d solved it by raising the water heater off the concrete floor with insulat ion.
water. A concrete floor is normally considered effectively at ground pot ential.
I don't know how that would account for it working, unless something else is very wrong. The WH should be grounded via the AC wiring and whether it's sitting on the concrete floor should have no effect.
le in your tank. That's what corrosion is.
Water heaters run on 240V. That's two hots, no neutral, no ground. They'l l work fine if the tank is not grounded although of course it is supposed t o be. There's a risk of somebody getting a shock if somehow one of the hot s does short to the case. The case would then be hot with respect to the f loor, or with respect to you if you were standing on the floor.
Water heaters run on 240V. That's two hots, no neutral, no ground. They'll work fine if the tank is not grounded although of course it is supposed to be. There's a risk of somebody getting a shock if somehow one of the hots does short to the case. The case would then be hot with respect to the floor, or with respect to you if you were standing on the floor.
Ah, yes. When I lived on a farm some years ago, the electric hot water heater in the house shorted to the tank which was not grounded for some reason. The voltage appeared on the water pipes which were fed from a well and pump in the barn. On their way to the well, the pipes were connected to metal stanchions of some 20 dairy cows who used metal water cups fed by the pipe.
Our first clue that something was wrong was when the cows got jumpy and stopped giving milk. We then started getting slight shocks when touching faucets in the house or the barn. I got out the neon tester and found that the tester would light up with one lead on any water pipe and the other lead on a wire made out of a metal coat hanger that I stuck into the ground. The climax came when I brushed a bare ground wire from the house electrical panel against a water pipe by mistake. The sparks flew and the water heater breaker tripped. It was a miracle that we didn't electrocute either a person or a cow. And, yes, we did install solid grounds on the pipes and bonded them to the electrical panel ground too.
Later, we found a rupture in the water heater heating element probably due to a lightning strike.
Tomsic
It seems likely to me that if you have current flowing from the element to any part of the tank, you will quickly erode one of the contacts and destroy either tank or element. If it is to the tank itself, you're going to corrode a hole in it.
Running on 240V does not negate the need for a grounding conductor. An electric water heater must be grounded.
Above you said no ground?
Uh huh, which is why they must be grounded unless they are installed incorrectly.
Which is what may be going on in the water heater under discussion. With the resistance element in contact with the water, he would likely be getting electrolysis of the water into hydrogen and oxygen.
o any part of the tank, you will quickly erode one of the contacts and dest roy either tank or element. If it is to the tank itself, you're going to corrode a hole in it.
Have you seen the vaporizers that you use to humidify a room when you have a chest cold? Some of them are just two electrodes seperated by about 1/2" that go into the water in the plastic container. They rely on the circuit being completed by the water, current flowing which then heats the water. The electrodes don't erode, at least not enough to keep them working for a very long time. And you can't get electrocuted because the electrodes are covered by a plastic shield, you can't touch the water in the container when the electrode top part goes into it, etc. I think the instructions say something about adding a bit of salt if the water is unusually pure and it doesn't start heating on it's own.
I'd forgotten about those.
You have a point. I guess I was thinking DC, which WOULD quickly erode a hole.
They don't produce any electrolysis though, do they? At least not that I've heard. It's been a long time since I've seen one.
As far as grounding a hot water heater, what I said was correct. You are required to do so as a safety feature. BUT, they will heat water fine without grounding; they only need two hots to function.
've heard. It's been a long time since I've seen one.
required to do so as a safety feature. BUT, they will heat water fine wit hout grounding; they only need two hots to function.
Just googled these steam vaporizers.
The modern ones use carbon electrodes. I found an owner's manual for an ol der metal electrode one. According to it, the water needs to have some min erals to work, and if not then add salt. But if there are too many mineral s, or you add too much salt, too much current flows and the electrodes quic kly corrode.
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