electric water heater woes

Forum Sponsor
I'm not a big fan of sharkbites.. They can always crap out on you. A lot easier to just sweat it with mapp. Using the blue stuff on wet lines is a real hassle, even though a bit of bread goes a long way :cool:
 
My experience is that when they start tripping the breaker, you have a bad element, but it's not completely shot. What has happened is the copper jacket on the element has rotted through and water has entered has entered between the actual heating element (probably Nichrome) and the copper jacket. This will cause the nichrome to corrode fairly quickly and then you will just not get hot water very quickly (assuming the other eelelment is OK). As mentioned above, you probably have a lot of scale and may have a real problem removing the element; don't worry about damaging the element as you pull it out since you're probably going to replace it anyway.
 
meester_jamie said:
the best way to check an element is with a clamp on ammeter... turn on the upper element,, clamp on red wire,, then the black wire,, compare the 2 readings, they should be the same. clamp on the cold water pipe. you should get zero current flow in the water pipe.
a bad element can short to ground, and bypass the temp switch,, it will be hot to neutral connection,, well,, hot to ground. so you will see current in the water pipe ground,, when this happens,, the tank usually overheats too. and the pressure relief will be wet or show signs of leaking.
If they are immersion elements,, drain the tank, have a wet vac handy, and pull out the bottom element, catch the water and lime with the wet vac .. if the element is buggered , it will probably take a bit of yanking to get it out,,, once out,, clean out the loose lime,, then install your new element..
good luck... a lot easier to install a new tank.. especially with ferule style compression fittings.. no soldering needed.
Click to expand...

i have two yellow wires going to the water heater... (well one yellow cable with 2 conductors)... which one do i test first?
 
Doesnt matter....They both carry the load.

Does the breaker trip as soon as you reset it or does it trip once in a while?

instant trip tells you its a short, while taking a while to trip shows a bad element thats pulling too much current. (on its way out...)
 
Red_Liner740 said:
Doesnt matter....They both carry the load.

Does the breaker trip as soon as you reset it or does it trip once in a while?

instant trip tells you its a short, while taking a while to trip shows a bad element thats pulling too much current. (on its way out...)
Click to expand...

usually trips after a while though the time can vary between 1/2 hour and a week.
 
Ok, so clamp around one of the two wires (not both) and get the amperage. Once you have it, compare it with the rated current draw of your water heater. If it's higher, you know it's the load and not the path leading up to it.
 
breakers do get tired and trip on high load appliances, its rare but happens. The problem is 95% gonna be the heater.
Its an old electric heater, don't bother with an element or trouble shooting, disconnect and toss it. It will rust through and leak shortly. Just get another unit and plug and play.
 
crankcall said:
It will rust through and leak shortly. Just get another unit and plug and play.
Click to expand...

That's my philosophy now..if you're not around, you can pump a LOT of water into your house before you realize it's leaking. O_o
 
i noticed looking at ct, hh and hd they didn't list elements in their catalogs, and talking to a pro it was suggested that replacing the element would just cause a leak so now the trick is deciding what water heater to replace with, i notice that my water heater has a pipe at the bottom and at the top and it's about 20-30 dollars more for that style over the ones with two pipes at the top... what's the difference?

also it's just me and some times my gf in a 4 bedroom house. is it worth while having a 60 gallon tank (what i have currently) or should i look at something smaller? hot water usage tends to be the dishwasher (3-4 times a week) and daily showers. I think my hot water heater is about at least 1/2 my electricity usage (don't get me started on the delivery costs).
 
CruisnGrrl said:
i noticed looking at ct, hh and hd they didn't list elements in their catalogs, and talking to a pro it was suggested that replacing the element would just cause a leak so now the trick is deciding what water heater to replace with, i notice that my water heater has a pipe at the bottom and at the top and it's about 20-30 dollars more for that style over the ones with two pipes at the top... what's the difference?

also it's just me and some times my gf in a 4 bedroom house. is it worth while having a 60 gallon tank (what i have currently) or should i look at something smaller? hot water usage tends to be the dishwasher (3-4 times a week) and daily showers. I think my hot water heater is about at least 1/2 my electricity usage (don't get me started on the delivery costs).
Click to expand...

