How To Change A Water Heater Element
By 
The way that water gets hot in your electric water heater is with something called a “heating element”. Most water heaters will have two electric heating elements in them. There will be one element on top and another element on the bottom. If you have a low boy water heater you probably won’t have dual heating elements.
The water heater elements are controlled by a thermostat. The thermostat can be adjusted so that you can have the water temperature as hot as you desire. The elements and the thermostat are protected by a safety trip system, so if you have no hot water and think your elements are bad you should make sure that its not just the safety that has tripped. This is a common mistake many people make, they go out and buy new elements, they install them and then they realize it was just the circuit that tripped and they replaced the water heater elements for no reason.
Replacing the water heater elements will require a few tools. You will need a large socket to unscrew the heating element, garden hose to drain the water heater, screw driver, and a pair of pliers.
Here is how you change the elements on an electric water heater:
1) The first thing you will need to do is to shut the electric off that is powering the water heater. Make sure to shut the actual breaker off at the circuit breaker panel.
2)Now that the power is off you will want to shut the water feed off to the water heater. There should be a valve on the cold side that will shut the water feed off to the heater. If you do not have isolation valves on the water heater you will have to shut the main down unless there is some sort of isolation valve on the line feeding the water heater.
3) You will now want to drain the water heater. If you are replacing the top water heater element you will only have to drain the water heater to right below the actual element. If you are replacing the lower water heater element you will have to drain the complete water heater down.
4) Once you have the water heater drained down to the level under the element that you are replacing you will now want to remove the element cover panel. Once you open the panel remove the leads that are on the element.
5) Once you have removed the electrical leads from the element you can take your large socket and unscrew the water heater element in the counter clockwise direction. Once you unscrew the water heater element you will be ready to replace it with the new one.
6) Now that the broken or failed water heater element is out of the water heater you can take your new element and screw it in the water heater. You will also want to replace the o-ring before screwing in the new element to prevent a leak, once you have done that you should now re-hook up the electrical leads and place the element cover back on.
7) You can now open the valves that you closed. Once you open the water main or the isolation valves you can begin to fill the water heater.
8) Once the water heater is completely full you can turn the power back on to the water heater and let the water heat up. You should have a tank full of hot water in about 20 – 40 minutes depending on what type of water heater you have. Some water heaters have faster recovery times then others.
You might run into a few problems when changing your water heater element. This troubleshooting guide below will help you solve those problems.
Question: “I don’t know where I can buy or find a socket to remove the heater element”
Answer: You can find the heater element socket at the local plumbing supply or at a local hardware store.
Question: “Can I change the elements without draining the water heater?”
Answer: Yes, In fact you can if you are careful and very mechanically inclined you can do this wit ease and here is how. Turn the power off, turn the water supply off and you will need isolation valves on top of the water heater to shut. This will create a tank vacuum. You can then pull the heater element out faster and push the new one in just as fast. You will loose about 2 cup fulls of water if you are good. This is not recommend off course and the proper way is to do what we have described above.
Question: “How do I reset the reset on my water heater?”
Answer: Most water heaters will have a red reset button that you can push to reset the water heater
Question: “How can I tell if my elements are bad?”
Answer: You can use a standard ohm meter to test the elements.
One other tip to remember is that if your water heater is in a basement or an area that is below the grade you will also need a pump to lift the water from the location. A common pump that is used to do this is called a “pony pump”. A pony pump is a small pump that has a high transfer rate and connects in-line with two garden hoses.
Thank you for the info. It worked out fine for me.
OMG there is water everywhere! It won’t stop! what should I do?
Hi Jenny,
Where is the water leaking from?
Please let us know and we can try to help you further,
Joseph
So, my water heater stopped supplying hot water about, I dunno, a month ago. I didn’t fix it/look in to it at the time, because I’ve been super busy. I’ve now come back to fix it. Problem is, my wife flipped the switch on the drain valve, but me not paying any attention, pulled the element before the water finished draining and it cause a big mess. I waited for alot of it to dry up, and then replaced the element. I put the element cover back on, flipped the breakers waited 45 minuets…nothing. Cold water. I flipped the breakers, took of the elemental panel, and pushed the reset button. but i heard no clicking sound. So, I put it back on, and flipped the breaker. After 45 minuets…nothing. I can’t help but wonder if the humidity cause by my mess up has thrown off the thermostat, or maybe I’m just missing something. HELP! PLEASE!! haha
Hi Joe,
Hopefully you have figured out what was wrong by now.
I cant say what is wrong with your water heater and there are quite a few things it can be.
Virtually every component and connection from the circuit breaker to the element is supect.
