Water Heaters - electric water tank - takes hours to heat water
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wojo
03-25-06, 09:35 AM
We have a 2 year old electric hot water tank in our cabin. Between trips it is shut off at the breaker. During winter the tank & water lines are drained between trips.
Normally we get hot water an hour after we arrive. This trip it took 10 hours.
It's a John Wood brand with 2 x 3000W elements. The label on the unit says that only 1 element is used at a time (I guess it has the smarts to know if the top or bottom of the tank needs heating)
What's the most likely cause of the water taking hours to heat? I was going to start by changing the top element. Thanks
Normally we get hot water an hour after we arrive. This trip it took 10 hours.
It's a John Wood brand with 2 x 3000W elements. The label on the unit says that only 1 element is used at a time (I guess it has the smarts to know if the top or bottom of the tank needs heating)
What's the most likely cause of the water taking hours to heat? I was going to start by changing the top element. Thanks
DaVeBoy
03-25-06, 01:14 PM
Maybe you can't remember...maybe you can...but, do you ever turn on the water heater when you arrive at your cabin, before you refill up the water system and turn on the cold and hot water and make sure the air is out of the system? Elements will burn out if you turn on the water heater without water covering up the water heater elements!
I wouldn't just haphazzardly just guess at what element is burned out. With a $15 multimeter you can set it to ohms and see if the element is burned out or shorted out.
To test for this, you turn off the breaker. Then you access the two cover plates on the side of the water heater. (Caution: Make sure the water heater is off...that you are certain this is the correct breaker... and nobody turns it on when you aren't looking!) Then, with the multimeter set to ohms (you should clalibrate it if it does not go to zero, on the right, when you touch the two leads together, by turning the adjuster wheel on the side of the meter until the meter reads zero while you are still touching the probes together). Now put the two probes on the two element terminals. If the needle never moves or doesn't go almost all the way over to the right, then the element is burned out. But you also want to do this test of the element as well: Put one probe on one of the element terminals and then touch the other probe to the tank (scratch it as you do this to make sure you are getting good contact, or contact some other proven 'ground')). If the needle moves at all, you have a shorted out element and even if on the previous test where the element showed it looked good, you need to replace the element if it shows this shorted condition.)
Do these tests, and if need be, someone can walk you through on how to change the element out, if need be.
I wouldn't just haphazzardly just guess at what element is burned out. With a $15 multimeter you can set it to ohms and see if the element is burned out or shorted out.
To test for this, you turn off the breaker. Then you access the two cover plates on the side of the water heater. (Caution: Make sure the water heater is off...that you are certain this is the correct breaker... and nobody turns it on when you aren't looking!) Then, with the multimeter set to ohms (you should clalibrate it if it does not go to zero, on the right, when you touch the two leads together, by turning the adjuster wheel on the side of the meter until the meter reads zero while you are still touching the probes together). Now put the two probes on the two element terminals. If the needle never moves or doesn't go almost all the way over to the right, then the element is burned out. But you also want to do this test of the element as well: Put one probe on one of the element terminals and then touch the other probe to the tank (scratch it as you do this to make sure you are getting good contact, or contact some other proven 'ground')). If the needle moves at all, you have a shorted out element and even if on the previous test where the element showed it looked good, you need to replace the element if it shows this shorted condition.)
Do these tests, and if need be, someone can walk you through on how to change the element out, if need be.
wojo
03-25-06, 10:40 PM
Thanks for the reply. Usually I'm the one who un-winterizes the cabin and I make sure the water tank is fill and all the air is out of the lines etc before turning the breaker on. However recently we've had friends/family use the place so I can't be 100% sure if they did things properly. I have a digital multi-meter and a AC voltage tester so I'll give it a test next time we are up there.
Further to the symptoms, the water didn't get that hot even overnight - just luke warm.
I did remove the covers when I was draining the system today and all the wiring looked tight etc.
Thanks again.
Further to the symptoms, the water didn't get that hot even overnight - just luke warm.
I did remove the covers when I was draining the system today and all the wiring looked tight etc.
Thanks again.
wojo
05-19-06, 05:18 PM
Maybe you can't remember...maybe you can...but, do you ever turn on the water heater when you arrive at your cabin, before you refill up the water system and turn on the cold and hot water and make sure the air is out of the system? Elements will burn out if you turn on the water heater without water covering up the water heater elements!
I wouldn't just haphazzardly just guess at what element is burned out. With a $15 multimeter you can set it to ohms and see if the element is burned out or shorted out.
To test for this, you turn off the breaker. Then you access the two cover plates on the side of the water heater. (Caution: Make sure the water heater is off...that you are certain this is the correct breaker... and nobody turns it on when you aren't looking!) Then, with the multimeter set to ohms (you should clalibrate it if it does not go to zero, on the right, when you touch the two leads together, by turning the adjuster wheel on the side of the meter until the meter reads zero while you are still touching the probes together). Now put the two probes on the two element terminals. If the needle never moves or doesn't go almost all the way over to the right, then the element is burned out. But you also want to do this test of the element as well: Put one probe on one of the element terminals and then touch the other probe to the tank (scratch it as you do this to make sure you are getting good contact, or contact some other proven 'ground')). If the needle moves at all, you have a shorted out element and even if on the previous test where the element showed it looked good, you need to replace the element if it shows this shorted condition.)
Do these tests, and if need be, someone can walk you through on how to change the element out, if need be.
Thanks DaVeBoy
The multimeter showed me that the top element was burnt out. Easy to change - I had bought the wrench and 2 elements just in case. I ended up changing both elements and kept the old bottom one as a spare.
I wouldn't just haphazzardly just guess at what element is burned out. With a $15 multimeter you can set it to ohms and see if the element is burned out or shorted out.
To test for this, you turn off the breaker. Then you access the two cover plates on the side of the water heater. (Caution: Make sure the water heater is off...that you are certain this is the correct breaker... and nobody turns it on when you aren't looking!) Then, with the multimeter set to ohms (you should clalibrate it if it does not go to zero, on the right, when you touch the two leads together, by turning the adjuster wheel on the side of the meter until the meter reads zero while you are still touching the probes together). Now put the two probes on the two element terminals. If the needle never moves or doesn't go almost all the way over to the right, then the element is burned out. But you also want to do this test of the element as well: Put one probe on one of the element terminals and then touch the other probe to the tank (scratch it as you do this to make sure you are getting good contact, or contact some other proven 'ground')). If the needle moves at all, you have a shorted out element and even if on the previous test where the element showed it looked good, you need to replace the element if it shows this shorted condition.)
Do these tests, and if need be, someone can walk you through on how to change the element out, if need be.
Thanks DaVeBoy
The multimeter showed me that the top element was burnt out. Easy to change - I had bought the wrench and 2 elements just in case. I ended up changing both elements and kept the old bottom one as a spare.