Water Heater didn't produce hot water?

Q: My water heater suddenly didn’t produce any hot water. I knew nothing about my water heater. It’s been there since I bought the house 5 years ago. Where should I start for troubleshooting the issue?

A: http://homerepair.about.com/od/plumbingrepair/ss/trblsht_hwh_2.htm

Q: My water heater produced some white form of water a few months ago. I don’t know its exact age. But it must have some sediment in it.

I looked up the price of the electric water heater, I thought it may be more economic for me to replace with a new one.

Do you know which brand of electricity heater is both energy efficient and reliable? Where can I get good price (smart deal)?

A: FAST Water Heaters did a good job at my place.

A: I talked to FAST. They had Rheem Electric Heater in 66 Gallons with 6 years warranty quote of $819. (including basic installation). What do you think about the price?

The 50Gallons only cost $499.

A: If you don’t have any leaking, or rust-colored water, you might just need to flush sediment (and replace the anode while you’re at it!)

http://www.chilipepperapp.com/flush.htm
Note that all water heaters (both electric and natural gas) have a wear item in them – the sacrificial anode (a metal bar, usually aluminum or magnesium, that bolts into the top of the heater and hangs into it). It needs to be replaced every 3-5 years, as it’s designed to give its life to save the tank interior and prevent it from rusting through. If not replaced, your tank will go bad. Most 3 year and 6 year heaters are very similar, the 6 year might just have a longer anode, and perhaps slightly more insulation. Not checking or replacing the anode is by far the most common reason for water heater failure. Buy a 3-year warranty model (if you’re happy with the energy factor) and check/replace the anode regularly, and you’ll be fine for a lot of years.

http://www.chilipepperapp.com/ewh.htm
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/how_to/4206690.html

Re your prices etc, Rheem (like most makers) have a lot of different models in any given size. Most 50 gallon electric heaters are $250-300, and 66 gallon for about $100 more.

Here’s a Whirlpool 66 gallon with 6 year warranty in stock at the Lowe’s in Bellevue for $354. So that’s basically $465 they’re charging for delivery and installation. Seems a little steep.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=140467-135-E2F65HD045V&lpage=none

A: I tested the circuitry that had two power input to the upper Anode, it showed both nodes had power. And I tested the lower anode, only one side had power, the other don’t.

I chatted with a guy in Home depot. I was told that it’s either upper or lower anode is on, which is controlled by the circuitry. So, I guess upper anode is alright and lower anode is shut off by the controller. But even with one anode, it should produce some heat. So, it might have other problems that causes the issue.

Asking professional to repair, it’s $99 + any parts need replaced. I figured that the cost might end up close to replacing with a new one. My existing heater is made in Dec 98. It’s very close to retire age.

Regarding to the water heater, is Rheem a better brand than Whirlpool or Sears? The EF is different only by .2 (0.92 vs 0.90), but I don’t know which one is reliable.

Thanks a lot for your help, I am on learning curve of this water heater thing.

A: I think we’re confusing two things.

The anode should not be powered. It’s a sacrificial piece of metal (like anodes on the keels of ships) to ‘accept’ the corrosion, rather than other metal parts of your tank. It bolts into the top of the tank, and hangs down into the tank.

You seem to be talking about the two heater elements, which do have 220V power to them, but yes this is controlled by the controller, or more specifically, the controller in conjunction with the themostats, usually each element will have its own thermostat. Easy way to tell, run hot water from multiple taps until you get cold water, then you should have full power to heat up the water in the tank with both elements. Note that often only one element will come on at a time, usually upper first then lower (as warm water rises). So you might need to wait a while to check both.

Re reliability, Sears never makes their own, I don’t know who currently makes their water heaters. Both Whirpool and Rheem should be reasonable.

Oh, and re the ‘white water’, this could just be dissolved oxygen etc. in the water, that might have been under high pressure (esp. if you don’t have an expansion tank, and a large %age of the water in the tank was heated, as water expands when heated), then when it comes out of the tap, pressure lowers, and dissolved gases can expand. If this is from water out of the hot water tap, and it turns clear after sitting a little while, this is what it is, nothing to worry about.

A: The picture is clearer to me now. I eventually go with the a new tank. Part of reason is it’s quite old already and not efficient and part of the reason is lacking of confidence to operate this thing. After I watched the technician from FAST do the replacement and knew the exact procedures to drain the tank and purge the water, I am more confident to do this by my own in the future.

The guy from FAST suggest that the new Tank is a self-cleaning, meaning that it will clean it by itself. So, I don’t have to drain it every year.