4 Common Water Heater Problems in Portland

Water heaters can be a little like your cousin Veronica, who competes in triathlons and actually prefers to be called Ronnie. What the heck are we talking about? Well, if you’re not paying very close attention, you don’t even know Ronnie’s injured until she shows up to your kid’s birthday party in a full-leg cast. Basically, what we’re trying to say is that water heaters can fail in sneaky ways. Like Ronnie, they can often be fixed up, good as new. Unlike Ronnie, who will probably live to be 120 on account of all of her green smoothies and homemade venison jerky, water heaters typically top out at 12. So, expect to replace them every once in a while — especially if you’re Ronnie. Now, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most common issues plaguing water heaters all across Portland and beyond:

There’s No Hot Water: This is a water heater’s purpose in life, so it’s a fairly large problem if it’s not fulfilling it. (And awkward, to boot.) If you have a traditional water heater, check the pilot light to make sure you don’t have any issues with gas before you give us a call.
There’s Just Not Enough Hot Water: While not as dire as a complete absence of hot water, this situation is still unpleasant. Wolcott’s expert plumbers can come out and take a gander at your system to figure out what’s up. Insufficient hot water is often caused by a too-small (or too-old) water heater, or a damaged thermostat. If it turns out that you need to replace your water heater, we may recommend upgrading to a tankless or “on-demand” model, which provides exactly as much hot water as you need, exactly when you need it.
There’s Water Outside of Your Water Heater: If your water heater is leaking, give us a call. When you do, be sure to let us know if you can see any rust or other signs of corrosion on the unit. That will give us an idea of where the leak’s located and how we may be able to fix it. Heads-up, though: Leaky water heaters often need to be replaced.
Your Water Looks or Smells Gross: These may not necessarily be water heater problems, but then again, they may. Bacteria in your water heater’s basin could make the water smell funky, and rust or sediment in the tank could easily make your water appear dirty. Both of these issues can sometimes be fixed by flushing the tank, but our experienced plumbers would be happy to get to the root of your problem — and fix it.

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