Even a bad circuit breaker could cause your problem.
You need to do some electrical testing to determine where the problem is.
I have a small hot water heater in my shop (for washing machine) that I have to drain when the temperatures get below freezing because I do not have heat in my shop. I drain the waterlines and by doing so drain the hot water heater as well. I have always known to shut off the breaker before draining the lines but on this one special occassion I either did not shut off the breaker or someone came behind me and turned it on while the hot water heater was empty. Now the water heater will not produce hot water. Do you think the reset button will help me or do I probably need to replace my heating elements.
Joseph,
I appreciate the help. I tried to find you online but I guess I just don’t understand how to communicate in the forums. Anyway I guess I have three options to choose from and I will start with the least expensive and go from there. Reset Button, New Element or New Water Heater all together.
Hi Eli
Sorry about that, That message was outdated, I will have someone named Johnny answer your questions shorty.
Check back here later on around 8pm and there will be a nice response.
Thanks so much,
Joseph
Hi Eli,
With the water heater having been “Dry-Fired” you need at a minimum a new element.
Chances are what was once a loop element is now just 2 burned off stubs.
Additional electrical testing could tell if there are any other problems.
Johnny / Joseph,
I want to thank both of you for your replies and help. Sounds like a great project for the weekend. I hope replacing the element is as easy as it sounds.
Your welcome,
If you have any other questions or issues, just let us know and leave another comment and we will reply ;-)
Thanks so much , have a great weekend yourself, !
Joseph
Hello,
My hot water heater recently stopped heating right. We started to run out of hot water in about half the time it would usually take it. I replaces the bottom element after testing it with an ohm meter and got no reading. I let it fill back up and turned on the breakers but after waiting four hours i have absolutely no hot water now at all. Tried the reset button several times and it wont push in so I assume it’s already in. What do you think the problem might be? What would cause it from having some hot water to no hot water after changing the element?
Thank you very much.
Jon
Hi Jon,
To be 100% sure you would have to measure the voltage and make sure it is coming to the upper thermostat and going out of the upper thermostat to the upper element. Once the upper thermostat is satisfied the power switches to the lower thermostat and element which shuts off by the lower element once that is satisfied.
That said, I will venture a guess that you either did not cut the power brfore draining started or, did not completely refill with water before applying electrical power. When the upper element was dry fired it instantly burned out and now your upper thermostat is patiently waiting for the burned out upper element to heat the water.
Hi Johnny, that makes a lot of sense. We’ll try to do this again and hope we get it right this time. Thanks alot. I wasnt really sure how the hot water heater worked.
Take care,
Jon
Hi Johnny,
We have a similar problem in that we run out of hot water in half the time it used to take. My husband did flush the water heater and got a lot of gunk out. (was really gross, btw). Anyway, after doing this, we still haven’t fixed the problem and decided to check the elements or replace them. Our question is how do we know when the water heater is full? This is a first for us as we are first time homeowners and we sure don’t want to burn up the place…
Sincerely,
Linda
You know your water heater is full when you have a steady stream of water coming out of your cold water taps. Make sure when filling the tank back up after replacing your heating elements, that you turn on all your cold water faucets to purge any air from the lines.
I have a 2 element water heater. Yesterday I heard ,then saw a drip coming from the bottom element area. I removed the plate and insulation and there was water in the area under the wiring. Is there anything else this could be besides a worn gasket? The electronics were damp and rusted so I turned it off. I have well water and a 5 yr old GE/Rheem heater. Thank you. Mark
It is possible your tank is leaking. You can try replacing the heating element(s). You can go to your local hardware store, lowes, home depot ect and the cost is around 10.00. Well water is number one reason for Premature tank failure. Harder water can be very corrosive on the water heater and component parts. Make sure you drain and flush out your water heater 2 times yearly.
I have a feeling I have fried my elements also. I tried the reset button and that didn’t work. I didn’t see the access panel for the element. Is that usually under the reset button?
How do I know witch element is bad?
I began the process of changing the elements on my water heater but found out I only have one element on my electric heater not two.
There is an access panel and a plug, that looks like an element plug with out the wires or thermostat, on the upper part of the water heater.
Is there anyway to convert that plug to one that actually contains a heated element? It obviously would take some re-wiring.
Is it worth it?
P.S. – up until recently I have not noticed an issue with two little hot water.
I have no hot water all of a sudden, tried reset button and breaker, no luck. I have 2 heating elements on my tank, how do I know which one to replace? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated as my husband works over the road and won’t be home for another 4 weeks so I’m doing this all on my own. Thank you