Originally Posted by Joe Seahawk (Post 9393122)

Go Tankless.. You will not regret it..

Originally Posted by Frosty (Post 9571856)

I started draining and flushing mine once a year and it seemed to help a lot. It's going on 10 years on the current tank, despite our really hard water.

Originally Posted by R8ers (Post 9571897)

electric or gas?

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9571909)

Interesting, thanks!

The first hot water heater was defective (GE). GE offered to pay for the parts but not the labor and since it was not working too well anyway, I chose to replace it for not much more than the cost of the labor.

This last summer, we noticed that the hot water wasn't lasting as long, so I turned up the heat and it's been fine since. But my contractor of ten years believes it's just a quick fix due to sediment buildup since replacing it in 2007.

I'll look into a flush, although it may not be feasible to due to the drain emptying onto a flagstone patio with a polyurethane finish. I'd be concerned the sediment and whatever might stain or remove that finish.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9571909)

I'll look into a flush, although it may not be feasible to due to the drain emptying onto a flagstone patio with a polyurethane finish. I'd be concerned the sediment and whatever might stain or remove that finish.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9571914)

Are they better now? I looked into having a couple installed back in 2007 and everyone I spoke to advised against it.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9571914)

Are they better now? I looked into having a couple installed back in 2007 and everyone I spoke to advised against it.

Originally Posted by A Salt Weapon (Post 9571955)

I've put in over 100 over the last 4yrs without a complaint yet. My boss and predecessor have put in multiple hundreds going back 10 years, in 4 years I've maybe worked on 15 of them probably less. That's in a pretty harsh climate as well. All Rinnais. I've repaired a shitload of bosch/poloma/myson/rheems/etc and there's not many of them sold here and none by us.

If you go Rinnai, you'll be very happy, another brand who knows.
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Originally Posted by Frankie (Post 9571799)

Any list of trouble shooting (before calling a plumber) on a Water Heater that goes cold quickly?

Originally Posted by AustinChief (Post 9393172)

ok, it still could be sediment that came from the tank and now is blocking each outlet. Easy check for that is to just remove the shower head (super easy) and see if the pressure returns at that one spot. Assuming it doesn't, my next step would be to shut off the cold water into the tank, disconnect it and put it in a pitcher, turn it back on and see if the cold water coming in to the tank has pressure. If so, you pretty much know the problem is in the tank.

OH, one last thing. When you flush the tank just connect a hose to the tank then run it to a drain/sink but I would recommend putting a fine strainer in the sink so that if there is sediment you can see exactly what it is. Will make the next steps much easier if you know.

And of course you should shut off the gas to the heater to be safe.

Originally Posted by Flachief58 (Post 9572011)

If the heater is over 8 years old, you may as well buy a new one since it's at the end of it's life expectancy. Otherwise, buy a rebuild kit that includes both elements and T-stats, TURN THE POWER OFF, drain the heater and swap out the parts, re-fill the heater then (and only then) turn the power back on. Done deal...

Originally Posted by Frankie (Post 9572022)

It's about 11 months old.

Originally Posted by NewChief (Post 9572018)

This. Also if you have older pipes, they could be blocked with sediment. I had this exact problem. Replaced my lines under the sink with new ones and put a new faucet in. That was 5 years ago, and I'm still on the same hot water heater without problems.