Hot Water Heater Woes...

[HaRuMaN]

Strange thing... walked by my water heater this morning and it was making strange, hissing, bubbly noises.  Checked the water out of the tap....  super-freakin hot!  Needless to say, I cut the breaker to it...  I am thinking it may be a busted thermostat?  Anyone have any knowlege about these things?

[RacerX]

I'm by no means an expert, but your diagnosis makes sense.  I don't see any other reason it wouldn't shut off.

[missioncontrol]

yes sounds like the thermostat... They are not to hard to change out....

[HaRuMaN]

crap crap crap   there is a pinhole leak in the tank   what do I do??

[PacManFan]

Carefull with your hot water heater, Mine broke last year and flooded my basement.

I had turned down the water temperature becuase I went away on vacation. After I came back, I turned it back up.  Well, it turns out with older water heaters, any changes in temperature can cause the tanks glass lining to crack.

I would have been better off not touching it at all..

-PMF

[whammoed]

crap crap crap   there is a pinhole leak in the tank   what do I do??

Uh,oh.  Time for a new one.  Don't know if there are any suggestions for a repair, but any water heater i have seen or heard of with leak under warranty has been replaced and not repaired.  Usually when you see a leak in something like this, unless it is at a joint of some kind that can be re-sealed, more leaks aren't far behind.

[Floyd10]

Duct tape fixes all  

[J_K_M_A_N]

When I sold water heaters, almost all had a 5 year warranty. Now many have a 6 year warranty. If yours falls in the warranty, call a plumber. The elements can be costly. And a leak can be VERY costly. Good luck.

J_K_M_A_N

[HaRuMaN]

This water heater is fairly old...  it is a table top style, 50 gallon tank.  I patched the hole (for now) with JB Weld.  I hope it holds long enough for me to save enough money to buy a new one.

It's gonna cut into my MAME cab money!!!  

[SirPeale]

Don't replace it with a conventional style HW heater.  Get one of those that makes the hot water on the fly.  Should pay for itself in a couple years.

[whammoed]

Don't replace it with a conventional style HW heater.  Get one of those that makes the hot water on the fly.  Should pay for itself in a couple years.

depends:
Q:
"Will an instantaneous water heater save me money on my utility bills?"
A:
If your current water heater is electric, then yes. However your savings will vary depending on your local cost per KW hour.
If you're using propane, it might save you money. Again, it depends on your local propane cost.
If you're using natural gas, then probably not at this time (although natural gas prices have and are going up radically in some areas of the U.S.). You will save natural gas, but the extra money spent on a natural gas tankless water heater might not justify the savings at this time.

[Zakk]

Can't you just rent one from the utility?  Here in our igloos I would guess that 95% of our homes have rented water heaters.  If you ask people why they rent, they always say the same thing: "it's nice that if it breaks they come out and fix it".
Our water heater  developed a crack the entire length of some tube in there, so we were getting half assed hot water even though the tank was red hot.  A phone call and 12 hours later it was fixed and serviced for free...

That said, the heaters that Peale is talking about are great.  I have some friends from Europe, and I had no idea that they didn't have 'water heaters' over there as a general rule.  They were astonished that we would keep boiling cauldrons of water in the coldest areas of the house (usually the basement).  That's where I found out about the water on demand systems.   Great in theory, and I've looked at the systems (small enough to be hidden in almost any room), but I have yet to take the plunge and buy one.  

Food for thought.

[shmokes]

A pipe broke on a hot water heater owned by a lady at my work and started spraying the wall about five feet away and about six feet high.  It sprayed a hole in the wall and flooded their whole basement.  Sucks.  But spraying a hole in the wall was kind of funny.

[DrewKaree]

Don't replace it with a conventional style HW heater.  Get one of those that makes the hot water on the fly.  Should pay for itself in a couple years.

as whammoed sed, it will depend, but the odds are with you that it will save you money.  

The other benefit is that you don't have to worry about whether or not there will be enough hot water when running the dishwasher/shower/washing machine.

The downside is that there's a few seconds delay getting that water in the morning, as the water has sat in the pipes overnight and has cooled off, but that's with any water heater.

The costs you pay will also have to factor in the electrician you'll need to wire it in and install the heater.  If you can do it yourself, the tankless kind is DEFINITELY the way to go.

That JBWeld may last you another 150 years, but I have helped with 4 flooded basement replacements, and you DON'T want to "hope" it lasts.  If you're willing to "hope", start setting money aside NOW and replace it as soon as possible.