Alright, my water heater’s acting up again and I’m running out of ideas. It’s a gas one, about 8 years old, and lately it’s been either lukewarm or just straight up cold. Pilot light’s on, tank fills up fine, but the hot water cuts out after like 5 minutes. Flushed the tank last month (or tried to—got a bunch of gunk out), checked for leaks, and even replaced the thermostat last year when it was doing something similar.
Is there something obvious I’m overlooking? Like, is there a weird valve or filter somewhere that likes to clog up? Or maybe the dip tube? I’ve read about those breaking but never actually seen it happen. Kinda tempted to call someone but if there’s a simple thing I can check first, I’d rather try that. Anyone dealt with this before or have any weird fixes that worked for you?