Water Heaters - installation

Hi. My husband installed a new water heater this morning. He didn't read the instructions and hooked up the electrical while the tank was filling up. Now, we have no hot water coming out of the faucets.

Can you please help me? What can we do to get the hot water working again?

Thanks.

Sounds like he smoked the heating element

If there was no water covering the elements when the power was applied, the elements are likely burnt out. There is a red reset button that I'm sure you have pushed. I'm afraid you need to get new elements. It isn't necessary to drain the tank to change them. Just be sure you have the proper size socket wrench to take the old ones out. Make sure the power is off, the water is off and pressure relieved by turning on hot and cold faucets and letting them drain a bit. When you loosen the bad element, have the new ready and pull the old one quickly and insert the new one. There will be a little loss of water, but not much. If you have questions, email me.

brandip,

Since your hubby turned the power on before the tank was completely full, he fried the upper element. It needs to be replaced.

DO NOT take fly000boy's advice and try doing it without draining the water down below the level of the upper element. THAT will soak all of the electrical around the lower thermostat and element as well as the insulation. The 10 gallons of water that you'll waste by draining it down are a lot cheaper than the mess you'll create by not draining it down.

And tell hubby to FILL the tank before turning the power back on after he replaces the element.

You could check the elements with an ohmmeter, but even if they read good (which I doubt) you still have to find out what is the problem.

The price of the new elements is the cost of tuition for the lesson your husband learned.
He might have gotten a bargain.