Hot Water Problem
Hi, For the past year or so we have had a consistent problem with our hot water. You turn on the hot tap and it stays scalding hot for about 30 seconds, then suddenly cools down. Turning off the tap, waiting 10 seconds or so, and turning it back on again gets the scalding hot…
Hi,
For the past year or so we have had a consistent problem with our hot water. You turn on the hot tap and it stays scalding hot for about 30 seconds, then suddenly cools down. Turning off the tap, waiting 10 seconds or so, and turning it back on again gets the scalding hot water, but it soon cools down again.
I discovered that if I have the hot tap running (this happens in the kitchen downstairs and both bathrooms upstairs and downstairs) and I start a wash cycle from the washing machine upstairs, the water from the hot tap goes hot again instantly.
I had a plumber look at it a little while back and after $200 he thought getting a new washing machine would solve the problem. Something about back flow or cross flow of hot water? He seemed to think the washing machine was to blame, broken valve possibly. He didn’t actually check though.
Does anybody have an idea what might be causing this problem and how I might fix it? We are on the 3rd & 4th floors. Hot water heater is in the basement and is around 11 years old.
Thanks.
BKInite, you do know that when I hot water heater ‘dies’ it can be catastrophic, like turning your basement into a pool. 11 yrs is old, but the tanks are built and warrantied differently, 6, 8, 10, and 12 years. It’s usually the tank itself that fails, not the burner or control. I’ve seen hw heaters that are over 20 years old that are still working fine -Probably less efficient than a new one, but fine.
Try shutting the washing machine valves, per MP’s suggestion. If you’re getting the wrong temp in the washing machine, then that sounds like a good place to start. MP gets thumbs up from me and lots of other folks here for plumber recommendations.
If your 11 year old HW heater is still working, I personally would fix the cross-connection problem but wouldn’t replace the heater until it dies.
Bklnite, thanks so much for the info. I recall the plumber telling me that one of the valves on the washing machine might be faulty, thus pushing cold water back down the pipe? Not sure if this fits in with what you are saying.
Is there anybody recommended on here who I could contact to take a quick look at the problem and possibly do a hot water heater replacement? Ours is going on 11 years old. We got ripped off by the initial plumber unfortunately and ended up paying for him to fix something he initially broke.
Google “Hot Water Recirculation loop”
I believe Master Plvmber told me that NYC building code requires that if your longest HW run is more than 100 feet you need a recirculation loop, which is supposed to circulate cooled down water in the hot water pipes back to the water heater so you don’t waste water when you first turn on the hot water. A recirc loop can use gravity or a pump.
I had similar symptoms and capping the recirc line (so there’s no recirculating and the water has to run until it’s hot) made the problem go away.
For a visual look at the picture for Dedicated re-circulating Line here
http://gothotwater.com/D%27MAND/plumbing_layouts.asp
In my case the “Dedicated Hot Water Return Line” didn’t connect to a pump (as pictured) it connected to the water supply where it was supposed to travel one way to go back in to the HW tank. Cold water was going through failed valves (not pictured in the diagram that uses a pump instead of gravity) the opposite direction of the arrow on the HW return line, causing water to run erratically hot and cold in the hot water faucets.
Good luck.
Thanks MP. Supposing it is the washing machine (I will give what you suggest a go this evening) will replacing the machine fix it? One slightly strange thing, when I put the machine on a hot wash, cold water comes out and on a cold wash, hot water comes out.
It’s easy enough to check the washing machine. Shut one or both of the water valves (hot or cold) connected to it and see if your problem remains.
If you’ve got a cross-connection aside from that, know that they can be difficult to find.