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Electric Water Heater Issues.. Again..

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Ok, so here's the rundown..I replaced my electric water heater a few years ago; maybe 5-6 yrs.It's an electric unit, 50 gallon, 240VAC.A few weeks ago, I replaced the upper thermostat and both elements, due to lack of hot water.Last night, my daughter got in the shower. 10 minutes later, water was ice cold.This morning, I shaved and used a little hot water. Afterward, about 5 minutes later, I hopped in the shower.. Warm water was the best I could get out of it, and that lasted about 3 minutes, then it turned ice cold..I haven't investigated it yet, but this is insane. The breaker isn't tripped, so that isn't the issue.. I just don't know WTF is going on. The old elements, when I removed them a few weeks ago, had very little build-up on them. I mean 'very' little..I'm at a loss..

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Good luck man. All I can say, is that I love renting some days.

  • Author

Another big PITA with this water heater, is that it's in our crawl-space...:banghead:

  • Author

Full voltage going to the water heater?

I'll be checking this afternoon, but as of a few weeks ago, all voltages were correct..

Kinda sounds like the thermo isn't doing its job. Maybe your new thermo is failing.

  • Author

Top hot-side hose was busted. Replaced it. Now I get to replace every square inch of insulation in the crawl space. Awesome..Sent from my rooted and Android-ROM'd HP Touchpad (CM9)

  • Owner

Since I'm on a limited power supply I've converted my 50 gallon water heater to 110 VAC 1,100 Watt elements. Man you want to talk about hot water it still getting piping hot and uses way less power and water heater seem to last a long time too. Being the water is heated slower and not going through sudden changes of temperature so the glass liner isn't getting cracked / damaged. :whistle:

  • Author

Since I'm on a limited power supply I've converted my 50 gallon water heater to 110 VAC 1,100 Watt elements. Man you want to talk about hot water it still getting piping hot and uses way less power and water heater seem to last a long time too. Being the water is heated slower and not going through sudden changes of temperature so the glass liner isn't getting cracked / damaged. :whistle:

How-to? LOL Sent from my rooted and Android-ROM'd HP Touchpad (CM9)
  • Owner

Basic...Go back to your breaker panel and convert the water heater over to 120 VAC from a 240 VAC breaker. Make sure the breaker is proper size for the elements being used. Then at the water heater you need to be sure you feed is 120V. (Don't test this with the water heat hooked up till your sure of your wiring.) Now your going to have to double check the wiring lay out inside the water heater... But at that point I just screwed in my 1,100w elements and set my temp and kick the breaker on. Double checked again for proper voltage at the elements.

Danger Icon DANGER!
120/240 VAC is very dangerous voltage to work with. If you not sure of what you up against I would suggest getting electrician to do the work.DISCLAIMER: I'm not responsible for any damages, house fires, or electrocution...
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Danger Icon DANGER!
120/240 VAC is very dangerous voltage to work with. If you not sure of what you up against I would suggest getting electrician to do the work. DISCLAIMER: I'm not responsible for any damages, house fires, or electrocution...
:thumbup: Sent from my rooted and Android-ROM'd HP Touchpad (CM9)
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