Electric Hot Water Heater Troubleshooting

Often there is some hot water available but it runs out quickly.

Electric hot water heater troubleshooting.

Electric water heaters have one or two elements and each is controlled by a thermostat. Electric hot water heater problems. How electric water heaters work. At times people see puddles or hear popping sounds near water heaters.

When the water s not hot enough the problem can be an undersized water heater crossed hot and cold connections or a faulty heating element or thermostat. If the hot water heater is not working one of the thermostats may be bad. The first things to check are the thermostat and elements of the hot. There are several problems that can arise with a whirlpool electric hot water heater.

For electric hot water heaters start troubleshooting with a quick reset. There may be no hot water in the house at all. Most water heaters have two heating elements one near the top of the tank another located further down. 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.

Turn off the water heater for a few minutes and then turn it back on. 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. In fact the combination of volts and amps in an electric water heater can be lethal. See electrical safety tips for information on working safely around electricity.

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. Fast water heater company discusses how to troubleshoot a failing electric water heater. If that doesn t work perform a hard reset by shutting off power to the water heater at the circuit breaker box. In some cases the water is too hot.

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 troubleshooting involves checking wiring that has a significant amount of current.