Please do not attempt to repair your own water heater unless you are a qualified technician The information below, for assorted water heater problems assumes that the water heater was properly installed and was operating correctly before any problems developed. This is just a general guide to the most common water heating problems to help make you a more educated consumer.

No Hot Water
For Gas Hot Water Heaters:
Remove the inner and outer burner access covers and Check to see if the pilot light is lit.

* Caution: Many modern water heaters no longer use standing pilots. They use electronic ignition to ignite the gas. Do not attempt to manually light an electronic ignition system.

If the pilot light is not lit:
Attempt to re-light pilot light following the instructions posted on your water heater. Or click here for instructions. If the pilot light will not re-light, the problem could be a clogged pilot line, or gas is not reaching the water heater. Call for service.
If the pilot light will light but does not stay lit when the gas valve control is released the problem could be a defective or loose thermocouple, or perhaps a faulty gas control valve. Make sure the thermocouple connection to the control valve is tight.

If the pilot light is lit:
Turn on a hot water tap and let the water run for several minutes. Check to see if burner comes on. If not, run the hot water several more minutes. If the burner still does not come on, the problem could be a defective control valve/thermostat.
Check to see if the control valve knob is in the "on" setting and not set to the "pilot" position.

For Electric Hot Water Heaters:
If you have no hot water from an electric Hot Water Heater, first make sure the breakers are on. Otherwise it is most likely either a bad upper element or thermostat, or it is off on a high limit safety. Some water heaters have a reset able safety switch at the upper thermostat. Usually requires removing access panel.

* Caution: High Voltage connections are behind access doors. Turn off all power to the appliance at the main panel before removing panel. Use caution when removing panel and double check connections with a volt meter. If you are unsure how, then you shouldn't be attempting this.

Once confirmed that the electric is off, see if the red reset button has popped out. If so try resetting it, you will hear a click. Then re-install panel cover and reset the breaker. You should hear the unit start to charge. Keep in mind, that if the upper limit opens it is usually because a thermostat stuck closed and it will do so again, requiring changing.

Insufficient Hot Water
Check the thermostat setting, it may be set too low. Check for leaking faucets. There could be a dip tube problem. If the dip tube has broken or fallen off, incoming cold water will be drawn out through the hot water outlet without being heated. You really shouldn't try checking this yourself.

Other possible causes are clogged burners and low gas pressure, which also require a service call.

Slow Hot Water Recovery
Sediment buildup in bottom of heater, flushing the water heater may help. Other possible causes may be insufficient combustion air caused by insufficient ventilation, or improper burner operation.

Discharge From TP/Relief Valve
The relief valve will open if either the water temperature is to high or if the pressure gets too high. If the inlet to the water heater is fed directly from the water main with no pressure relief valves or check valves between them, then when the water is heated and it expands, the extra volume of water simply flows back toward the water main. If however there is a blockage such as a check valve or pressure reducing valve with a defective bypass then the increase in water volume has no where to go and the pressure with increase dramatically. Placing an expansion tank in the line at the inlet will give the increased volume of water someplace to go and prevent the relief valve from opening.

Another possibility is that the City water pressure has increased above the setting of the relief valve. Again the installation of an expansion tank can help solve this problem, at least with a minor to moderate increase in city pressure. A significant pressure increase will still cause the relief valve to open.

Pilot Light Won't Stay Lit
Sometimes a draft will blow the pilot light out. Make sure the burner access covers are in place. Other possible causes are dirt in the gas line, loose thermocouple connections, or a defective thermocouple. For more on this problem, click here.

Popping Or Banging Noise
Scale can build up in the bottom of the tank causing all sorts of noises to occur while the water heater is heating water. Try flushing the tank.

Hot Water Smells Really Bad!
Certain types of bacteria can react with the magnesium anode rod resulting in a rotten egg odor. Clean the tank using chlorine bleach or changing the anode rod to aluminum usually will solve the problem.