WHAT IS DIP TUBE FAILURE?
A dip tube is a plastic tube in your water heater that brings the cold water into the bottom of the water heater, near the heating element where it can be more efficiently heated. This allows the upper part of the tank to hold only hot water and prevent incoming cold water from mixing with existing hot water. Many of the dip tubes manufactured between1993 and 1997 were made of an easily compromised plastic increasing the number of dip tubes that are now deteriorating. (See figure 1). When the dip tube breaks off, it improperly allows the cold water to discharge into the top of the tank, quickly cooling the hot water. It also allows plastic particles to spread throughout the water supply system, and lower the water volume.
