You can pick up a good inexpensive multimeter online or any local hardware store.
Electric water heater thermostat.
Each element is controlled by a hot water heater thermostat that turns it on when the water temperature falls below its cut in setting and turns it off when the water temperature exceeds its cut out setting.
Testing the thermostats on a dual element water heater.
I have an electric water heater that isn t working a.
Most electric hot water tanks have two elements and two thermostats.
If the thermostats are okay you need to test the water heater elements.
Electric water heater thermostats are a fairly simple devices that can fail from time to time.
This diy repair guide explains how to replace the thermostat in an electric water heater.
4 elements that work.
Testing is the only option if you want to determine whether or not one or both of them has failed.
Usually when the upper thermostat goes bad you will have no hot water at all while a bad lower thermostat makes itself known when there is only a small amount of hot water before the tap water goes cold.
For a water heater to work you need the following.
An electric hot water heater has two thermostats controlling two separate heating elements one in the upper half of the tank one in the lower half.
If you have an electric water heater it uses one or two resistive elements to heat the water.
Working of a thermostat in general there are three main components in an electric water heater.
To test you will need a multimeter and screwdriver.
If the thermostat stops working the element either won t come on at all and the water is cold or the element stays on too long and the water is scalding.
See testing electric water heater elements for more information.
Reliance water heater 100109136 electric water heater plumber repair pack includes 1 each upper thermostat 4 6 out of 5 stars 153 36 10 36.
Mainly the thermostat is used to adjust the temperature of water for different purposes.
3 thermostats that work.
2 electric power to your heater.
An electric water heater thermostat tells the heating elements when to heat up.
Since most electric water heaters use both an upper and lower element the process outline below is for them.
Testing the upper thermostat.
The elements do not heat up at the same time.
As soon as i turn the unit on it shuts off after being on for just a.
1 water in the tank.
Many modern homes come with dual element water heaters.
I replaced the thermostat in my tiny titan water heater.
The thermostat turns the heating element on and off to maintain the water temperature.
The top element heats the water first and then the bottom element kicks in.