Methods of repairing water heaters at home

Water heaters are indispensable helpers in everyday life, but the operation of these devices is not eternal, like all household appliances. The causes of breakdowns can be very different: the water heater is clogged by sediments due to water hardness, burned out heating element and others. You can solve the problem in the service center, but many are interested in the question of how to repair a broken water heater at home?

Household appliances for water heating

About a third of the population of Russia use various types of boilers as the main heating water - these include not only residents of the private sector, but also homeowners of country cottages, as well as simple tenants in urban high-rise buildings. The water heater is considered the simplest device for rapid heating of water: in catering establishments they are used to quickly produce large volumes of hot water for various needs in the range of 60–90⁰C. This allows you to qualitatively wash dishes, vegetables, fruits, carry out preventive treatment of workplaces for cutting meat products and various outbuildings.

1. By constructions water heater can be desktop and floor placement, attached to the wall of the room.
2. By duty cycle they are divided into units of continuous or periodic action.
3. Heating elements they can be electric heaters, gas burners or water vapor.

In many city apartments, the source of hot water is gas water heater, with which tenants quickly heat water and use it for their own needs. Due to the poor performance of the central hot water supply, many tenants install a large-capacity electric water heater - a boiler of at least 80 liters, which is enough for a small family. Such a boiler is equipped with quite powerful heating elements that heat water and maintain the optimum temperature set by users.

There are no reliable household appliances in the world - repair of water heaters is considered by experts to be an integral part of their mode of operation. There are problems that each user can solve by himself, but there are those when you simply cannot cope without the participation of an experienced master. At home, you can carry out minor repairs boilers and water heaters, in more complex cases, it is better to contact a professional.

Storage boiler

Before starting small repairs of various brands of boilers, the home worker should know device installed device. As a rule, the cumulative boiler consists of the following elements:

1. The temperature sensor shows the amount of water and its temperature. The running arrow and the scale are the basic elements of the simplest instrument, but modern expensive units can have a digital panel. If this part breaks down, the functionality of the device is not disturbed.
2. The thermal insulation layer ensures a constant temperature inside the product.
3. Pipe selection - with its help, the heated water enters the home pipeline system.
4. The outer casing can be made of metal or plastic.
5. Tank - stainless steel tank, wall thickness not less than 2 mm.
6. TEN - an electric heating element.
7. Supply pipe - through it the tank is filled with cold water.
8. Magnesium anode protecting tena from possible corrosion.
9. Thermostat or thermostat. It is with its help that automatic heating of water takes place, in budget models two such devices are used, more expensive models use three thermostats. These parts are not repaired and must be replaced with similar parts for all specifications.
10. Sealing gaskets are installed at the junction, they are responsible for tightness, when worn they change to new ones.
11. Electronic boards control the heating of water, control all the functions of the water heater.

Flow type heaters have a similar device, but they do not have a tank, and the heating elements are more powerful in order to quickly heat the water. Therefore, the repair of such water heaters will be easy to do with your own hands.

Flow type water heater

Malfunctions and methods for their localization

When the smell of burning appears, when a loud bang was heard or a crackling sound, which is uncharacteristic for quiet operation of the product,unplug the water heater immediately and start the methodical troubleshooting. Most likely this burned out heating element - it must be replaced, it will not be possible to fix it. How to clean the heater from scale in the home there is a detailed video:

Little hot water

Sometimes when the boiler is turned on for the first time, there is a lack of hot water. This happens because they mixed up the inlet and outlet nozzles. Repairing such a malfunction is very simple: swap them and the flow of heated water increases.

LED is off

If the device is connected to the mains, but the light is not on, and the boiler does not heat the water, then use the special device to check the presence of the heating element voltage. The ohmmeter must be connected to the wires, if the heating element does not respond, then it must be changed.

When the voltage is there, but still does not work TEN - then replace thermostatbecause it is not repaired. If it is working, we warm up its case - the relay will open the circuit, the connected tester will fix it.

In this video, an experienced master shows a phased repair of a Polaris boiler:

Tank leakage

Experts attribute this boiler failure to common failures.Repair is not performed - it depends on the objective reasons:

• it is impossible to separate the tank from the outer shell;
• it is impossible to make a leak on two shells - the outer enamel coating and welding will spoil it.

If your model does not provide for the replacement of the tank, and it has flowed, then you need to buy a new boiler.

When water is leaking at the bottom of the connecting flange, a working boiler can be reanimated by gasket replacement, but it is necessary to acquire absolutely identical in order to reliably localize the leakage.

Heated plug

When asked why the plug heats up, there is a simple answer: this is a very powerful product, and the socket may have less power. The plug heats up due to loose contacts, which is easy to check visually by removing the cover.

Heated water supply pipes

This is the first signal - not working. check valve, even though by name, it must stop the leakage of hot water. Perhaps when installing it installed the wrong side. Try to turn the valve over - if the device will work normally, leave it so, if it fails to replace it.

Gas water heaters

To make at home the repair of any gas water heater, you need to know what parts it consists of, and the principle of its operation.These devices look like a kitchen cabinet, only made of iron and enameled. Inside there are gas burners and a heat exchanger, there is a water and gas supply at the bottom, as well as a hot water outlet pipe. Water is heated after opening the faucet in the bathroom or in the kitchen: the gas valve to the burners opens, the piezoelectric element sets it on fire. While burning, the gas heats the water circulating through copper pipes outside the heat exchanger. All products of combustion are discharged through the chimney.

All similar devices are divided by type of ignition:

• manual control - are less and less common mainly in the houses of old buildings;
• with piezoelectric element - activated with the help of a button;
• electronic.

The first option - this is a deep old. First, turn on the gas, then manually light the ignition device, open the water and move the gas flow adjustment knob or a special rotary valve to the desired position. To use such a column, you need to know the order of switching on and off - otherwise you can burn the heat exchanger.

Today, the population uses safety columns made according to the second version or fully automated,when the user simply opens the hot water faucet in the mixer.

Electronic control performs all actions. without user intervention. Automation detects a pressure drop in the product: gives a command to supply gas to the burners while simultaneously generating a spark, the ignition device is triggered, and then the process proceeds in the same way as in devices with manual control. Shutdown occurs automatically, it is only necessary to shut off the hot water supply - the pressure inside the heat exchanger is restored, the gas supply stops and the electronics switches the column to standby mode.

In products hand operated according to the second variant, the ignition device works constantly, so the re-start will be in automatic mode, but before that it is necessary to set the desired mode by turning the rotary mechanism to the desired division. Preventive repair and cleaning of the heat exchanger can be done independently, but if the electronics fail, it is better to call a gas column wizard - it will be cheaper than buying new household appliances.