electric water heater woes

[CruisnGrrl]

my electric water heater keeps tripping the circuit breaker

nothing changed with the set up so i'm confused on why it's doing this.

this is the kind of circuit breaker i have (2 of them)
[img]http://homehardware.ca/products/300/36445141.jpg[/img]

sadly nat gas isn't available or i'd go with that.

water heater is at least 10 years old.

[invictus43]

If your water tank is in a location where damage were to occur should it leak, I would recommend having it looked at. Mine started acting funky and the next thing I knew, I had 6" of water on the floor. Obviously something is shorting out..the question is, why is it shorting? Is it leaking into the control box? Is one of the heating elements damaged??

[CruisnGrrl]

If your water tank is in a location where damage were to occur should it leak, I would recommend having it looked at. Mine started acting funky and the next thing I knew, I had 6" of water on the floor. Obviously something is shorting out..the question is, why is it shorting? Is it leaking into the control box? Is one of the heating elements damaged??

are heating elements replaceable? not worried too much about a leak, have a dirt floor basement.

[Scuba Steve]

are heating elements replaceable? not worried too much about a leak, have a dirt floor basement.

You can replace the elements but are better to changet the whole unit. Do you have hard water? If so the heater is probably full of lime causing the bottom element to overheat. Pull the bottom element and you will get piles o sludge clean the heater out and try again, that migh be all you have to do.

[SunnY S]

Usually if a breaker repeated trips, something is up.

Very likely one of your elements is shorting out. Very common problem on stoves, and hot water tanks.

Yes, most elements are replaceable on most hwt tanks.

.

[FullMotoJacket]

Like invictus said, something is most likely shorting out. At 10+ years, it's paid for itself, and if it isn't leaking now, will in the near future. Electric water heaters are cheap. Instead of throwing good money at bad, buy a new one. One of the box stores (Rona, Lowes, Home Hardware, Sears, CTC) will have the size you need on sale that week.

[roadtoruin]

seriously just replace it. New ones are only guaranteed for 6 years anyway.

[CruisnGrrl]

Like invictus said, something is most likely shorting out. At 10+ years, it's paid for itself, and if it isn't leaking now, will in the near future. Electric water heaters are cheap. Instead of throwing good money at bad, buy a new one. One of the box stores (Rona, Lowes, Home Hardware, Sears, CTC) will have the size you need on sale that week.

hah home depot is a rip off, i put in belleville the water heater is $200 more than the same heater in toronto. if i have to replace it (going to see if cleaning will buy me some time) will check out the other stores or wait til a trip to toronto and just bring it back with me.

as for hard water, it has 13 grains of hardness (not sure where that is on the scale) but it is also high in sulfur. eventually i do plan on looking at a water softener but have some other things to pay off first

[FiReSTaRT]

Ohm out the elements and you'll know if there's a short. Yes, they are replaceable, but I've never worked on one, always had gas. Ever looked into propane as an option?

[nobbie48]

The breaker could be getting old as well. As FireSTaRT said you can check the element with an ohmeter if you are up to taking things apart. Conductor to conductor should be in the two digit range ohms. I'm guessing 15-20 ohms. Conductor to ground should be millions of ohms but a few hundred thousand could be OK. I don't work with HW heaters but those readings should work.
If you have a clamp on ammeter (Amprobe) use it to test. The two leads should be drawing the same load. If not there is a short to ground. Assuming the heater is working on 240 volts there should be two breakers. If the same one is tripping, switch the the breaker positions to see if the problem follows the breaker or the line.

Cleaning the tank won't help the element if it has failed but we'll give you an extra marks for good housekeeping.

BTW you should be wearing arc flash gear when working on an open panel. Molten copper is nasty stuff when it blasts you.

[CruisnGrrl]

The breaker could be getting old as well. As FireSTaRT said you can check the element with an ohmeter if you are up to taking things apart. Conductor to conductor should be in the two digit range ohms. I'm guessing 15-20 ohms. Conductor to ground should be millions of ohms but a few hundred thousand could be OK. I don't work with HW heaters but those readings should work.
If you have a clamp on ammeter (Amprobe) use it to test. The two leads should be drawing the same load. If not there is a short to ground. Assuming the heater is working on 240 volts there should be two breakers. If the same one is tripping, switch the the breaker positions to see if the problem follows the breaker or the line.

Cleaning the tank won't help the element if it has failed but we'll give you an extra marks for good housekeeping.

BTW you should be wearing arc flash gear when working on an open panel. Molten copper is nasty stuff when it blasts you.

it's either breaker going, and i had replaced them once. last set would trip over and over, now this set is trying to trip more often

[SunnY S]

it's either breaker going, and i had replaced them once. last set would trip over and over, now this set is trying to trip more often

its highly, highly unlikely a bad breaker, esp when the likely more culprit is a 10 year old electric appliance. why are ppl so quick to blame the breaker when its trying to do its job and save your house from burning down?

[nobbie48]

its highly, highly unlikely a bad breaker, esp when the likely more culprit is a 10 year old electric appliance. why are ppl so quick to blame the breaker when its trying to do its job and save your house from burning down?

Just trying to find out the facts. Circuit breakers do age. Why not eliminate a simple possibility as CG has done?

[01cbr]

Just trying to find out the facts. Circuit breakers do age. Why not eliminate a simple possibility as CG has done?

How come no one has suggested isolating the water heater?

[FiReSTaRT]

How come no one has suggested isolating the water heater?

I have.. You can't ohm out a load without isolating it.. Well, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who values his health/tools

[01cbr]

I have.. You can't ohm out a load without isolating it.. Well, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who values his health/tools

You forgot the second step. Turning on the power to see if its the water heater, or before the water heater.

[FiReSTaRT]

You forgot the second step. Turning on the power to see if its the water heater, or before the water heater.

Ahh ok.. I figured they'd be on dedicated circuits (as I said, all of my experience has been with gas-fired units). If they aren't, yeah, another load could be causing the issue (unlikely under the circumstances, but worth checking).

[01cbr]

Ahh ok.. I figured they'd be on dedicated circuits (as I said, all of my experience has been with gas-fired units). If they aren't, yeah, another load could be causing the issue (unlikely under the circumstances, but worth checking).

Doesn't even need to be a load, could be the wiring.

Its should be dedicated.

[FiReSTaRT]

Doesn't even need to be a load, could be the wiring.

Its should be dedicated.

Possible if a critter got in there.. Worth checking as it should be easy enough.

[meester_jamie]

the best way to check an element is with a clamp on ammeter... turn on the upper element,, clamp on red wire,, then the black wire,, compare the 2 readings, they should be the same. clamp on the cold water pipe. you should get zero current flow in the water pipe.
a bad element can short to ground, and bypass the temp switch,, it will be hot to neutral connection,, well,, hot to ground. so you will see current in the water pipe ground,, when this happens,, the tank usually overheats too. and the pressure relief will be wet or show signs of leaking.
If they are immersion elements,, drain the tank, have a wet vac handy, and pull out the bottom element, catch the water and lime with the wet vac .. if the element is buggered , it will probably take a bit of yanking to get it out,,, once out,, clean out the loose lime,, then install your new element..
good luck... a lot easier to install a new tank.. especially with ferule style compression fittings.. no soldering needed.