What to Check When You Have No Hot Water in Altoona

Hot water gives no warning. The shower runs cold on a Tuesday morning, or the three-bay sink at the shop will not come up to temperature, and the day rearranges itself around it.

Some causes take five minutes and a flashlight to rule out. A tripped breaker, a pilot that has gone out, a dial someone turned down over the summer. Others are gas, venting or tank failures that belong to a licensed plumber. Knowing which one you are looking at either saves you a call or tells you to make one now.

Riley, Inc. has done plumbing and heating in Altoona since 1933. Water heaters sit on our plumbing side, alongside interior gas line work, so the checks below cover gas tanks, electric tanks and the hot water that comes off a boiler.

Start by naming the problem

Three complaints get called “no hot water,” and they send a plumber to three different places. Work out which one you have before you do anything else.

• No hot water at all. Every tap runs cold, and stays cold. The heater is not making heat, or it is not getting power or gas.
• Hot water that runs out fast. You get five or ten minutes and then it goes. That is usually a failed lower element, a broken dip tube, or a tank that has silted up with sediment.
• Hot water that arrives discolored, cloudy or smelling of sulfur. The heater is still working. What has failed is the anode rod or the tank lining, and that is a different conversation about age.

One more test that costs nothing. Run hot water at a second fixture on the other side of the building. If one faucet is cold and the rest are fine, the problem is that fixture or its cartridge, not the water heater, and our faucet and leak repair work is what you want instead.

If you have a gas tank water heater

Look at the tank first, not the faucet.

1. Check the gas is on. Follow the line to the shutoff valve at the heater. The handle should run parallel with the pipe. If another gas appliance in the building is also dead, the supply is the problem, not the heater, and that is a call to the utility.
2. Check the control knob. It should be on ON, not PILOT and not OFF. It gets moved during other work and left there.
3. Check the status light. Many gas heaters have a small LED near the gas valve that blinks a fault code, with the key printed on the label. Count the flashes and write the pattern down. That code will shorten the visit.
4. Check the pilot, if the heater has one to check. Older units have a sight window. Newer ones have no accessible pilot at all. If yours has a window and the flame is out, the relighting instructions are printed on the tank. Follow them exactly, once. If it will not hold, stop. A pilot that goes out repeatedly is a thermocouple, a gas valve or a venting fault, and repeated relighting does not fix any of the three.
5. Check the vent. The flue should be seated, sloping upward, and clear. Rust flakes, soot, or scorch marks above the draft hood mean the unit is spilling combustion gases into the room. Shut it off and call.

If you have an electric tank water heater

There is no pilot and no flue, so the list is shorter.

1. The breaker. Electric heaters run on a dedicated double-pole breaker. A tripped one sits between ON and OFF. Push it firmly to OFF, then back to ON. If it trips again, leave it off. A breaker that will not hold is reporting a shorted element or wet wiring.
2. The reset button. Behind the upper access panel, under the insulation, there is a red high-limit reset. If it has popped, something made the water too hot. Press it once. If it pops again, the thermostat has failed and the tank needs a technician before it is put back in service.
3. The thermostat setting. Both elements have one. If the water is warm rather than cold, the upper element is probably still working and the lower one has burned out, which is also the classic cause of hot water that runs out in five minutes. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting a water heater to 120°F.

If your hot water comes off the boiler

Plenty of older houses around Altoona and Hollidaysburg heat water through the boiler rather than a separate gas or electric tank, either with an indirect tank or a tankless coil in the boiler itself. If that is your setup, no hot water in September is worth paying attention to, because you are about to ask the same boiler to heat the house.

Check whether the boiler is running at all. If it is cold and the house is also cold, you have a heating fault rather than a hot water fault, and the checks in our guide to a furnace or boiler that will not turn on are the right place to start. If the boiler is hot and the water is not, look at the circulator that feeds the indirect tank and at the aquastat. Neither is a homeowner repair.

Riley services hot air, hydronic and steam systems as well as plumbing, and the team includes factory-trained technicians for high-efficiency boilers and water heaters. A boiler failing to make domestic hot water is one call here rather than two.

Stop and call a licensed plumber if you see this

None of the following are worth another homeowner attempt.

• Water standing around the base of the tank, or a rust line down the jacket. A tank that has rusted through is not repairable.
• The temperature and pressure relief valve discharging, or dripping steadily from its discharge pipe.
• Water hot enough to scald coming out of a tap you did not turn up.
• A rumbling or popping tank. That is sediment boiling under the burner, and it shortens what life is left.
• A pilot or burner that lights and then drops out, over and over.
• Soot, scorching or rust above the draft hood on a gas unit.
• A breaker that trips again after one reset.

Repair or replace

The honest answer depends on the age of the tank, and the age is printed on it. The serial number on the data plate encodes the month and year of manufacture, and the format is published by each manufacturer. A thermocouple, an element, a thermostat or an anode rod is a repair at almost any age. A leaking tank is a replacement, always. Between those two, the question is whether you want to spend on a unit that is close to the end of its service life.

Our plumbers install, repair and maintain water heaters, and will tell you which of the two you are looking at. Ask for the quote in writing before any work starts. Our water heater installation, replacement and repair page sets out what each of those involves, including the gas line and the vent.

Who you are calling in Altoona

Riley, Inc. was started in 1933 by Charles D. Riley, during the Great Depression, doing plumbing and heating for Altoona customers. Three of his sons carried it on. A grandson is president today, with two great grandsons in service, which makes four generations of the same family in the same trade. The history is on our About page.

Every technician holds safety training certification, and Riley has been a member of the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. since March 1968. Our plumbing service page lists water heaters, interior gas lines, water and drain lines, fixture installation and leak repair, for residential, commercial and industrial buildings alike. Heating and cooling work sits on the HVAC page.

What to have ready when you call

A hot water call goes faster when you can answer five things.

• Whether it is gas, electric, or fed from a boiler.
• The brand, model and serial number from the data plate on the tank.
• The capacity in gallons, printed on the same plate.
• Which of the checks above you already made, and what happened.
• Whether the building is a home, a rental, or a commercial kitchen or shop, because the volume you need back is different.

Riley, Inc. is at 2701 Washington Ave, Altoona, PA 16601. The phone is (814) 942-6772 and the office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Outside those hours, send the details through the request a quote form and they will be waiting when the office opens.

If you have no hot water and the checks above did not move it, book the call. Request a quote or call (814) 942-6772.

• Category: Plumbing