Hot Water Heater Repair in Spartanburg, SC: Gas and Electric

On an older gas heater with a standing pilot, the usual culprit is the thermocouple, a thin copper probe that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it is safe to stay open. When it wears out, the pilot lights while you hold the button and dies as soon as you let go. It is a common, simple fix.

Most gas tanks built in the last twenty years have a sealed combustion chamber, known as FVIR, for flammable vapor ignition resistant. These use a thermopile or an electronic igniter and flame sensor, and they include a thermal cutoff that shuts the burner down if the chamber overheats or the air intake screen clogs with lint and dust. A tripped cutoff is a symptom, so we clean the intake and find out why it tripped before we reset or replace anything.

If the pilot is fine and the burner still will not fire, we look at the gas control valve. Many newer valves blink a status light in a coded pattern that narrows the fault down. A failed valve gets replaced as a unit.

A standard electric tank has two heating elements, each with its own thermostat, and they take turns. The upper element heats the top of the tank first, then hands off to the lower one. That sequence explains most electric complaints.

• No hot water at all usually points to the upper element, the upper thermostat, or the high-limit switch that sits above it and trips if the water gets too hot.
• A small amount of hot water that runs out fast usually means the lower element has burned out, so only the top of the tank is heating.
• A tripped breaker can mean an element has shorted to the tank. That element gets replaced, and we check the wiring before the power goes back on.
• Lukewarm water at every tap can also be a broken dip tube, the plastic pipe that carries cold water to the bottom of the tank. When it cracks, cold water mixes in at the top.

Water under a heater does not always mean a dead tank. The cold and hot connections on top, the drain valve near the bottom and the relief valve on the side can all leak, and each of those is a repair. On a gas unit, condensation on a cold morning can leave a puddle that dries by afternoon.

What cannot be fixed is the tank itself. If water is coming from under the jacket, out through the insulation, or from a rust line at the bottom seam, the steel liner has corroded through. That leak only grows. At that point the right move is to shut off the water and the fuel and plan a replacement.

Popping and rumbling on a gas tank is sediment: a layer of mineral and rust on the tank bottom that traps water under it, which boils and pops as the burner fires. A hiss or sizzle is often water hitting the burner. A ticking sound as the tank heats can be ordinary expansion in the pipes.

A rotten-egg smell that comes only from the hot taps is usually the anode rod reacting with bacteria in the water, and it is more common with well water. Swapping the factory magnesium anode for an aluminum-zinc one often clears it up. A rotten-egg smell in the air near the heater is a different matter entirely: treat it as a gas leak.

The temperature and pressure relief valve, the T&P valve, opens if the tank gets too hot or the pressure climbs too high. If it drips, something is pushing it open, often thermal expansion in a closed plumbing system and sometimes a thermostat that is not shutting off. We find the cause rather than just swapping the valve.

Most tank heaters last somewhere around eight to twelve years, depending on water quality, sediment and how well they have been maintained. The serial number on the data plate encodes the build date, and we can read it for you.

A thermocouple or an element on a five-year-old tank is a sensible repair. A gas valve on a thirteen-year-old tank with rust at the bottom seam usually is not. We give you both numbers, the repair and the replacement, and let you decide.

If an electric tank is the one that is done, a heat pump water heater is worth a look. Gas Guys is a Duke Energy Trade Ally, and when Duke Energy is your electric utility we can help you claim Duke's rebate on a qualifying heat pump unit. Duke sets the amount and who qualifies, so we check the current program with you first.