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Water Heater Question


JB4XX

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A couple weeks ago our power was out for a whole week due to Ike. Since it has been back on, our hot water is good for maybe two showers. Could the power outage have done something to cause an element to burn out?

It is 5 year old 50 gallon electric...

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A couple weeks ago our power was out for a whole week due to Ike. Since it has been back on, our hot water is good for maybe two showers. Could the power outage have done something to cause an element to burn out?

It is 5 year old 50 gallon electric...

They (the man, the powers that be, the experts etc) recommend turning off your electric water heater during power outages... not sure 100% why, but that's the rule of thumb. So yeah, you might have f'd something up.

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When the power goes out, and back on you get spikes/brown outs. These reek havoc on anything electrical. Your best bet is when the power goes out, turn off the main breaker in your house.

Usually water heaters have more than one heating element, one maybe gone.

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It would be unlikely that a brown out or a spike would kill a heating element, it's anvil technology. If you had a loss of water pressure, and your tank emptied even partially it could have uncovered the upper element, thus burning it out. It's a $20 part. This is what it sounds like since you say you can get in two showers. Do you get hot water first thing in the morning and when you come home from work when no one has used any hot water? It's a $20 part. Make sure the power is off when you fix it, or call a plumber.

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Some of the water heater elements (both on my GE 50 Gal) have tripouts. Maybe one of your's needs reseting. I've had one trip during the surge when power returns.

Be sure to turn off the power at the main power panel and check at the water heater to be sure power is off before fooling around in there and stand on a rubber mat while working.

Mike Pavlick

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I have service hundreds of water heaters and can tell you the operation of the unit. Lets start with how the unit operates.

1: Most units have 2 thermostats and 2 heating elements, upper t-stat controls the upper element and lower t-stat controls lower heating element. Simple right.

2: When hot water is needed the upper t-stat closes the contact and the upper heating element heats the top part of your water tank. This is done first because heat rises and it takes a shorter time to heat the top half of the tank.

3: When the upper t-stat is satified ( reaches temperature ) the lower t-stat takes over and heats the bottom part of your water tank.

4: If you have hot water and it runs out quick the problem is you bottom heating element or the t-stat, because you only have half of the tank getting up to temp. If your upper t-stat or element were bad it would never get up to temp and your lower element would never turn on.

To check this you need a phillips screw driver and a Ohm meter/ Amp meter.

First shut off the power to the unit from the circuit breaker. Next remove the covers on the side of the tank to expose the t-stats and the elements.

Check to make sure the power is off, once you have no power remove one wire from the heating element. You are going to set the meter to read Ohms. Put your meter leads on each of the screws on the heating element.

If the element is ok the meter should read an Ohm value depends on the Wattage rating each will be different.If the meter reads OL for over limit the element is open and is no good needs to be replaced.

Do this check for each element.

Right down the model and serial number of the unit if parts are needed and do an internet search for replacement very common parts can be found easily.

One more thing to tell you. You will need a very large socket to remove the element 1 1/2" or bigger. Sears usually has them.

This is real important when removing the old element SOMETIMES the old element gets bent and makes it very difficult to back out the hole. You will need a long skinny screwdriver to bend the element back to get it out of the hole. Once you get the new element you will see what I am talking about. The element goes into the tank and is bent back in a 180 degree parallel with it's self back towards the hole. Sometimes it warps and is not parallel anymore so it won't come out the hole.

Once you are all back together check one leg ( wire ) of the elements for Amperage flow. This will tell you if the element is heating up properly. Remember check top on first then lower later.

Good luck!!!!!!!!

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I have service hundreds of water heaters and can tell you the operation of the unit. Lets start with how the unit operates.

1: Most units have 2 thermostats and 2 heating elements, upper t-stat controls the upper element and lower t-stat controls lower heating element. Simple right.

2: When hot water is needed the upper t-stat closes the contact and the upper heating element heats the top part of your water tank. This is done first because heat rises and it takes a shorter time to heat the top half of the tank.

3: When the upper t-stat is satified ( reaches temperature ) the lower t-stat takes over and heats the bottom part of your water tank.

4: If you have hot water and it runs out quick the problem is you bottom heating element or the t-stat, because you only have half of the tank getting up to temp. If your upper t-stat or element were bad it would never get up to temp and your lower element would never turn on.

To check this you need a phillips screw driver and a Ohm meter/ Amp meter.

First shut off the power to the unit from the circuit breaker. Next remove the covers on the side of the tank to expose the t-stats and the elements.

Check to make sure the power is off, once you have no power remove one wire from the heating element. You are going to set the meter to read Ohms. Put your meter leads on each of the screws on the heating element.

If the element is ok the meter should read an Ohm value depends on the Wattage rating each will be different.If the meter reads OL for over limit the element is open and is no good needs to be replaced.

Do this check for each element.

Right down the model and serial number of the unit if parts are needed and do an internet search for replacement very common parts can be found easily.

One more thing to tell you. You will need a very large socket to remove the element 1 1/2" or bigger. Sears usually has them.

This is real important when removing the old element SOMETIMES the old element gets bent and makes it very difficult to back out the hole. You will need a long skinny screwdriver to bend the element back to get it out of the hole. Once you get the new element you will see what I am talking about. The element goes into the tank and is bent back in a 180 degree parallel with it's self back towards the hole. Sometimes it warps and is not parallel anymore so it won't come out the hole.

Once you are all back together check one leg ( wire ) of the elements for Amperage flow. This will tell you if the element is heating up properly. Remember check top on first then lower later.

Good luck!!!!!!!!

:icon_goodsign:

Learned something new today.

Thanks for sharing!!

You da MAN!!!

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