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Gas Hot Water Heater question

15 years ago

Do natural gas hot water heaters wear out? I have a 83 gallon Rheem heater that was installed 9 years ago. As I recall when we first got it we had plenty of hot water almost all the time. Now after one 15 minute shower it runs out - I was thinking that with gas there would not be any heater elements to wear out. Is this normal? If not would you suggest replacing it with another gas heater or moving to a tankless water heater that a friend suggested? Thanks for the help.

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Comments (7)

daveplumber
15 years ago
probably full of sediment,but check your thermostat to see where it is set at, if its got sediment u can usally hear a rumbling sound coming from tank when u have hot water onclose valve to tank and unscrew the drin valve at bottom of tank,open water vavle and blow all sediment out you prob have to put screw driver in there to poke at the sediment to get it going good luck
frodo_2009
15 years ago
dave is right..9 years is a long time with o maintance
I think you have gone to long,and that trying to get the sediment out at this time,will be a waste of time
replace the heater...but..this time..
replace the plastic drain with a 3/4x6" brass nipple and a 3/4"full port ball valve with a hose thread on one end
and..pick a date of the year,,like abe lincolins b-day
or valentines day..and drain and clean out the water heater
every year...
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randy427
15 years ago
Another consideration is the diptube, internal to the water heater, that brings the incoming cold water directly to the bottom of the tank. If the tube has failed, cold water is being added close to the hot water outlet, rather than going down to where the burner will heat it.
The only way to check this is to remove the cold water connection, and remove and inspect the tube.
johnhenryfla
Original Author
15 years ago
What about the replacement unit? Is the tankless the answer or should I get another gas water heater? Thanks again.
daveplumber
15 years ago
tankless are good but can be expensive and also break in time so the choice is yours for now but they are more green freindly so to say,try to wash it out,but like the prevous guy stated that could be all you need too ,the dip tube carries cold water to bottom of htr and hot water rises out of top so if it melted off your cold water goes in and than right back out because it is not being taken to the bottom of heater"heat rises" ,and if your tank aint leakin in can be fixed fairly cheap with a lil work
frodo_2009
15 years ago
tankless is a whole nether ball of wax..
need info for that..how many people,how many baths,
your water usage habits
checking the dip tube is a good idea..worth it to do
if you decide to swap out heaters, pull and drainthe old first, pull the tube out..if broke go buy another
if noy go buy another heater..this way,you dont drain and disconnect twice..save you some time and aggrevation
mail a ck to my house !!lol
jakethewonderdog
15 years ago
Okay, something isn't right here.

If you had a 40 gal water heater and after 9 years you couldn't get a 15 minute shower, I could buy that. But an 80 gal water heater?!?

Do you have multiple shower heads or otherwise move a large volume of water?

A broken dip tube or a thermostat issue could cause this problem, but if you tell me that you don't have multiple shower heads, I'm hesitant to conclude that it's sediment.

I'm a big fan of gas tankless. They save about 39% on water heating costs, take up less space and don't run out of hot water. Of course they are more expensive and require proper sizing.

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