Comments on: Residential Electric Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide http://wetheadmedia.com/residential-electric-water-heater-troubleshooting-guide/ WeT HeaD Media Provides clear, easy to read Information for The Plumbing, Heating and Pool Industry. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:17:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: dave http://wetheadmedia.com/residential-electric-water-heater-troubleshooting-guide/comment-page-1/#comment-5586 dave Sat, 01 May 2010 06:36:46 +0000 http://wetheadmedia.com/?p=809#comment-5586 I purchased a new h20 tank (pro max model gvc 40 100 ) in march of 2008 for my second home ,at that time the tank still worked so ididnt install it right away .the tank was manufactored in 2005, its been installed now for 7 months ,the pilot keeps going out it re-lites with no propblems but still goes out ,sometimes Im not there for weeks and when I check its lite but as soon as it goes off and on a couple times it goes out ,I replaced the burner kit part 9003563005 Iv benn thinking about changing the control valve but the one on the tank only been in use 6 or 7 months please help thank you I purchased a new h20 tank (pro max model gvc 40 100 ) in march of 2008 for my second home ,at that time the tank still worked so ididnt install it right away .the tank was manufactored in 2005, its been installed now for 7 months ,the pilot keeps going out it re-lites with no propblems but still goes out ,sometimes Im not there for weeks and when I check its lite but as soon as it goes off and on a couple times it goes out ,I replaced the burner kit part 9003563005 Iv benn thinking about changing the control valve but the one on the tank only been in use 6 or 7 months please help thank you

]]> By: Redwood http://wetheadmedia.com/residential-electric-water-heater-troubleshooting-guide/comment-page-1/#comment-2525 Redwood Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:36:43 +0000 http://wetheadmedia.com/?p=809#comment-2525 Hi Linda, Sorry to hear your water heater is acting up. The red reset button or high limit known as the ECO trips when the water in the tank becomes too hot cutting off power to the elements. There are a few different things that can cause the ECO to trip: 1. A bad thermostat that does not shut off allowing continous heating of the water even after the set temperature has been reached. Your water heater has 2 thermostats an upper and lower under the two access panels as well as two elements. Either thermostat being bad could cause the problem. 2. A loose electrical connection either where the wire connects to the upper thermostat or internally could be generating heat inside the thermostat causing the ECO to sense the heat of the bad connection rather than the temperature of the water in the tank causing the ECO to trip. 3. A bad element that is shorted to ground near the center of the element may also cause the problem. Because the element is shorted to ground near the center of the element the short does not have a high enough current draw to trip the circuit breaker and it continues to heat. However, the way the water heater electrical power is switched the power still is applied to the element even when the thermostat shuts off. The water heater is supplied with 240-volts which means both of the power leads are hot leads. Only 1 side is switched and in normal operation that is fine. But, when the element is shorted to ground there is still the power on the unswitched side available which will flow through 1/2 of the element to ground as 120-volts continuing to heat the water untill the ECO trips. Your water heater is wired for 240-volt non-simultaneous operation where the power is initially applied to the upper element, then when the upper thermostat is satisfied it switches power to the lower thermostat for heating the bottom end. here is a link to a service manual with wiring diagrams and troubleshooting information. http://www.bradfordwhite.com/images/shared/pdfs/manuals/238-47104-00A.pdf I don't know if you have meters to measure the electrical resistance or, amperage your self or, are hiring a pro. If you measure amperage to both wires of each element when the element is operating it should measure around 18 amps and the 2 measurements should match. If they don't the element is shorted causing the imbalance or lower reading on each side. If you measure the resistance of each element it should measure around 12 ohms of resistance across the 2 screw terminals and it should measure infinite ohms or open circuit from each screw terminal to the tank. If you have a bad element... My crystal ball says it's the lower element... But do trouble shoot to be sure. It's just that the lower element works the hardest and often gets buried in lime deposits from hard water causing it to overheat and burn out... I would recommend replacing it with one that looks like this one for a long lasting fix. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1276831&cp=2568443.2568452.2631246.1260882 This element is made with a incoloy sheath which is corrosion resistant, and the element is very long with all the loops and bends giving it what is called a low watt density. It still puts the same amount of heat into the water in the tank at the same rate but each inch of the element is a lower temperature making it last a long time without burning out. The comparison between a low watt density element and a high watt density element is kind of like the difference between the large and small burners on an electric stove. The large burner spreads the heat out. They say the low watt density elements can even be dry fired without failing which would burn out a high watt density element in seconds. I hope this information helps you or, the person you have troubleshoot the water heater solve the problem. Hi Linda,
Sorry to hear your water heater is acting up.
The red reset button or high limit known as the ECO trips when the water in the tank becomes too hot cutting off power to the elements.

There are a few different things that can cause the ECO to trip:

1. A bad thermostat that does not shut off allowing continous heating of the water even after the set temperature has been reached. Your water heater has 2 thermostats an upper and lower under the two access panels as well as two elements. Either thermostat being bad could cause the problem.

