How to Fix an Electric Water Heater When Not Having Enough Water?
You would like to take a hot bath and turn on the hot water, but pretty soon does the hot water become cold? Or after your family members take showers, water gets cold all of sudden when it is your turn? If this happens to you, then you may think that it is time to replace your water heater or to call for someone to fix the problem.
However, the new heater may cost at least $300 for a heater unit only and a handy man is not cheap either.
You may fix the problem by yourself easily.
There are two things which may cause this problem: Defective lower heating element or defective thermostats.
I will talk about the case of the defective thermostat later in another article.
Defective lower heating element can be diagnosed in the following manner.
Before we proceed, locate a specification sticker on cover of the water heater.
This sticker will tell you the model number, the serial number, the operating voltage and the wattage of the heating element.
You will need the information about the operating voltage and the wattage.
1.
Turn off the electric power for the water heater.
2.
Open the lower access cover and fold back the insulation (fiber glass).
You will see two units: thermostat and heating element.
3.
Disconnect a wire of the heating element by unscrewing the screw.
It doesn't matter which wire you disconnect.
4.
After disconnecting one wire, you need to measure the resistance of the heating element.
At this point, you need a multimeter.
If you don't have one, it would be a good idea to buy one.
These days multimeters are so cheap and there will be more occasions when you need a multimeter.
You set the multimeter setting to Resistance (or ohm, upper case 'omega' in Greek) Now, you touch two probes of a multimeter to the screws, one on each screw.
5.
Read the resistance.
The resistance must be close to the nominal value.
Here is how to calculate the nominal resistance.
We need some physics here.
Since the power (in watt) =(voltage*voltage / resistance), the nominal resistance = (voltage*voltage / power).
For example, if the operating voltage is 240 V and the wattage is 4500 W, then the nominal resistance is 240*240/4500=12.
8 ohm.
Your reading must be close to this number.
6.
If your reading is far from this number such as zero, or the meter doesn't give you any reading, then it is time for you to replace the heating element.
If the reading is close to the nominal voltage, then something else is causing a problem.
You may stop reading this article.
Otherwise, continue to read below.
The following is the procedure to replace.
1.
You need to get a new heating element.
You can buy the heating element at any local hardware stores like Lowe's or Home Depot for about $10.
Most of the brands use the same kind of heating elements.
Those brands are GE, Rheem, Ruud, Richmond, American, Craftmaster, Mor-Flo, Reliance, Lochinvar, Bradford White, Sears, Kenmore, Maytag, and A O Smith.
Before you go to the store, remember or write down the operating voltage and the wattage since you need to purchase the correct type.
You may need to buy a 1-1/2 in wrench to unscrew out the old element if you don't have this size of wrench.
2.
Before replacing the element, read the instruction on the back cover of the new element.
3.
Make sure the circuit breaker is off and that the water valve to the water heater is closed.
Don't forget to drain the water in the heater.
4.
Unscrewing the old element may not be easy.
If you use a socket wrench, you may need a long hollow bar so that you can have a longer lever arm.
5.
Before installing the new element, I would read the resistance of the new element to see if the new one is not defective.
If it is close to 12.
8 ohm, then the new one is in a good shape.
6.
Install the new element by screwing in.
After installing, turn on the water valve which goes to the water heater.
Check to see if there is any leak.
7.
If there is no leak, then fill the tank.
When the tank is full, turn on the electric power.
Now you are good to go.
You may adjust the temperature of the thermostat depending on your need later.
By following the steps described above, you can diagnose and fix this problem by yourself with a cost of $20 or less.
Note that the description above is about the electric residential water heater.
However, the new heater may cost at least $300 for a heater unit only and a handy man is not cheap either.
You may fix the problem by yourself easily.
There are two things which may cause this problem: Defective lower heating element or defective thermostats.
I will talk about the case of the defective thermostat later in another article.
Defective lower heating element can be diagnosed in the following manner.
Before we proceed, locate a specification sticker on cover of the water heater.
This sticker will tell you the model number, the serial number, the operating voltage and the wattage of the heating element.
You will need the information about the operating voltage and the wattage.
1.
Turn off the electric power for the water heater.
2.
Open the lower access cover and fold back the insulation (fiber glass).
You will see two units: thermostat and heating element.
3.
Disconnect a wire of the heating element by unscrewing the screw.
It doesn't matter which wire you disconnect.
4.
After disconnecting one wire, you need to measure the resistance of the heating element.
At this point, you need a multimeter.
If you don't have one, it would be a good idea to buy one.
These days multimeters are so cheap and there will be more occasions when you need a multimeter.
You set the multimeter setting to Resistance (or ohm, upper case 'omega' in Greek) Now, you touch two probes of a multimeter to the screws, one on each screw.
5.
Read the resistance.
The resistance must be close to the nominal value.
Here is how to calculate the nominal resistance.
We need some physics here.
Since the power (in watt) =(voltage*voltage / resistance), the nominal resistance = (voltage*voltage / power).
For example, if the operating voltage is 240 V and the wattage is 4500 W, then the nominal resistance is 240*240/4500=12.
8 ohm.
Your reading must be close to this number.
6.
If your reading is far from this number such as zero, or the meter doesn't give you any reading, then it is time for you to replace the heating element.
If the reading is close to the nominal voltage, then something else is causing a problem.
You may stop reading this article.
Otherwise, continue to read below.
The following is the procedure to replace.
1.
You need to get a new heating element.
You can buy the heating element at any local hardware stores like Lowe's or Home Depot for about $10.
Most of the brands use the same kind of heating elements.
Those brands are GE, Rheem, Ruud, Richmond, American, Craftmaster, Mor-Flo, Reliance, Lochinvar, Bradford White, Sears, Kenmore, Maytag, and A O Smith.
Before you go to the store, remember or write down the operating voltage and the wattage since you need to purchase the correct type.
You may need to buy a 1-1/2 in wrench to unscrew out the old element if you don't have this size of wrench.
2.
Before replacing the element, read the instruction on the back cover of the new element.
3.
Make sure the circuit breaker is off and that the water valve to the water heater is closed.
Don't forget to drain the water in the heater.
4.
Unscrewing the old element may not be easy.
If you use a socket wrench, you may need a long hollow bar so that you can have a longer lever arm.
5.
Before installing the new element, I would read the resistance of the new element to see if the new one is not defective.
If it is close to 12.
8 ohm, then the new one is in a good shape.
6.
Install the new element by screwing in.
After installing, turn on the water valve which goes to the water heater.
Check to see if there is any leak.
7.
If there is no leak, then fill the tank.
When the tank is full, turn on the electric power.
Now you are good to go.
You may adjust the temperature of the thermostat depending on your need later.
By following the steps described above, you can diagnose and fix this problem by yourself with a cost of $20 or less.
Note that the description above is about the electric residential water heater.
Source...