Water Heaters: Five Reasons Why You Should Get Maintenance Regularly

Jun 29
07:43

2012

Antoinette Ayana

Antoinette Ayana

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

Water heaters are often prone to many different, common maladies most of which are easily fixed. This discusses five of the more common problems and what to do if they occur.

mediaimage
Have you ever experienced this scenario? It's the coldest day of the year,Water Heaters: Five Reasons Why You Should Get Maintenance Regularly Articles and you're late for work. You just stepped into the shower, soap all over from head to toe, and voila! cold water begins to pour all over you like Niagara Falls! Needless to say, water heaters can and do seem to fail at exactly the wrong moments.

Let's take a look at some common problems water heaters have and how to avoid them.

1.The pilot light. Failure is extremely common. It's gone out and nothing you try will relight it. There are two quick things you can check that may cause this issue. First, make sure there is enough oil or gas in the tank. Secondly, check the fuel valve as it may have been accidentally turned off. Electrical parts of water heaters wear out, plain and simple. If the other two issues are not the problem, then you need to call a repair service.

2.The heating coil. Burn out from corrosion often occurs on electric water heaters. The good news is that a repair service can easily replace them.

3.The thermostat. Now back to your cold shower problem! If your water is way too cold or extremely hot, it may be the thermostat. They can fail, be damaged or just need a little adjusting. One other possibility is that the flue of water heaters can become blocked thus causing improper air flow. Be extremely careful not to neglect this issue if it happens because uneven fuel burning can be dangerous. Have a service repair technician clean the flue regularly. And, he can replace the thermostat if necessary.

4.Pressure relief valves. When these fail to work properly, they can either show up as a small leak or a big one. If it's a little one, you may just discover a small puddle of water surrounding your heater unit. If it's a big one, that could be the reason you've suddenly become Frosty, the Snowman, in your shower! When either of these two scenarios happen, it's time for a replacement. It'll never correct itself, and you'll never get to work on time!

5.Weird noises. Sometimes water heaters act up and try to draw attention to themselves by making strange noises. When they do, nine times out of ten, there's sediment that has built up in the tank probably from heating element failure or corrosion. You may be able to correct the problem by draining the tank but if not, it's probably a good time to think about replacing the entire unit altogether. Keep in mind, water heaters usually only last between 5-10 years at the most.

Your water heater works hard everyday to make sure you and your family enjoy comfort all year long. It's the wise homeowner who does all they can to ensure it works properly. With a little preventative maintenance, you'll never find yourself all lathered up and bothered again.