30 Gallon Hot Water Heater not heating water

jesssica

We have a 30 gal Mor-Flo Hot water heater... and the water gets plenty hot but running it with cold water for a nice warm temp it doesn't even fill half the bathtub up. Keep in mind this is a trailer, and we have small bathtubs, but still we should be getting more than that. I am really tired of running out of hot water. Any suggestions?

JuzRick

its not an electrical issue from the circuit side.. For it does heat up. It sounds as if your heating element is about gone out.. Or could possibly, possibly be the temperature thermostat. Without physically accurately troubleshooting it hard to diagnose.

How long has it been doing it?

HOW OLD IS THE HEATER?

md2lgyk

Does the water heater have two heating elements? One may be burned out. They aren't difficult or expensive to replace. But if the heater is more than ten years old, I'd replace it entirely.

jesssica

It is supposed to have two. only one is connected due to the fact that the lower one had caught fire at some point. highly upset. but thanks for the advice. just don't see the safety in replacing a element in a place where it had once caught fire.

rjniles

If only your top element is working you will only get 10 gallons or so of hot water. You need to either replace the bad element of replace the water heater.

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NiNe O

If dip tube is broken, cold water will enter the heater and exit immediately.

Javiles

smallest tub takes 66 gallons to fill do the math. water temp x distance to tub x water temp drop x mix = ? never happen you'll need a bigger heater checking all mentioned in this post will help and cranking up the temp, 30 gal you only have 28 gallons of usable hot water

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AllanJ

This is enough to tell the whole story regarding your question.

Actually if only one element works, you get more hot water if it is the lower element that is still working (and the heater is rewired to not switch to the dead upper element) although after a long water draw it takes longer before hot water is available again.

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tylernt

Correct, the wires leading to the burned element have probably been compromised. If you can replace those wires without replacing the whole water heater, that might be a cost effective solution IF the water heater is less than 6 years old.

If the wire can't be replaced, and the heater's still less than 6 years old, there's a neat thing called a thermostatic mixing valve that you can install at the water heater. This valve lets you safely crank up the thermostat, which gives you more hot water, but without the danger of people getting scalded.

I dunno how much a new 30g electric water heater costs vs a mixing valve, though. It may be more cost effective to just replace the water heater. And if the heater is more than 6 years old, just replace it... unless you have unusually good water quality or have replaced the anode every few years, it's probably about to leak anyway.

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