The Importance Of An Electric Water Heater

Have you ever looked forward to a hot shower at the end of a long work day and become infuriated when the water temperature is either ice cold or runs out so quickly you can 't even finish rinsing off? I 'm sure all of us have experienced this before. The most frustrating part is not knowing what caused it or what to do about it. So I 'm here to give you a few helpful hints to get you back in hot water quickly.
I will begin by explaining how an electric water heater works so it is easier to follow along when it comes to troubleshooting. A standard electric water heater consist of two thermostats and two elements. First, the unit calls for heat, closing the contacts in the upper thermostat, which in turn, transfers power to the top element. …show more content…
We already know that the upper element comes on first,therefore no hot water is usually caused by either the upper thermostat, or the upper element. The first thing we want to do is to make sure the breaker is not trip. If it is, reset it, and wait for the water to warm up. If the breaker is not tripped ,we will want to turn it off temporarily, so we can remove the panels from the front of the water to access the components. Since the power is already off, we will start by testing the upper element for continuity. You will need a multimeter for this. After accessing the element, take the multimeter, and test across the two screws on the element. If continuity is present the meter will generally beep. The element will need to be replaced if no reading is found. The less likely cause would be the upper thermostat since it does not have to work as hard as the elements, but you can also test it as well. You will need to turn the power back on to the water heater and test power to the upper element. If the thermostat has not transferred power to the element, then the thermostat will need to be …show more content…
This symptom can be caused by others using to much hot water. However, if you experience this issue often, you may want to test the lower element to make sure the bottom portion of the water heater is heating. If the lower element is not working you will lose over half of the hot water available. Testing is pretty much the same as explained above. You would need to turn the power off,access the lower panel,to test the lower element,again testing across both screws on the element. This will help you identify if the problem is the lower thermostat or the lower