Water Heaters - Switched hot and cold lines - a problem

I have a second heater (20 gal) in the attic. Noticed the cold line goes in near the top of the tank (where the hot is supposed to go), and the out, hot line, goes out the bottom (where the cold is supposed to go in). Is this a problem? Haven't used the tank since the element or thermostat is tripping the circuit, so I don't know if it is impacting performance. Since it is in a TX attic, hot water isn't too much of a problem. (Even with the electricity off, the water is very hot during the summer.)

I was going to switch them, but this arrangement does allow my to drain the tank by shutting off the cold and just opening the hot faucet.

Thanks,
Dale

The set-up is correct. It is like a mobile home water heater. The cold water goes in the bottom and forces the hot water out the top. A standard heater does this with a diptube. The cold water inlet goes through the diptube to the bottom of the tank which in turn, pushes the hot out the other pipe. Good luck.

As I understand your question, you say the cold water inlet is entering the tank from the top and the water is exiting the tank from the bottom. If this is so, then the connections are reversed. The consequence of this arrangement allows the cold water to mix with the hot resulting in cooler tepid water. While it won't hurt anything, you may not get a nice hot shower.

You mention that you are having electrical issues with this heater and it is an attic install. I suggest determining the age of this heater. If it's old, I would seriously consider a new one. A water heater in the attic is a disaster should it start leaking. Often the drain pan (if installed) cannot keep up with the water flow.

Good luck.

Apologies to you. I misread your post. The cold should be going into the bottom and the hot out the top. Sorry.