2. A loose electrical connection either where the wire connects to the upper thermostat or internally could be generating heat inside the thermostat causing the ECO to sense the heat of the bad connection rather than the temperature of the water in the tank causing the ECO to trip.

3. A bad element that is shorted to ground near the center of the element may also cause the problem. Because the element is shorted to ground near the center of the element the short does not have a high enough current draw to trip the circuit breaker and it continues to heat. However, the way the water heater electrical power is switched the power still is applied to the element even when the thermostat shuts off. The water heater is supplied with 240-volts which means both of the power leads are hot leads. Only 1 side is switched and in normal operation that is fine. But, when the element is shorted to ground there is still the power on the unswitched side available which will flow through 1/2 of the element to ground as 120-volts continuing to heat the water untill the ECO trips.

Your water heater is wired for 240-volt non-simultaneous operation where the power is initially applied to the upper element, then when the upper thermostat is satisfied it switches power to the lower thermostat for heating the bottom end. here is a link to a service manual with wiring diagrams and troubleshooting information. http://www.bradfordwhite.com/images/shared/pdfs/manuals/238-47104-00A.pdf

I don’t know if you have meters to measure the electrical resistance or, amperage your self or, are hiring a pro.
If you measure amperage to both wires of each element when the element is operating it should measure around 18 amps and the 2 measurements should match. If they don’t the element is shorted causing the imbalance or lower reading on each side.
If you measure the resistance of each element it should measure around 12 ohms of resistance across the 2 screw terminals and it should measure infinite ohms or open circuit from each screw terminal to the tank.

If you have a bad element…
My crystal ball says it’s the lower element… But do trouble shoot to be sure.
It’s just that the lower element works the hardest and often gets buried in lime deposits from hard water causing it to overheat and burn out…

I would recommend replacing it with one that looks like this one for a long lasting fix. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1276831&cp=2568443.2568452.2631246.1260882
This element is made with a incoloy sheath which is corrosion resistant, and the element is very long with all the loops and bends giving it what is called a low watt density. It still puts the same amount of heat into the water in the tank at the same rate but each inch of the element is a lower temperature making it last a long time without burning out.

The comparison between a low watt density element and a high watt density element is kind of like the difference between the large and small burners on an electric stove. The large burner spreads the heat out. They say the low watt density elements can even be dry fired without failing which would burn out a high watt density element in seconds.

I hope this information helps you or, the person you have troubleshoot the water heater solve the problem.

]]> By: Linda Shiflett http://wetheadmedia.com/residential-electric-water-heater-troubleshooting-guide/comment-page-1/#comment-2522 Linda Shiflett Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:15:10 +0000 http://wetheadmedia.com/?p=809#comment-2522 We have a Bradford White electric water heater that is about 4-5 years old. The model # is M I80R6DS13, Serial #ZG3444443, Dash No. - 130. We are currently having a problem with it in that when we sometimes go to take a shower, we have little hot water. In checking the heater, we realize that it has to be reset by pusing the red button. We then have hot water. It is now starting to happen more frequently. We had our electrician check it out and he could find nothing wrong. He went ahead and put a new thermostat in hoping that would work. Within a few days, it happened again and we had to reset it. Could it be that the elements need to be changed? In any other water heaters we have had, when the element had gone bad, we just ran out of hot water. We don't want to continue spending money if it might be something we can fix. Can you help? We have a Bradford White electric water heater that is about 4-5 years old. The model # is M
I80R6DS13, Serial #ZG3444443, Dash No. – 130. We are currently having a problem with it in that when we sometimes go to take a shower, we have little hot water. In checking the heater, we realize that it has to be reset by pusing the red button. We then have hot water. It is now starting to happen more frequently. We had our electrician check it out and he could find nothing wrong. He went ahead and put a new thermostat in hoping that would work. Within a few days, it happened again and we had to reset it. Could it be that the elements need to be changed? In any other water heaters we have had, when the element had gone bad, we just ran out of hot water. We don’t want to continue spending money if it might be something we can fix. Can you help?

]]> By: Bob Lain http://wetheadmedia.com/residential-electric-water-heater-troubleshooting-guide/comment-page-1/#comment-460 Bob Lain Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:31:34 +0000 http://wetheadmedia.com/?p=809#comment-460 My water heater make a whistl;ing noise at times. Otherwoise, iot seems to be all right. What Can I do about it? My water heater make a whistl;ing noise at times. Otherwoise, iot seems to be all right. What Can I do about it?

]]> By: Larry Ballinger http://wetheadmedia.com/residential-electric-water-heater-troubleshooting-guide/comment-page-1/#comment-351 Larry Ballinger Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:40:13 +0000 http://wetheadmedia.com/?p=809#comment-351 Water heater is now super heating the water, with thermostat set at the lowest setting. Water heater is now super heating the water, with thermostat set at the lowest setting.

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