Water Heaters - Craftsmaster electric water heater
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oldman62
09-30-09, 08:24 AM
I have an Craftsmaster water heater that was installed roughly 5 years ago. I had recently replaced both the upper and lower heating element due to poor performance, basically, anyone getting a shower had cold water within 5 minutes. After replacing the elements it worked great for about a day and then it started the problem all over again. Anybody got a suggestion as to how to fix this?
Pulpo
09-30-09, 12:39 PM
What type of settings are on it? Is the shower on an upper floor. Is the water temperature more or less in different parts of the house?
lefty
09-30-09, 04:25 PM
You probably replaced elements that didn't need to be replaced.
A 5 minute shower usually indicates that the dip tube is bad. That's easy enough to check. Pull the cold water nipple out of the tank and use your pinky to pull the dip tube out of the tank. Holding it up against the side of the tank, it should come to within a foot of the bottom. If it doesn't, buy a new one, or make one. (A length of 1/2" copper pipe or tubing, and flare the top end so that it'll sit inside the cold water nipple.)
If the dip tube is OK, I would look at the lower thermostat as being the problem. That's not too difficult to check either. After the WH has sat for 45 minutes to an hour without any hot water being used in the house (plenty of time for the WH to recover), pull the lower cover off. Check the voltage across the two screws on the element. Should be ZERO. Go open a hot water valve for a couple of minutes. Now check the voltage across the element. Should be 230 volts (give or take!). If it's not, replace the lower thermostat. But, BE AWARE that the UPPER thermostat could also be the culprit.
The upper thermostat is the traffic director. The lower one is just the slave. The upper themostat turns on the upper element. Once that element has reached the set temp., the upper 'stat then directs the voltage to the lower 'stat. A burnt contact inside the upper 'stat would prevent the voltage from getting to the lower 'stat.
A 5 minute shower usually indicates that the dip tube is bad. That's easy enough to check. Pull the cold water nipple out of the tank and use your pinky to pull the dip tube out of the tank. Holding it up against the side of the tank, it should come to within a foot of the bottom. If it doesn't, buy a new one, or make one. (A length of 1/2" copper pipe or tubing, and flare the top end so that it'll sit inside the cold water nipple.)
If the dip tube is OK, I would look at the lower thermostat as being the problem. That's not too difficult to check either. After the WH has sat for 45 minutes to an hour without any hot water being used in the house (plenty of time for the WH to recover), pull the lower cover off. Check the voltage across the two screws on the element. Should be ZERO. Go open a hot water valve for a couple of minutes. Now check the voltage across the element. Should be 230 volts (give or take!). If it's not, replace the lower thermostat. But, BE AWARE that the UPPER thermostat could also be the culprit.
The upper thermostat is the traffic director. The lower one is just the slave. The upper themostat turns on the upper element. Once that element has reached the set temp., the upper 'stat then directs the voltage to the lower 'stat. A burnt contact inside the upper 'stat would prevent the voltage from getting to the lower 'stat.