No Hot Water; Calefone Appears Okay Though

[DoggiePaddle]

The piloto is lit, everything on the water heater (an old Orbis) appears to be fine. But the water will NOT get hot. This is happened all of the sudden - was working fine previously. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[La Fleur]

The piloto is lit, everything on the water heater (an old Orbis) appears to be fine. But the water will NOT get hot. This is happened all of the sudden - was working fine previously. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

You haven't said if the calefon fires up when you turn the hot tap on, or whether it just stays on the pilot light. If it is firing up, the hot water has to go somewhere, But if it is not firing up, sometimes it is because the water pressure is not sufficient to fire it up. This may happen because you have a problem with the tanques on the roof. Or if you are on the top floor it can be a regular but possibly intermittent problem (not enough gravity feed).

Another problem may be with the diaphragm inside the calefon. Fixing this generally isn't expensive, but you probably need a gasista to do it.

Is there any more you can tell us about the problem?

Good luck.
La Fleur

 

[nlaruccia]

The piloto is lit, everything on the water heater (an old Orbis) appears to be fine. But the water will NOT get hot. This is happened all of the sudden - was working fine previously. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Is the hot water turned off? There should be a knob, they call it llave, below or near the calefon that you can use to turn the hot water on or off. Example: water from my apartment is leaking through my neighbor's ceiling downstairs so he asked me to turn the hot water off, not the calefon, unless I'm bathing. You said the pilot is lit, but did you move the button over to the highest setting?

 

[Rich One]

Pls Call a licensed Gasista to fix your calefon....!

 

[Pensador]

Pls Call a licensed Gasista to fix your calefon....!

Great advice that propane if that is what it is is just well to risky.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I had a similar problem. The gasista (aka the guy with the paper bag of tools) showed up and "fixed" the problem. That night I heard a very strange noise coming from our kitchen while one of our kids was in the shower. Walked in and it sounded like a jet engine. The calefone was red hot. I dove for the llave (of course placed directly under said red hot jet engine) but was too late. There was a loud boom when one of the metal gas line fittings sailed across the room and embedded itself in the opposite tile wall.

We don't have calefones in my house anymore. :angry:

 

[Rich One]

I had a similar problem. The gasista (aka the guy with the paper bag of tools) showed up and "fixed" the problem. That night I heard a very strange noise coming from our kitchen while one of our kids was in the shower. Walked in and it sounded like a jet engine. The calefone was red hot. I dove for the llave (of course placed directly under said red hot jet engine) but was too late. There was a loud boom when one of the metal gas line fittings sailed across the room and embedded itself in the opposite tile wall.

We don't have calefones in my house anymore. :angry:

Calefones should be Outside...!!

 

[gpop]

The piloto is lit, everything on the water heater (an old Orbis) appears to be fine. But the water will NOT get hot. This is happened all of the sudden - was working fine previously. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Occasionally get that problem.
if it's not that you have a valve shutting off you hot water flow to your faucet, then try the following.

1. Check that the faucet aerator is not clogged ( if it is then there's not enough flow for the calefon to trigger heating), there may be gunk collecting from the pipes or water tanks.
2. if the faucet is far from the calefon, in the bathroom say, try running the hot water in the bathtub at the same time. Again, this could be that the length from the calefon is not creating enough flow for the calefon to sense that it should start up. You may need to change a rubber diaphragm in the calephon as this part gets old and has a harder time in sensing the amount of flow.

 

[garryl]

Calefones should be Outside...!!

1)first, no person is licensed to repair anything in Argentina.
2)The Calefones can be inside, but must have direct air intake, ie, sucking air from outside, just like in US.
In US, the intake is either from garage, crawl space or attic.
3)If you turn on water and pilot is on, a sensor is supposed to send a signal to ignite the combustion chamber,
you will see a big fking flame is up and running.

So in your case, either your water is clogged (which is unlikely), or your sensor does not send a signal
to "encender" the combustion chamber. In conclusion, you probably need to call someone or your landlord.

 

[nikad]

It must be the diaphragm, happened to me a few times. It is a cheap rubber piece, easy to replace. Ask your super for a reliable gasista.