4 Signs Your Water Heater Needs Repairs

When your water heater malfunctions, this can be frustrating and inconvenient. A malfunctioning water heater adversely affects your household livelihood by disrupting essential chores like bathing, dishwashing, and doing laundry. Discover some warning signs your water heater needs repairs.

1. Inconsistent Water Temperatures
Fluctuating temperatures stem from several plumbing system components and can cause more severe problems if you do not rectify them on time. For example, you could experience inconsistent water temperatures because your heater is smaller than the shower and the main water supply line.

To ascertain if the size of your heater is the problem, turn on one faucet and then open the water source quickly. If the water temperature changes after this, you likely need to change your current heater to a bigger one. Moreover, another common cause of fluctuating water temperatures is faulty pressure valves.

Typically, when hot water suddenly turns cold, this is likely a problem with the pressure valves. Therefore, if you ascertain the size of the heater does not cause the problem, get professional repairs for your pressure-balancing valves.

2. Reduced Hot Water Pressure
Whether low hot water pressure has slowly built up over time or suddenly happens, it is a problem that usually results from several plumbing system problems.

For instance, when you notice low hot water pressure throughout the house, the problem is likely from the water meter valve. If the water meter valve is partially closed, you will automatically experience low hot water pressure from sinks to showers. However, if the problem stems from a partially closed water meter valve, turning the pressure valve completely open should resolve the issue.

Nonetheless, reduced water hot pressure also results from aging water filtration systems or open faucets and sprinklers. So, if you ascertain a partially closed water meter valve has not caused the problem, you will need repairs for your filtration system and to ensure your faucets and sprinklers are always closed.

3. Hot Water Leaks
Leaks can result from several heater problems. For instance, too much hot water pressure in the heater creates steam that fills it up. When this steam fills up the heater and has nowhere to go, the water pressure increases.

When this happens, water enters the heater at high pressure, leading to leaks due to overflowing. Still, leaks can result from water heater pressure and temperature valves problems. These valves maintain pressure levels within the heater tank. When they have issues, they fail to balance the constant pressure, and temperatures inside the heater tank lead to leaks when pressure is too high.

Therefore, you will need repairs for the pressure valves to reduce inconsistent pressure changes.

4. Cloudy and Awful-Smelling Hot Water
Smelling hot water can result from two possible culprits. This can be due to the accumulation of sulfate bacteria within the heater tank or mold and mildew buildup.

Bacteria accumulation happens when warm water is left for too long in the heater tank. Similarly, when water is treated with chlorine, you will also experience smelly water because of bacteria accumulation. On the other hand, mold and mildew lead to smelling water when they rot inside the heater tank. So, when your hot water smells, you need repairs to eliminate bacteria, mold, and mildew.

Fortunately, identifying the above warning signs helps you repair your heater on time. Doing so helps prevent these problems from worsening and saves you money. However, while you can specify a few issues, professionals know better in identifying noticeable and hidden heater problems. As such, contact us at Mike's Plumbing for reliable water heater repairs at any time. We look forward to helping you.