Water heaters are always taken for granted until you have no hot water.

Just because your water heater looks shiny and new does not mean it is in good working order.Too much pressure in the system causes many systems to fail prematurely. And you need to drain the tank every once in a while to remove sediment. It’s good practice to keep an eye on your water pressure every so often to make sure you are not stressing your old water heater.

Inadequate maintenance on your heater will cause it to fail too. You must keep the anode rod replaced every year or two depending on the hardness of your water and you have to watch your dip tubes too. They break and get caught up in the piping and can cause intermittent hot and cold water that will drive you crazy.

Go down to Home Depot or Lowes or Ace and buy a small pressure gauge in the sprinkler section for around ten bucks and you can determine the operating pressure on your water heater.

If you look down at the bottom of the heater you will see a valve that is similar to an outside spigot.

Some water heaters have plastic valves and some have brass. Simply screw the gauge on it snug so the washer seats against the spigot and look at your pressure reading. Be careful though because the plastic valves have a tendency to break and often times will not shutoff after not being used.

If your pressure is more than 80 psi you need to most likely have your pressure reducing valve replaced. If you ignore it you will be replacing not only the prv but soon you will be replacing the heater as well.

What happens is, over time, you have sediment build up from scaling and hard water deposits. Tese collect in the bottom of the tank causing excessive weight on that glass liner.

When you add pressure into the equation something has to give and usually it is the tank.

Sometimes it will not burst the water heater , instead it will leak from the relief valve to release the pressure. If that happens then you definitely have a pressure problem.

I have told people time and time again that the underlying pressure problem will need to be addressed prior to repairing the relief valve. Some people just don’t listen and it costs them twice as much. Water heaters are kind of like a car that gets driven until the wheels fall off in far too many situations.

If you have to progressively turn the temperature up on your water heater to get everybody bathed in the house. It is a good sign that you have either a broken dip tube or a large build up of sediment in the tank.

It very well could be both. Turning the heat up as opposed to calling a plumber is going to cost you more in the long run.

The best thing to do if you are experiencing this problem is to replace the heater.Repairs on a water heater that old are not worth sinking the money into anyway.

Most heaters installed in a new house are only six year heaters anyway and there is a reason it says 6yr water heater on the tank.If you have a six year heater that has never been maintained then why spend money on repairs?

Water heaters are not designed to just set there and make hot water. They are a functional part to your plumbing system that rely on other factors not even related to the actual heater itself.

A good maintenance plan can prevent most premature water heater failure and proper installation from the beginning will ensure a longer lasting heater. Call a professional before you experience problems and it will save you tons of money.

I cannot count the phone calls where somebody had a family member that thought he could do it and should have just left it alone because he was clueless.

Do you think the guys at Home Depot or Lowes know about water heaters?

Guess what? They don’t,if they did they wouldn’t be working there.

They don’t even know where or what the parts are half the time much less how to install or maintain a water heater. Call a professional plumber.