Technical Faults of Bathroom Water Heater & Their Solutions
The Work of a Bathroom water Heater
The water heater has become part of modern bathrooms because of the comfort it creates for the user. It has become necessary for modern buildings to equip their bathroom with water heaters to help balance the differences in the change of weather which can possibly change the choice preference regarding the temperature of water some may need for bathing.
What is a Bathroom water Heater?
In case you are yet to understand what a bathroom water heater is, it is the voluminous cylindrical tank usually hung on the wall of the bathroom. The work of the water heater is to heat up water and store the temperature for a long time while it is being used for bathing and other domestic purposes.
The water heater can supply hot water to the kitchen, pasting sink, and other areas in a building through suitable piping arrangements. This really makes it a very important home and facilities equipment where hot water will be useful.
The use of a suitable water mixer in bathrooms enables hot water from the water heater to mix appropriately with incoming cold water to obtain the actual temperature needed by the user during bathing.
Designs of Bathroom Water Heaters
Normally, by design, the water has a heat-retaining casing inside that helps to keep the heated water hot even when the power supply has gone off for a long.
The tank casing of some of the popular types usually has total sealing of the whole body except a small opening below it which is fitted with another component that supplies power and heat to the tank.
The unit also forms the vital area where the entire interior of the tank can be accessed. It is not advisable to try pooling out that unit except if you are an expert in handling bathroom water heaters.
We will show you how you can handle any of the faults coming from the water heater without actually accessing the interior.
It is no longer a surprise that sometimes, the bathroom water heater can get worse and become faulty or stop working entirely. When such occur the water coming from its flowline will not be hot or may only remain warm instead of becoming hot.
Due to varieties of problems associated with bathroom water heaters, there is no single solution except if we start to pick the problems one after another.
Common Faults in Bathroom water Heater and their possible solutions
Below are the common faults you will likely notice in your bathroom water heater:
- The unstable flowing of hot water
- Flowing of Coldwater
- Flowing of Warm Water
- Flowing of unclean water
- No flow of water
- Defective thermometer
- No retaining of hotness
Let us discuss each of the faults carefully and highlight their possible solutions. However, before attempting to carry out any of the solutions listed here, ensure that you have all the right tools for the job and avoid tasking risk by using the unsuitable tool in handling the bathroom water heater.
- Unstable Flowing of Hot water
This can happen when you have many tabs opened and are using the hot water from the bathroom water heater at the same time. It could be the hot water tap in the kitchen running simultaneously with the one in the bathroom. The result is that the heated water at each moment leaves the heater and flows into any of the tap pipes while the unheated or insufficiently heated water follows it.
The easiest way to solve this problem is to open one tap of hot water at a time.
Another possible cause of this problem is opening the hot water tap immediately after power has been supplied to the tank without giving time for the tank to get filled with water and get heated by the heater. In this case, you need to allow the tank to get filled and its water heated to a suitable temperature before opening the hot water tap.
2. Flowing of Coldwater
When your hot water tap is flowing cold water continuously even when the bathroom water heater has been ON for a long time, it is a sign of serious fault. It simply means that the water flowing into the tank did not pass through any heating process but rather flow through it and come out with the same temperature.
The possible causes of the problem are:
- Damaged heating element (the water heating element inside the tank)
- Damaged Thermostat (temperature control mechanism attached below or beside the water tank)
- The power supply switch has gone bad
The solution is to use a multi-meter tester and know the actual one among these three that has the problem and change it if you cannot fix it.
3. Flowing of Warm Water
It is normal to notice a continuous flowing of warm water from the bathroom water heater. The following could be the reason:
- Low voltage power is supplied to the heater.
- The thermostat has become faulty making it retain only moderate temperatures.
The solution is to simply the right voltage to the heater, if the problem persists then you will need to service the thermostat or change it with a new one.
4. Flowing of unclean water
Sometimes the water coming out of the hot water tap can be unclean. If this happens later stop. It could be rust in the flow lines and the tank itself. It usually happens if the tank remained unused for a long time.
The only solution is to allow the water to continue flowing until the dirt inside the flowlines and the tank comes out.
5. No flow of water
You should not be surprised if your hot water tap refuses to supply any water at all. This may not really be the water heater problem. Here are possible causes of such a problem:
- The cold water supply line is blocked or a valve has been closed.
- The hot water supply line is blocked or a valve is closed.
- The interior of the tank may have something blocking the water flow line.
The solution for this problem is to look out for any blockage on the supply lines of cold water and hot water. If everything there seems alright, then you will need to look for an expert to open the interior of the bathroom water tank to ratify any blockage inside.
6. Defective thermometer
The bathroom water heater usually comes with a thermometer fixed on the wall of the tank. The function of the thermometer is to inform the user of the temperature of the water inside the tank and help to maintain a certain temperature during the heating period.
When the thermometer stops working the following could be the cause:
The thermometer’s pointer has become stiff.
The thermometer sensor has gone bad and no longer receives the signal from the tank.
In any of the above causes, the solution is to simply install a new thermometer.
7. No retaining of hotness
Another fault associated with the bathroom water heater is the loss of hotness. Normally, a functional water tank heater can retain the hotness of water inside it for up to 20hours or even more. However, after the power supply has been seized and the hot water in the tank suddenly becomes cold in less than an hour or even two hours. It is a clear sign of a major fault.
Here are possible causes of the problem:
The temperature control and retaining system inside the tank has gone bad.
There could be a hot water tap opened somewhere that drains away from the hot water immediately while the cold water from the cold water line replaces it.
If the first situation is the problem, you will need an expert to open the interior of the tank and repair or replace damaged components. If the second situation is the problem, simply look out for the opened hot water tap and close it and the problem will stop.
From the above points, you can now be able to know the possible problems your bathroom water heater can give you and the best approach to address them.
Remember to use the comment section to give us your feedback regarding this topic and use the question and answer section to ask us any technical question you want us to address.
