Water Heaters - Electric water heater wires caught on fire!
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rushell
09-14-09, 12:33 PM
We bought a house that had a propane hot water heater in it. We switched over to an electrical hot water heater. My dad insisted he could do the work for us.
He got some orange electric wire from the hardware store, a breaker for the electrical box (I think a 30 but I am not positive) and he ran a line to the hot water location.
He then hooked the wire up to the hot water heater... ground to ground, black to black and white to white. He used wire nuts to secure them together and put the hot water heater's plastic cover box back over the electrical connections. It seemed to do the job.
Yesterday I thougth I smelled something... we tracked it to the hot water heater and noticed that the plastic cover plate over the electrical connections had a wire burning through it. We removed the cover and the black wires were on fire. The wire nut was all but burnt through. We turned off the breaker for the hot water heater.
We need hot water. If we reconnect the wire we are afraid that the same thing will happen... Was something done wrong? What could cause this to happen? We do not know what to do. Please help!
He got some orange electric wire from the hardware store, a breaker for the electrical box (I think a 30 but I am not positive) and he ran a line to the hot water location.
He then hooked the wire up to the hot water heater... ground to ground, black to black and white to white. He used wire nuts to secure them together and put the hot water heater's plastic cover box back over the electrical connections. It seemed to do the job.
Yesterday I thougth I smelled something... we tracked it to the hot water heater and noticed that the plastic cover plate over the electrical connections had a wire burning through it. We removed the cover and the black wires were on fire. The wire nut was all but burnt through. We turned off the breaker for the hot water heater.
We need hot water. If we reconnect the wire we are afraid that the same thing will happen... Was something done wrong? What could cause this to happen? We do not know what to do. Please help!
wildbill7145
09-14-09, 12:52 PM
You may need hot water, but I don't think you need it bad enough to reconnect the wires. I'm no electrician, but something has gone seriously wrong here.
Turn the breaker off if it hasn't tripped itself yet (I think it should have before any fire started) and don't turn it back on until you've figured out what the problem is.
Turn the breaker off if it hasn't tripped itself yet (I think it should have before any fire started) and don't turn it back on until you've figured out what the problem is.
ray2047
09-14-09, 01:32 PM
We bought a house that had a propane hot water heater in it. We switched over to an electrical hot water heater. My dad insisted he could do the work for us.
He got some orange electric wire from the hardware store Was it #10 romex? Sounds like it from the outer jacket color but it can vary. a breaker for the electrical box (I think a 30 but I am not positive) Yes 30a would be correct for #10 Romex but was it a 2pole 240v breaker? and he ran a line to the hot water location.
He then hooked the wire up to the hot water heater... ground to ground, black to black and white to white. He used wire nuts to secure them together and put the hot water heater's plastic cover box back over the electrical connections. It seemed to do the job. There are a couple of code violations but they would not have caused your problem.
Yesterday I thougth I smelled something... we tracked it to the hot water heater and noticed that the plastic cover plate over the electrical connections had a wire burning through it. We removed the cover and the black wires were on fire. The wire nut was all but burnt through. We turned off the breaker for the hot water heater. That could have been a bad connection or faulty element. It is troubling the breaker didn't trip though it protects the wiring not the device. What is the total wattage on the WH name plate?
Until cause is determined I would not reconnect. Answer these questions. Is it a 240v water heater? What is it's wattage? Did you use a 2pole breaker.
You might want to PM a mod and ask that this be transfered to Electrical - A/C & D/C - DoItYourself.com Community Forums (http://forum.doityourself.com/electrical-c-d-c-9/)
He got some orange electric wire from the hardware store Was it #10 romex? Sounds like it from the outer jacket color but it can vary. a breaker for the electrical box (I think a 30 but I am not positive) Yes 30a would be correct for #10 Romex but was it a 2pole 240v breaker? and he ran a line to the hot water location.
He then hooked the wire up to the hot water heater... ground to ground, black to black and white to white. He used wire nuts to secure them together and put the hot water heater's plastic cover box back over the electrical connections. It seemed to do the job. There are a couple of code violations but they would not have caused your problem.
Yesterday I thougth I smelled something... we tracked it to the hot water heater and noticed that the plastic cover plate over the electrical connections had a wire burning through it. We removed the cover and the black wires were on fire. The wire nut was all but burnt through. We turned off the breaker for the hot water heater. That could have been a bad connection or faulty element. It is troubling the breaker didn't trip though it protects the wiring not the device. What is the total wattage on the WH name plate?
Until cause is determined I would not reconnect. Answer these questions. Is it a 240v water heater? What is it's wattage? Did you use a 2pole breaker.
You might want to PM a mod and ask that this be transfered to Electrical - A/C & D/C - DoItYourself.com Community Forums (http://forum.doityourself.com/electrical-c-d-c-9/)
nap
09-14-09, 09:15 PM
what it sounds like is actually quite simple:
a poor connection in the wire nut. If there was not a good connection in the nut, it would cause all the current flow to pass through whatever connection was there and when you run too much current through a high resistance connection, you get heat. It would not trip the breaker because the heater never will draw more than it is supposed to so the breaker does not see excess current.
but one thing that seems odd to me is; I have never seen an electric water heater with a plastic cover over the electrical connection box/area.
is you connection point on the top of the water heater?
this is what a typical water heater connection point looks like. Is yours different?
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4798892/124483-main_Full.jpg
a poor connection in the wire nut. If there was not a good connection in the nut, it would cause all the current flow to pass through whatever connection was there and when you run too much current through a high resistance connection, you get heat. It would not trip the breaker because the heater never will draw more than it is supposed to so the breaker does not see excess current.
but one thing that seems odd to me is; I have never seen an electric water heater with a plastic cover over the electrical connection box/area.
is you connection point on the top of the water heater?
this is what a typical water heater connection point looks like. Is yours different?
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4798892/124483-main_Full.jpg