New regs state that the maintain temp in the tank must be high enough to kill bacteria but the output temperature must be low enough to prevent scalds. This is done by a mixer valve on top of the tank. A plumber could give you more info on piping types and advantages..

Put in the plug in the tub next time you shower and guestimate the amount of water you use. Judge for yourself if smaller tank would work out. If it's stall, time your shower and measure the flow rate afterwards with a pail. Check your dishwater specs for usage. 60 gallons sounds big for what you describe.

Some RVs and boats have small 5 or 10 gallon hot water tanks and people still shower. I don't know if a point of use heater is worth looking at or how well they work.

Do you see any change in consumption in the next 5 to 10 years. Additional bodies etc,
 
Last edited:
A 60gal is enough for 5 women, 1 guy and 2 dishwashers. You'd be better off with a 40.
 
on demand heaters in an electric configuration will be A; expensive as hell to buy , B; expensive as hell to operate

I had a 60gal , 4 people, 3 baths, dishwasher(s) , I went to a 50, still lots. you could get by with a 45 easy in my humble opinion.

the difference between new style, both pipes in top and bottom/ top configuration is the water swirls as it enters the tank, makes for a better mix of hot water within the tank ( no thermocline) and its alleged to make less sediment settle. The new code of an antiscald valve on top adds about $100 to the project. If your doing your own install ( a fitter has to install the valve) and you never had one I'd skip it personally.

I love those shark bite idiot fittings, no fuss, never had one leak and there are lots of parts to let go ahead of that fitting.
 
meme said:
Pardon the pun but I'll throw the baby shower :laughing2:
Click to expand...
Hell no, no threesomes so unless some one's imaginary friend steps in (and then I'm having the church charged with rape) or you provide the baby (I get the option to return it when it annoys/inconveniences/i get bored of it) no baby showers.
 
CruisnGrrl said:
i noticed looking at ct, hh and hd they didn't list elements in their catalogs, and talking to a pro it was suggested that replacing the element would just cause a leak so now the trick is deciding what water heater to replace with, i notice that my water heater has a pipe at the bottom and at the top and it's about 20-30 dollars more for that style over the ones with two pipes at the top... what's the difference?

also it's just me and some times my gf in a 4 bedroom house. is it worth while having a 60 gallon tank (what i have currently) or should i look at something smaller? hot water usage tends to be the dishwasher (3-4 times a week) and daily showers. I think my hot water heater is about at least 1/2 my electricity usage (don't get me started on the delivery costs).
Click to expand...

We have a gas flash heater and would recommend the same. Little box on the wall never runs out of hot water and doesn't cost a penny when hot water isn't bring used.
 
I'd stick with the regular size (40 gal). Two typical wattages is 3000 and 4500. The lower one will use less electricity but take longer to heat. YMMV.
 
I have a 40 gallon and was fine when there were 2 of us. Lots to fill the giant massage tub etc. It is 3000 watt btw.

Sent from my LG-C660R using Tapatalk 2
 
Just fixed a electric water heater for someone. pretty simple device. has a thermostat and a heating element controlled by the thermostat.. even if the element is bad it may still show readings leading you to believe its still good. new elements are cheap. 20-30 bucks. home depot will try and sell you a piece of EMT crimped in to the shape of a socket to remove the old element. I borrowed one from the boss then told him he could make em well. but too many people dont have emt conduit laying around.

I'm a gas technician who has installed a few hundred tanks.

sounds like an easy fix. just have to find out if its the thermostat shorting or if its the element in the tank. even the tanks brand new are less than 400 bucks.

I wouldn't consider those instantaneous tanks. they spike your power usage and actually may cost you more to run my spiking you electric consumption. plus you may de scale then annually or risk them failing. the electric one may be better than the gas. been staying away from em due to the cost and other minor issues.
 
by the way rona seems to be the cheapest for elements.

you wouldn't believe how much brown rusty water comes out of some of these old tanks.

good luck on replacing or repairing. i always advocate replacing but its up to the consumer. i don't like to be pushy.

another funny thing is i did the whole repair job on my bike for the electric tank.
Forum Sponsor
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom