electric water heater problems

[mjarrels]

60 gal... cold water some mornings... very hot (scoulding hot) the next morning.... Replaced the themotstate on the upper end. No change. Living with the this issue for 6 months ...

 

[Richard]

My (uneducated) guess is you have a burnt element, probably lower (is one always going out on me).

 

[plumboy]

Is the t stat firmly against the heater?Might be bottom t-stat I would change it to be sure.You should also check the elements while your in there.Shut power off to heater and check each element by taking wires off and touching the screws.should read about 12.7 on your meter.Next touch each screw and tank,this will show a short from element to tank that should kick the reset.I always check the element wires to tank,I have seen some that were getting a connection.If that checks out it could be your dip tube.You would have to take pipe off the cold inlet and pull it out to check it.Or try looking in the aererator on your faucets to see if there is any peices of plastic trapped in it.Your breaker in your panel box could be bad or bad connection.If you know how check for arcing.Maybe someone else has some suggestions,I hate problem heaters.

 

[EddieWalker]

Who makes it?

I have a Whirlpool. I wouldn't reckomend it, but before buying it I did some research and found out that nobody likes their water heater. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway, give them a call and explain the problem. Whirlpool has a group of people who do nothing but explain what's wrong with their stuff and how to fix it.

Eddie

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Mark,
Im thinkin thermostat, I think the other guys covered the bases.

Also as a side note, and just a reminder, your supposed the drain and flush the tank out every few months. Get the sediment out of the bottom of the tank.

scotty

ps Sediment buildup may possibly cause fluky thermostat operation.

 

[Pilot]

Got real hard water? We did in Montana & had to pull the lower element every 3 months & scoop out the mineral buildup that accumulated in the bottom of the tank. If we didn't, then in 4 months we had a burned out bottom element. Flushing wouldn't work as the minerals built up on the elements until they got to a certain thickness & broke off in chunks as the element expanded & contracted.

Always wondered what the people who bought the house did about it. With the soil we had, we were advised not to go with a water softener as it would have messed up the drainage. Might have been worth it.

 

[jloppy]

Does your water htr have a programable timer (i.e. "little grey box") that turns the hot water on and off at certain times. If not, I would be willing to bet it's the thermostat.

On a side note, if the dip tube on the inlet side is bad or broken off, you'll have hot water for about one minute, then it'll be cold. These usually don't break, but they are not too hard to replace unless it's under the house and you lack the room overhead to pull it out.

 

[dfkrug]

I have a Whirlpool 50 gal electric, and yeah, I hate it, too.
Too noisy. It has done this since new in my new house I
built. I doubt it is sediment, unless it had a bunch of loose
material in it when new. Works fine otherwise.

I also have a Whirlpool Duet washer that is way too noisy.
I wonder if Whirlpool support can help, short of a service call.