My water heater stopped working today.

[Chris]

I have a Bradford White Hydojet Model M280R6ds5 water heater and it stopper working today. It is electric and i checked the circuit breaker. Last night my wife said that it got really hot and today it is producing luke warm now cold water. I looked up the manual that came with it and then checked the lower access panel. I noticed that the lower heating element connection's black wire appeared to be burnt and the surrounding insulation, which is touching the electrical connection, appears to be burnt as well. I think this is the problem...help? It has now snowed 36 inches or more in my area and this would happen today.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, First thing first, do you have a multimeter? One with Amprobe preferred. Start checking heating elements and therm0stats with power off to the heater. How old is the heater?

[JIMMIE]

Whenever I have an electric water heater go bad I just replace all heating elements and thermostats. The are relativly inexpensive and now you got all new stuff. Hopefully the new wil last as long as the old did.

Jimmie

[mcp6453]

With all due respect, if you have to ask whether a burned wire might be a problem, you should check around for a friend or a family member who has a little more experience with these sorts of things. Be sure to turn the power off.

[Chris]

Tony,

Thanks for answering so quickly. No, I do not but I did figure out one of the problems. The red button for the upper thermostat had popped out. Does this indicate a failing thermostat? And is the lower discoloration or burnt appearance of the black wire and surround insulation a concern?

I think it was purchased in 2004.

[RBM]

What you discovered is a problem, but not your primary problem. I'm not familiar with that particular water heater, but garden variety units have an upper thermostat and heating element that would heat first. Once the upper thermostat is satisfied, it sends power to the lower thermostat, which in turn sends it to the lower element. You need to start at the top, determine if you have 240 volts to the unit- determine that 240 volts is getting to the upper element- determine that the upper element is actually heating, then move on to the lower parts

[Chris]

Ha, Jimmy I totally respect that statement. I was looking more for the answer as to what caused it and how to fix/replace it. I know that it is an issue.

[Chris]

Sorry, I meant mcp6453.

[RBM]

Tony,

Thanks for answering so quickly. No, I do not but I did figure out one of the problems. The red button for the upper thermostat had popped out. Does this indicate a failing thermostat? And is the lower discoloration or burnt appearance of the black wire and surround insulation a concern?

I think it was purchased in 2004.

If the upper thermostat failed, it could overheat, which would trip the thermodisk high limit (red button). Pushing it back in, may get the unit heating again, but it would likely overheat and pop the limit again. It sounds like, at the very least, you may need an upper thermostat.

[Chris]

Jimmie, thank you. The problem is that all stores are closed due to the recent winter blizzard in our area. I will consider this as soon as possible. Checking the water temperature since the red button reset.

[Jeff The Drunk]

Some discoloration and deformity of the insulation can be expected close to the heating element. If the wire had a poor connection it would have likely melted where it was connected.

[terry]

Not necessarily but it may indicate that the lower element, say, has gone bad inside tank (it 'may' for example be in contact, electrically, with the water). MAKING SURE power is off, turn off the whole house if necessary, try cutting that wire and see if the upper element will give you at least a limited amount of hot water. After that get someone in who knows what they are doing to look/fix it. You are dealing with 230 volts, water and grounded equipment and the questions as asked do not indicate any real knowledge of what is involved! PS. Is your life insurance up to date?

[Chris]

Terry,

Good point. I can fix a lot of things but this is not my forte. I will call someone to see when this can be repaired. In the meantime I hope this allows us to have hot water until it is repaired.

Thank you to all that have replied.

[mm]

I agree with this.

You can heat water on the stove.

Also, you can get hot water from the bathtub faucet.

Okay, I'm kidding about the last part.

[Chris]

Lol. Is this place becoming hostile? : ) No, just kidding. I did find an answer to my immediate problem.

[Red Green]

"RBM" wrote in news:4b6e0012$0$4982$ [e-mail]:

The upper thermostat only comes on in high demand situations. During normal operation, the bottom one comes on first. Once the bottom thermostat is satisfied it shuts off. In theory, if there is never high demand the upper will never come on.

Lets say water is hot and high demand starts. At the beginning, the upper thermostat (UT) and lower thermostat (LT) are satisfied.

- Water draws from tank top and is replaced by cold to the tank bottom.

- LT hits low limit first and lower element kicks on.

- At this point UT is still satisfied and it's element stays off.

- High demand causes UT to hit low limit,

- Simultaneously the lower element kicks off and the upper on.

- When the UT is finally satisfied it shuts it's element off.

- The lower element kicks back on until the LT is satisfied.

Both elements are never on at the same time. That's how the old fangled ones worked anyway.

In his case where something is wrong and the water is cold in the tank because it's been off, the tank should try to operate as high demand and be applying power to the upper element right off.

[RBM]

I've never seen one wired as you describe. The typical scenario is a single pole double throw upper thermostat that sends power to the upper element. Once the upper stat is satisfied, it switches and sends power to the lower stat, which in turn sends the power to the lower element. As the hot water is being drawn off the top of the tank, the upper temperature drops and the upper stat disconnects power from the lower and sends it back to the upper element. Here is a diagram of the wiring:

[Stormin Mormon]

I was thinking much the same thing. If Chris knew how to do that troubleshooting, s/he would have done so already. Electricity is a skill that is nearly impossible to learn over the internet. A person should learn, live and in person, from one who already knows.

[Stormin Mormon]

What's needed at the moment is for somone experinced to test the two heater elements. To see if they are short, open, or short to ground. And then see if the heater elements are getting power.

[WW]