute as the instructions recommended. So now the pilot is on but it's not doing anything else. I guess the pilot could have eventually warmed up the water, but this obviously isn't working correctly. So I just did the obvious which was to turn the temperature control, and it fires up immediately.

I figure it's about time for a new one, but money is a little tight for us right now. Any idea what might cause an otherwise working (although leaking) water heater to stop working? I didn't smell any gas when I initially checked, but I guess the pilot could have blown out. But could it have been something like a bad thermocouple?
 
The anode could be shot and you could gave a ton of scale buildup inside the tank.
The thermocouple could be shot too and the flame sensor could need a cleaning.

You could try and clean the flame sensor and change the thermocouple.

I'd say you got your moneys worth out of that tank. It's probably badly corroded inside, so it should be replaced soon.

Most tanks these days don't last 15 years.
 
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Your living on borrowed time. We are getting close to 30 yrs old.

Any money you spend will be money down the drain when you replace it.

If you do not replace it you should install a water leak detector to sound a buzzer if leak gets worse.

I am not a gas burner expert but certainly could be thermocouple.
 
My gas hot water heater quit heating a while back. The pilot light would go out, and it turned out to be that the very fine dust screen at the bottom of the heater under the burner was clogged with dust. It was not allowing enough oxygen into the combustion chamber to keep the pilot light lit. After cleaning the screen, all is well now.
 
A heater that old that is actively leaking could have the tank fail catastrophically and flood the area. Find the funds and get it replaced as soon as practical.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Did you turn the pilot knob to on after the pilot stayed on?

Yes. I held it down after lighting the pilot, and then switched it to ON. It was also a pain since I needed a flashlight to see the thing, but needed both my hand pushing down on the knob and my other hand carrying a lighter. I thought that it would have turned the gas on immediately once I switched it to ON, but only the pilot was lit. But just turning the temp control a little higher cause it to turn on immediately.
 
I had a bad thermocouple which the part was covered by the warranty, easy to install.

You have day, days, weeks before the hot water heater let's loose.
 
If the thermocouple were bad, the pilot would go out immediately after you release the knob. This is why you have to press the knob down to make gas flow while the thermocouple is cold. Once the thermocouple heats up, it powers a tiny electromagnet that holds the gas valve open as long as the pilot stays lit.

It sounds like the main thermostat in the control is refusing to fire the burner unless you turn the temperature dial up way past the actual water temperature. It is not economic to replace the control on such an old heater.
 
A 1991 water heater, it can let go any day now. I had to get one two years ago, went to Lowe's then had a bud of mine who can solder pipes install it (I can solder new pipes but never had success doing pipes with water in them and no, stuffing bread into them didn't work). This time I also got a tray that goes under the water heater and piped it over to a floor drain with PVC in case this one ever leaks. Did the same with the washing machine now that most of my basement is carpeted.
 
Doesn't really matter what is wrong with it now if it's leaking. When it leaks it needs replacing.
 
spend on something good. do research while you can.. before its.. "I need one now"
 
Originally Posted By: JohnnyO
A 1991 water heater, it can let go any day now. I had to get one two years ago, went to Lowe's then had a bud of mine who can solder pipes install it (I can solder new pipes but never had success doing pipes with water in them and no, stuffing bread into them didn't work). This time I also got a tray that goes under the water heater and piped it over to a floor drain with PVC in case this one ever leaks. Did the same with the washing machine now that most of my basement is carpeted.


The good plumbers have stopped sweating copper. They crimp the elbows or tees with a $3000 crimp tool.
 
If you get 10 yrs out of a water heater that is pretty standard. Anything more, and consider yourself lucky. Our house was built in 2003 and we replaced the original water heater last just last winter.

When out in the late afternoon, picked up a new one at Home Depot along with Shark Bite flexible steel hoses, nstalled it with my father-in-law, and we had hot water that evening.

Start saving up now, it’s only a matter of time. One of the joys of home ownership.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: JohnnyO
A 1991 water heater, it can let go any day now. I had to get one two years ago, went to Lowe's then had a bud of mine who can solder pipes install it (I can solder new pipes but never had success doing pipes with water in them and no, stuffing bread into them didn't work). This time I also got a tray that goes under the water heater and piped it over to a floor drain with PVC in case this one ever leaks. Did the same with the washing machine now that most of my basement is carpeted.


The good plumbers have stopped sweating copper. They crimp the elbows or tees with a $3000 crimp tool.


Those are Pex connections. Now you can just use shark bite fittings which are compression fittings. You don't need the crimping tools for those.

And yes, once a water heater leaks, it means it's rusted out and it's only a matter of time (days, weeks) before the leak gets worse. Also true about the temperature sensor, those can get tired after a while and just turning it is enough to get them working again.

Take measurements of the current tank and get one that's exactly the same so you can just swap it in. All you need is a pipe cutter to cut the hot and cold copper water pipes and some sharkbite push to connect lines. If the gas line lines up exactly with the old one, you can just connect and disconnect it although you may have to play with it or get a gas line kit with flexible hoses, you might not find one that matches up to a water heater made in 1991.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-3-...x24lf/202328866
 
I think he was talking about this ;

http://sporlanonline.com/zoomlock/

When I replaced the water main from the alley / water meter to the house , I used 1" white PEX , withe the brass barb fittings and the copper crimp rings . I had intended to " rent a PEX crimper for about $ 10 - $20 a day . Found out the rental tool only went up to 3/4" .

So , now I own a PEX crimp tool that has crimped exactly 2 rings . Something like this ;

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-Multi-Head-PEX-Copper-Crimp-Ring-Tool-Kit-23100/202032966

But it seems like I gave $ 115 - $ 125 for it , maybe a couple of years ago . Obviously not in the $ 3,000 price range , but the ZoomLock is a hydraulic tool and may very well run pretty close to that amount ?

Back to the water heater . Replace it NOW ! That thing lets go , it could be thousands of dollars of damages . And I do not know what your insurance deductible is . And your insurance carrier may balk over covering it , if they found out you new it was a disaster waiting to happen . And delayed .

Best of luck to you all , :)
 
I'm going to guess that if it's from the 90's he doesn't have Pex, just regular copper so all you need are those sharkbite fittings and you don't need any additional crimping tools. Those fittings probably cost a bit more per fitting, but for simple one time jobs, it's cheaper to just use the fitting than to buy additional tools which you probably won't use again. The sharkbite fittings just push right on, no solding or crimping or anything. You just use a special device which is around $1-2 to remove it.
 
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