I have a 1983 State Courier Water Heater Model # CV52 2R52. It still heats the water but the hot water runs out very quickly when you take a shower. It also takes longer to get hot water to the sink. What do you think I can do?

Question

I have a 1983 State Courier Water Heater Model # CV52 2R52. It still heats the water but the hot water runs out very quickly when you take a shower. It also takes longer to get hot water to the sink. What do you think I can do?

2 Answers

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Answer 1

You are one lucky water heater owner if yours is still "working" after 27 years. Have you ever drained it? It could be that it is full of sediment from your water. There is a tap at the bottom of most water heaters which allows you to drain it. Turn down or off the heat, open this tap and allow it to flow into the drain which should be in the same area. If the drain doesn't flow, I think you may be in for a new one, since the tanks are usually sealed.

Answer 2

I have a State CV 52 2RS2 water heater. It had a problem that the hot water ran out very fast when taking showers. It has two heating elements, an upper one and a lower one. My problem was that the lower element was burned out and not working. So it only heated the water in the upper part of the tank. After turning off the circuit breaker and disconnecting the wires from the heater elements, I checked the elements with an ohm meter. The top (good) one measured about 11 ohm, and the burned out one (bottom) was open. After replacing the lower element (needed to drain, and 1 1/2" socket to remove), and starting with 100% cold water in the tank, it would get the top hot in about 40 min, and then switch on the lower heater. (The design is that only one of the heating elements is powered at any one time). Now, after it gets fully hot, several or longer showers can be taken again.