Water heater failure modes

[Snags backup]

The wife called me this morning grousing because there was no hot water . I'm down in Memphis getting a roof put on our house here , I haven't a clue ... this W/H is only like 3 years old and doesn't see that much use with just the 2 of us . We have low water pressure (shitty pressure regulator) and every time we use much hot water we can hear the heating elements "sing" , apparently because the water is boiling off the elements . We also have very hard water , and I'm wondering if because of the low pressure and the "singing" we've gotten a buildup of mineral deposits on the elements . I think that may insulate them from heat transfer and has caused them to overheat and burn out . I had her cycle the breaker in case it was tripped (she is kinda clueless about these things , claims that's why she keeps me ...) and no joy . The only other possibility I can think of is a power surge - the surge protecter I had on our phone line was blown - but none of the electronicdevices were affected so I kinda doubt that . I'm locked in here until this roofing project is finished , at least until tuesday some time , let's hope she isn't waiting for me with a club when I get home ... -- Snag sore and bewildered

[hubops]

Just give me your address again - I lost it - I'll have her putting out hot & wet in no time. Hardness is important, but - it's not everything. The timing of the power surge might be the problem -

- if it doesn't coincide with the gentle tweaking of the pressure regulation. Always glad to help ; Your best ahr friend.

[Snags backup]

Now that was totally uncalled for . Just which troll is this doing the spoofing ? I'm not so good at deciphering all that info . Whoever you are , FOAD . -- Snag Crap like this is why usenet is losing ground .

[bob haller]

might be a bad breaker. water heater breakers carry high current. i checked out a friends tripping breaker. when i pulled the cover the breaker ws melting down.

new breaker solved the problem

[Snags backup]

I considered the possibility of the breaker being bad as I was trying to fall asleep last night . I can rob the one from the generator feed or swap it with the one on the clothes dryer , both are 30A common trip . It's just so frustrating , this kind of thing seems to always happen when I'm not there to fix it . It'll have to wait until I get home , I know no one up there that I trust to diagnose and repair the problem . -- Snag , hoping the roofers show up soon .

[trader_4]

Or you could just measure at the breaker with a meter, without swapping anything.

[Snags backup]

That was the first thing I planned on trying - just as soon as I get home . Being 175 miles away right now really sucks ... and the roofers are moving along , but can't work in the heat of the afternoon . They don't want to damage the shingles , and that's fine with me . Hoping they finish tomorrow in time for me to go home , Memphis sucks . The dog is with me and he isn't used to all the people and traffic , I think he's ready to go home to his nice quiet woods too .

[mike]

I once fixed a water heater for a friend. The bottom element was so corroded that I had to finesse the curved folded part straight to get it out.

The bottom of the tank was filled with what looked like chunks of rust up way past the bottom element. That "insulation" allowed the water at the element to boil and overheat the element. Cleaned out the gunk, replaced the element. Worked great. No more singing.

[Snags backup]

This one has sang since day one and I've always thought it was because I have the water pressure set kinda low - that pressure reg has "gone high" a couple of times and popped the TPR on both the house w/h and the one in the camper (camper has since been disconnected from the water supply) . It's only around 3 years old , probably not enough time to get that much crud built up on the bottom . With any luck the roof will be finished tomorrow and I can get home to see what the problem is . -- Snag