Hot Water Heater Repair - A Manassas Plumber’s Guide
Even in a stifling hot Manassas summer, a cold shower is not a desirable thing – but it winter it can be horrific! If a biting stream of ice-cold water ruins your morning, there may be a problem with your hot water heater. Either it’s broken or faulty, or you just haven’t switched the heater on correctly. Before calling out one of your local Manassas plumbers, there are a couple of nifty things you can do to see if the job is easily repairable on your own. With a little bit of DIY you could save yourself some of your hard earned cash. But be warned: only try this if you feel confident you know what you're doing.
Problems with the heater
The hot water heater is a home appliance that is often taken for granted - until it stops working that is. To learn how to fix potential problems with your heater we first need to know more about the anatomy of a hot water heater or boiler. The device is essentially a storage tank that holds and heats water - but it is slightly more complicated than that. A regular hot water heater consists of a hot water supply line, the tank, a gas vent and a cold water input line. For a hot water heater to work it requires a heating device, which is most commonly a gas fire, but it can also be electrically heated. A thermostat is also needed to regulate the temperature.
If you have not a single drop of hot water coming from your hot water heater, it is likely the flame has gone out or the thermostat is not working. Check to see if the tank’s pilot light has gone out; if it has then this means the flame has also gone out and you will need to relight it. Use a long match to relight the pilot light when the gas setting is switched to pilot (gas will only come from the pilot light source, not the entire fire). To check if the thermostat is broken leave a hot water tap running for a few minutes. The burner should light automatically if there is a sudden need for water to be heated in your home; if the burner doesn’t light, your thermostat is going to need replacing. This is a fiddly, tricky task, and it is recommended that you do not tackle this yourself unless you are an experienced D.I.Yer. In this scenario, contact one of your local Manassas plumbers to sort out the problem; they will be more than happy to assist you and they will be even happier if you haven’t blown up your house by trying to do a novice job.
If your shower runs hot for a while before running cold, there may be a build up of deposits in the tank decreasing the capacity of water in the tank. The tank can be flushed easily with a little bit of elbow grease, just follow the instructions that are provided with your hot water heater. There's no need to call out any Manassas plumbers when faced with this smaller problem – save them for the big jobs.
Sarah Saadoun works for HMS Plumbing, a family-owned business in Manassas, Northern Virginia. If you need Manassas plumbers, Herve and his dedicated employees at HMS are proud to be serving the plumbing needs of Northern Virginia residents and businesses. For reliable Fairfax plumbers HMS Plumbing is your first choice.