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Have you noticed that your water heater isn’t able to produce the volume of hot water that it once did? One of the commonest causes of this is a broken dip tube, inside the tank. Replacing the dip tube is an easy and inexpensive fix. This shows a step by step example of this repair. Edit: Several people in the audience suggested that I missed the opportunity to install unions at the connection points, which would have allowed easier replacement of the water heater in the future. They are right about that and I would recommend that be done also.
This video is posted for entertainment purposes, and is not a comprehensive instructional guide. I am not a professional plumber, and so if you intend to do this yourself you will need to study this topic in more depth from multiple sources before trying it yourself. The accuracy of the appended information is not guaranteed, and you need to check your local plumbing code before proceeding with any attempted repair. Any misadventure resulting from your attempt to accomplish any plumbing repair is your responsibility.
These days, water heaters are much more poorly made, and it’s annoying they
don’t make it easy to extend their lives. Consumers make it worse by being
unwilling to put in the effort. And, the mark-up on a water heater is so
much higher than just a dip tube that professionals don’t participate in
maintenance either.
You missed the opportunity to install a union on your supply, which would
allow for easier servicing and future replacement.I like to use unions and
ball valves on both risers. This allow me to pull out the unit and flush it
outside with a garden hose if need be. Also young man, you didn’t wipe your
joints.~ Picky old plumber dude.esq.
P.S. It also happens to be the last wrench you used in the video
Do you always have to solder the pipes? Mine seem to be attached with a
bolt that is separate from the pipe.
That’s a kind remark, thank you James.
great vid! but i cant believe you put that saddle tap compression fitting
feeding your humidifier back on , it would have been the perfect time to
install a 3/4 inch tee fitting and then install a reducer to a 3/8 or 1/4
turn stop valve to tie that in giving you valve control of humidifier in
case of maintenance repair, which will never leak. That saddle tap
compression valve is a water leak waiting for you to go on vacation to
happen! just check insurance statistics why do leaks occur when we are on
vacation??? thats a great mystery! that kind of valve is what rent owners
use, plumbers never use these, too much of a warranty liability, ask any
local plumber about these that puncture pipe and compress over pipe with
rubber compression to stop a leak which has just been created, its a
redundant design, easy but not good for long term, please dont get
offended, it just looks like you like to do things correctly and that
surprised me
I suppose this is a pretty hopeless DIY if you have no clearance above your
heater? It’s in the crawl space with about a foot above the tank to work
with.
I just did this and the pipe was inside the heater. Any other idea why the
water just get hot for 15 min ?
Thank you for the very informative video on how water heaters work. I
learned alot from this video. Keep posting please.
Helpful video, thank you! Question – is it necessary to turn OFF the gas
completely for this? I’m about to check mine (13 year old AO Smith that
has recently not had as much hot water as it used to), but would prefer to
not turn the gas off completely. Can it just be turned to the pilot
setting and temp all the way down? Re-lighting it is a bit scary so I’d
like to avoid it if it’s not necessary.
Thanks so much for this vid. I have a 13 year old A.O. Smith unit from 2000
that wasn’t producing as much hot water as it used to. I really wanted to
see if it was the dip tube so I bought one for $4 at a local plumbing
supply store (couldn’t find one at any retail store). Also bought from Home
Depot nipples, a 24″ braided line with a Sharkbite connector, and a female
to female 3/4″ Sharkbite coupling. Had to cut the cold-in pipe, and was
able to get the old nipple out with a big pipe wrench. I looked in with a
flashlight and could tell it was cracked and in bad shape. I was able to
pull the dip tube out in once piece, although it was cracked/shredded from
top to bottom. I installed the new one and reconnected everything using all
the extra parts I bought (I really thought it all through beforehand –
exactly how I was going to hook everything back up). I’m very happy to say
we are now enjoying lots of hot water again!!
Is there a life expectancy for water heaters manufactured in the 90’s? Do
you think they will last longer than the ones manufactured in 2014 or so?
I have an AO Smith from 1996, will change both the dip tube and Anode rod.
I am kinda wondering if 25 years is “unheard of” regarding life
expectancy…………
Did your $10 dip tube come with the dielectric nipple, or did you re-use
the original?
I just came back from the hardware store, and the dip tube the man showed
me was just the plastic part. It had a flange on it (sort of like a sink’s
tailpiece) and man said to drop it into hole, insert supplied washer, then
screw old nipple in. Does this sound right to you.?
Also, very nice video. Good content. Well prepared and presented.
Bob
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We have hot water once again! When my
husband removed the pipe, there was not even a dip tube attached anymore,
just like in your video. We didn’t even have to cut pipes or anything, but
he did have to replace the top fitting because it bent when he removed it.
We had ordered a dip tube online from pexsupply.com (some time ago,
actually, but just this weekend had the time to perform this task, but
shipping was pretty fast, about 4 days) and had to cut a little of it
off…anyway, long story short, we have LOTS of hot water again vs. the 5
minutes of pretty hot then cold water! Hallelujah! Plus, I love the fact
that that big old water tank, which had nothing wrong with it otherwise,
will not end up in a landfill anytime soon. Ours is a AO Smith from 1997.
We could not have done it without your step by step instructions! Thanks
again, for the 4th time!
Thank you. That describes the symptoms exactly.
This video is very helpful so thanks for sharing. You mentioned at the very
end to watch leaks. So what if there’s leak coming out from the top? This
is what’s happening to my water boiler. I started seeing water coming from
the top by hot water pipe. Your help is appreciated.
Thank you…this helped me out a lot!
Excellent video! Subscribed…
This guy is a good teacher.
Thank you very much sir!
Dielectric Unions would be the best option ultimately. This allows you to
disconnect and remove the water heater much easier. Also you shouldn’t
mate copper to galvanized iron since they are dissimilar metals and can
corrode very quickly. Generally though that seems to occur more often if
you have a stray current going through your pipes.
I just replaced the dip tube
thank you.
are dip tubes on hot water heaters one size fits all?
This was a really fantastic video. Thank you for making it.