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Plumbing problem or hot water heater?

Ever since a guy came out to fix my hot water heater, I have grimy black stuff coming out of the tub faucet, but it seems only with the hot water. What could this possibly be? The guy was here months ago, and it has not gone away, should I let the water run til it is gone? It has diminished a bit, it seems almost like something is burned., like maybe plastic. He said that it was just debris from the hot water heater, and that it would go away, but has not. And it is only in the tubs, not in the shower anymore, probably cause i use it alot. I have a Home Buyers Warranty, I hope it covers plumbing, and I did tell the guy about it but he said it was sediment, but it is black, does not make sense, so... I guess I may be stuck paying for it.

Public Comments

  1. DO YOU HAVE A WELL? IF SO WATER TABLE PROBABLY LOW. IF NOT I WOULD LOOK INTO THE WATER HEATER.
  2. It should have cleared up from a month ago....I have no idea what the problem is. I have 7 water heaters and never a problem like that
  3. If it's not in the shower anymore, I would let the tub water run for awhile to see if it clears up. Does it happen in the bathroom or kitchen sinks? If it does, do the same there to see if the problem clears up. You might have to flush your water heater too. There is a faucet on the side that you can do this with but make sure you hook it up to a hose and drain it either into the bathtub or outside since there will be a lot of water.
  4. Your water heater has a hose outlet. Hook a hose to it run the hose outside, turn on the water and flush your tank for about ten minutes. That will remove all the sludge from the bottom of the tank.
  5. Sounds like to me the dip tube inside the water heater has melted or burned off. The dip tube takes the cold water down to the bottom of the water heater so the hot water goes out first when you open the hot water faucet. The reason you only have it in the tub is because there is no screen on the tub faucet like there is on all the other faucets. I bet all the aerators on the faucets are plugged also. The way to fix this to go and buy a new dip tube. It is a plastic tube about 1/2" around and about 3-4' long with a flare formed into the top of it with a rubber washer around it. You will have to shut the water off and bleed the pressure off of the water heater. Next, remove the fitting on the COLD inlet side and dig out what is left of the dip tube. Install the new dip tube with the flare up. Screw back on the COLD water inlet fitting and turn the water on and check for leaks. Then you will need to unscrew all the aerators on all the faucets in the house and clean them out. That should fix your problem!! Good luck!
  6. Drain the Water heater at the Spiget on the bottom of the heater- for 5 minutes, this will get rid of any sediment, Open the pop off valve for 30 second, gets rid of gunk that accumulates there, Now, if you only get this at the Tub Faucet and not the Shower or other hot Faucets, its in the Valve itself- no other way this could be. It maybe coming from the Anode rod- they come apart with age- that is a rod that kills oder from the water.
  7. Some water heaters have a magnesium anode rod. Its purpose is to stop elecrolytic deterioration of the water heater. It may have to be replaced.