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If you have no clue when it comes to hot water heater repair, whether that refers to electric water heater repair or any other type, you should know that there is still a lot you can do. If you have a hot water heater that is experiencing problems, you can take care of it yourself, without calling in a professional, by troubleshooting.

There are a few hot water heater repair problems in particular that are quite common, and the possible causes and solutions will be discussed here in more detail for you.

Rust Colored Water

One of the most commonly experienced hot water heater repair problems is rust colored water. If you ever see rust colored water coming out of your tap, obviously you realize that there is a problem. Now the issue is finding out what you can do about it.

There are two concerns here, two possibilities as to what the problem could be. One is corrosion occurring inside the glass lined tank, and to determine if this is in fact the problem, all you have to do is take a look inside the tank and look for corrosion, or rust. Another possible cause is that the sacrificial anode rod is failing, and the purpose of the anode rod is to dissolve slowly to prevent rust in the tank, so obviously if it were not working properly you would most likely end up with an overload of rust and therefore rust in your water.

Rotten Egg Smell

Another commonly experienced hot water heater repair problem involves a rotten egg smell. This is probably one of the most difficult hot water heater repair problems to deal with because you have to smell this awful odor.

Most likely this is caused by a buildup of bacteria in the tank and to fix the problem you would want to try flushing the water heater first. Then you want to use a hydrogen peroxide solution of 2 pints 3% peroxide to 40 gallons of water, and then treat the tank and run some of the solution into the water lines.

You want to make sure that you allow the peroxide solution to set in and give it a couple of hours at least to do its job. If the problem persists, you can try replacing the anode with a zinc-alloy anode.

Remember that if you are ever having serious problems that you just can’t seem to solve yourself, there are some great water heater repair professionals out there.

You will usually be able to tell when you need a professional for hot water heater repair. However, if you think that you can troubleshoot and fix the problem yourself when it comes to water heater repair, this is a great thing and can definitely be done. Here are a few water heater repair tips that will surely help you out.

Gas or Electric?

First thing first, as before you can go ahead and tackle any water heater repair problem, you are going to need to determine whether your water heater is gas or electric. This will be the first step that you will need to take, after which everything will make sense.

Prepare

Also before you go forward with any water heater repair problems, you want to prepare safely for the job by doing the following. First you want to turn off the power to the water heater. Then you want to turn the gas pilot control valve to the pilot setting and shut off the water supply so you don’t end up with water spraying everywhere.

Open the nearest hot water faucet, and then attach the hose to drain valve. Now you can start working and performing the required water heater repair.

Troubleshooting

There are certain problems that are usually quite easy to troubleshoot. For instance if no hot water is being produced, the possible cause may be anything from a faulty gas pilot, faulty gas thermocouple or faulty gas pilot control valve to a faulty electric thermostat or faulty upper electric heating element.

On the other hand if it is rust colored water that is your problem, the possible cause may be corrosion occurring inside the glass lined tank, or sacrificial anode rod failure.

Possible repairs for this problem would typically include replacing the sacrificial anode rod with magnesium anode rod, and anode rods are available from almost all plumbing supply houses.

As you can see from this, most times you can fix a water heater on your own, but there are going to be some situations in which this would be impossible and where you have to call in a professional. If this happens, you just want to make sure that you check out the different companies that are available and ensure that you are choosing a reputable, reliable one that is going to offer you a great deal.

You should really never deal with the newer companies because you can never really be sure of their reputation.