Electric Hot Water Heater Troubleshooting

At times people see puddles or hear popping sounds near water heaters.

Electric hot water heater troubleshooting.

If the hot water heater is not working one of the thermostats may be bad. Turn off the water heater for a few minutes and then turn it back on. Fast water heater company discusses how to troubleshoot a failing electric water heater. In some cases the water is too hot.

How electric water heaters work. There are several problems that can arise with a whirlpool electric hot water heater. If your electric hot water heater is slow to heat runs out of hot water faster than it used to or doesn t deliver any hot water at all there s a 90 percent chance that simply replacing one or both of the heating elements will solve the problem. Often there is some hot water available but it runs out quickly.

To rule out an undersized heater check to make sure the heater has 75 percent of its capacity as hot water. Electric hot water heater problems. For electric hot water heaters start troubleshooting with a quick reset. Electric hot water heater troubleshooting involves checking wiring that has a significant amount of current.

Most water heaters have two heating elements one near the top of the tank another located further down. Wait about hour and see if your water heats up. The first things to check are the thermostat and elements of the hot. If that doesn t work perform a hard reset by shutting off power to the water heater at the circuit breaker box.

In fact the combination of volts and amps in an electric water heater can be lethal. Electric water heaters use either 120 or 240 volt power 240 volts is more common to energize metal heating elements that protrude into the water heater tank through the side wall. Electric water heaters have one or two elements and each is controlled by a thermostat. Before checking any electrical parts of a water heater shut off the power to the heater s circuit by turning off the appropriate breaker in your home s service panel breaker box.

You can test them with the power off using an ohmmeter to measure resistance or with the power on using a voltmeter to measure voltage. There may be no hot water in the house at all.