After using only a little water for a bath, the water became only luke warm. I checked the circuit breaker, it was OK. With the breaker off, I put an ohm meter on each element. One showed 11.9 ohms, the other 12.9. I turned the thermostats up from 130-135 to 150 and now the water is hot. Could one of the elements be burned out, if they are showing about 12 ohms of resistance?
Hi, There are two elements, top and bottom with corresponding thermostat. The temp is usually set at 145 deg. You checked the element which showed continuity meaning it is not burned out. You have to check 'stat. Some times 'stat fails open or shut. For further info. Google how electric water heater works, etc. Good luck.
If they both show about the same resistance then it is doubtful they are burned out. That calculates out to about 4000 watts each. That is normal for most home water heaters. It may have been a stuck or bad thermostat. The next time you have a cold water condition measuer the voltage across the elements and see if they have voltage on them. It is possiable that one of the elements may be opening up when it gets hot, but I doubt it. A clamp on ampmeter would tell if the element is bad .
Now I believe this was a false alarm, with my daughter vastly understating the amount of water she used. Hot water is back. Thanks for the replies.
on 2/5/2009 12:06 AM (ET) Jud McCranie wrote the following:
Yep. My daughter can go through 40 gals. of hot water with one shower. :-) I tried to get her to take a "Navy shower", but she refuses.
I think we have the same daughter. I used to shut the hot water off sometimes to get her out. She also had more shampoo and conditioner than we have nuclear weapons stockpiled. When she finally married and moved, we did not have to buy any shampoo for a few years.
If she married well, it was an "investment," not an expense.
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:_NBkl.13539$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com:
Give her an 80gal water heater as a wedding present?
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