Water Heater Frustration

[toy]

Eddie
I hate that you are having problems with your water heater [I hate water problems] , seems like everything you can buy anymore is an import. Our dishwasher went out this spring, the water inlet valve stopped working and since it was old I decided to replace it with a new one rather than ordering a $10 valve and paying sears $30 dollars to ship it [sears used to have a parts department in their store where you could buy any part that you needed but not anymore]. I wonder why sears is having financial problems? Well we shouldn't worry about that, they probably have one of those really really talented ceo's that they pay millions to. I heard one of wall street defenders say the other day that it took a talented ceo to run a corporation in the red, that was a light bulb moment for me I always thought it took a really talented ceo that could take a corporation that was in the red and bring it into the black, I'm learning. Back to the dishwasher[ I'm absent minded] the new one isn't anywhere near the dishwasher the old one was. If I hadn't already got rid of the old one I would fix it and take the new one out. I hope you get back into hot water soon, maybe I shouldn't have put it that way, here you go I hope you get your hot water fixed soon.

 

[irvingj]

Eddie-- just a thought, maybe foolish.... You say you have 120+ on each leg; do you also have 220+ across the legs?

 

[Bedlam]

Irving,If you have a chance could you possible post some easy to understand instructions for easy testing?

 

[studor]

This is probably going to be confusing but depending on the panel, the breaker may not be capable of drawing 220 - hence the above comment about when you put the meter on both the red and the black (Legs) does it read 220 --I am assuming the heater is wired to the panel with two wire 10 guage and not three wire. On some panels they make two pole breakers that do not connect to both sides of the buss bar and hence can only draw 110. If you wire it in with two wire it will only draw 110 since there is no white common to draw from both sides of the panel . The cheapest and fastest way to fix this is to buy a new breaker that will draw from both sides -- Home Despot should have the right breaker
hope this helps
regards Steve

 

[tallyho8]

A 220 volt circuit breaker is a double breaker with 2 wires connected to it. To test the voltage coming out of the breaker, put the 2 leads of your volt meter on the two wires. You should have about 220 volts. If not, try turning your circuit breaker off then back on a couple of times and check it again. If still no 220 volts, then either that breaker is bad or your main breaker is bad. To check if your main is bad, first check another of your 220 breakers, if you have more. If they have 220, your main is good. If you have no other 220 breakers, then you put your 2 volt meter wires on the two strips in your breaker box that the breakers are connected to and see if it reads 220 volts. If so, your water meter breaker is bad. If not, your main is bad. If your main is bad there should be other things not working in your house also.

 

[randy41]

rather than test the voltage on the breaker just to see if its good i would just temporarily use another similar breaker on that circuit...like if you have an electric clothes dryer the breaker for that is probably like the one on the hot water heater. I have an electric hot water heater that i got from lowes about 10 years ago and it has been faultless (but there i go i just jinxed it). Installing a gas fired water heater means you need to install a flue too...right? I just looked and its an American Water Heater...whatever that means.

 

[ByronBob]

I thought that removing the anode rods will cause the rest of the heater to die quicker, as the rod is the sacrificial part.

This is correct. Magnesium anode rods will react with the water and make sulfur dioxide gas worse when heat is applied to the water.

Tanking the rod out just allows the oxidation process go from the rod to the tank itself. Think about it. Why would they put a rod in there in the first place if it wasn't needed.

I have an aluminum anode rod in my tank. It's better for well water where sulfur is present in the water. I'm on my second rod in 5 years. The first one rotted to nothing in 3 years.

Tanks start leaking in 5 or 6 years when the rod dissolves and people don't pay attention to them.

 

[ultrarunner]

Not to add confusion...

It is possible one leg from the utility isn't working... I've dealt with it before.

An elderly neighbor had his garage door up and I saw water running down the driveway. He said his old chest freezer gave out and his 220 dryer wouldn't dry. It would only tumble.

I ended up checking the main at the utility meter and found only one side was hot. Last night there was a 80+ mph windstorm that probable caused the problem. The utility came out and re-crimped the feed wire at the pole...

It would be nice if it turns out to be something simple.

 

[EddieWalker]

This is kind of embarassing, but when I checked the both wires, I didn't get any voltage at all. Black and groung gave me 120, Red and ground gave me 120. This is what I checked, and it's what the tecks had me check when I called Whirlpool, and then when I called GE.

Re-reading everyones posts, and surfing online, I found out about breakers that stop working. I never came across this before, and didn't even know it was possible. The either work, or they don't

A new 30amp GE breaker at Home Depots cost under $9 with tax.

I put it in and checked the red and black wires. This morning they read zero. Now they read 240. I also heard something make noise in the water heater, which is something new for me too!!!!

It actually makes allot of sense, it just cost me allot of money and grief to learn this lesson. The original water heater is probably in perfect condition. I'll save it and when this one goes, give it another try. Or if this one sucks, I'll give it away and put the 80 gallon Whirlpool back in. I have options!!!! haha

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[studor]

Yep -- embarassing ain't it
My last go round like that gave me a spare water heater which is now in my shop for summer use -- maybe a new outdoor shower? Preheater for the hot tub?
Oh well at least you are back in hot waterh
What brand is your panel? As I said -- I like assumed that the double breakers could all be 220 -- not in all panels -- Glad ya got er fixed
regards
Steve