Electrical Repair Jobs Around the Home

Using Your Senses To Pinpoint The Need For Hot Water Repairs

Now that autumn has arrived in Australia, it is time once again to start enjoying a nice hot shower at the start or end of the day. With winter rapidly approaching, it is certainly not a good time for your hot water system to fail. To have hot water repairs completed before winter arrives, you need to first realise that your system is not operating as it should. Use your senses and these hints to take a closer look at your hot water system so that you can identify signs that it is failing.

Sight

The most common visual indicator that you need repairs is water leaking from the hot water cylinder. The water pools close to the base of the cylinder, and the leak can be caused by rust, cracks or failing valves connected to the tank. A leaking tank will quickly worsen over time, so it is not an indicator which should be ignored. An electrician needs to check the tank to make sure the escaping water is nowhere near any electrical connections, as this could cause an electric shock to occur.

Hearing

Things that go bump in the night are more likely to be your hot water tank than ghosts. A bumping sound coming from within the tank means that sediment debris has accumulated on the heating element. As the element heats up, the sediment moves into the tank, and that movement is what is creating the noise. As the sediment continues to build up, the heating element becomes less effective, so you need an electrician to replace it.

Smell and Taste

When you are in the shower and the water smells metallic, or when you drink a glass of water and there's a metal taste to it, then these are indicators to your senses that the inside of the water cylinder is rusting. The metallic taste is caused by the interior corroding and releasing tiny metal particles into the water. To fix this issue, the hot water tank needs to be replaced.

Touch

Finally, if you hit the shower and only receive minimal amounts of hot water or none at all, then this is the sign that something has failed. It may be that the fuse which controls the hot water tank has failed, or it could be that the heating element has burned out and needs replacing. Only an electrician can determine this for you.

Using your five senses, you can now take a closer look at your water cylinder and arrange for repairs to be done before the system fails completely.