Water Heater Repair in Milbank, SD
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Milbank's cold groundwater makes your water heater work harder
Your water heater runs nine months a year here, September through May. It is not heating the air, but the water coming into the tank is colder for those nine months, and on nights near 7°F it starts out close to freezing. That means longer burner cycles or longer element runs, and more wear on the parts that make the heat. A thermocouple or a heating element that has been working overtime is the one that gives out first.
Grant County has also had 52 winter storms and 46 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A power outage will knock out an electric water heater until the power comes back, and it usually does come back on its own. But a storm can still trip a breaker or damage a part, and a tank that will not heat after an outage is worth having looked at.
- 7°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 9 months
- September through May, the months homes here need heat
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why is my water heater leaking from the bottom?
- Most of the time this means the tank itself has rusted through, and once that happens it's not something that can be patched. Water expands when it heats, and years of that stress on the metal wear it out from the inside where you can't see it. It can also be a loose drain valve or a fitting at the bottom, and those a contractor can actually fix. Either way, shut off the power or gas to the unit and shut off the water supply, then have someone look at it before you run it again.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple, the small part that senses the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it wears out it can't hold that signal, so the gas shuts off even though the pilot lit fine a second ago. A dirty pilot opening or a draft in the area can also blow the flame out. This is a gas valve part, so it's worth having a contractor check it rather than relighting it over and over.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless unit are repairable. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger is common and can be flushed out, and igniters, sensors, and fan motors can all be replaced on their own without swapping the whole unit. A contractor can pull the error code the unit is showing and tell you exactly which part is failing.