# heater trouble



## piper1 (Dec 16, 2011)

installed a new 50 tall ao smith.. job went well.. call back next day no hot water. but had hot water the night before. reset button popped ..reset it. could hear it working. after 5 to 10 mins. the main 30.amp..dpdt trips. call sparky.. swaps out the breaker. the old breaker feels real sloppy..(yea thats it) while we are standing in front of the heater talking about it.. the reset pops' 5 to 10 min timeline also.. (are you kiding me) so i swap out the upper and lowwer t stats.. btw elements both read 11ohm each.. checked to make sure t stats are working non-silmultanius... avg. voltage running around 235. hot water for one day. got another call back today . no hot water.. h.o. saids breaker not tripped. and he thinks the reset button keeps popping but is not sure. going back tomarrow.. everything kept passing diagnostics....also i used two diff mutimeters. with the same results. (just in case) also i checked for hot water leak not found. 2 floor. doubled checked no hot water anywere. so its not just one fixture. what am i missing here.  help please


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

How many amps are the elements drawing?


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

When checking the breakers, put a clamp on and measure the amperage it's tripping at...this tells you if it's the breaker. My guess is you have an intermident short caused by the electricity. I would go through all that wire, make sure there are no nicks, exposed wired under wire nuts etc. My money for now is on a nicked wire inside the shell you can't see that came from the factory.

Easiest and fastiest thing you can do is just swap heaters and see what happens. This would eliminate the heater and point to the line power supply.


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## mightypipe (Dec 22, 2012)

One of the elements may be grounding out. This sometimes causes the thermostat to trip, and sometimes trips the breaker, especially a spongy one.


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## piper1 (Dec 16, 2011)

app. 20 amps. but i did not wait for trip point.


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## redbeardplumber (Dec 4, 2012)

Piper1. Oldschool reposted a link to a thread that may help, it's on page 7 of tex's new employment thread.


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## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

http://www.plumbingzone.com/f2/electric-hwt-22612/



Here


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## piper1 (Dec 16, 2011)

you guys are to good to me...thanks after reading that, theirs more i could have done.


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## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

U think that. But il be looking for you when I have to work on a elec heater. Good luck. Let us k ow what u find


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

What is the water temp ... Did you test it with a thermometer...

The reset on the HWT is a high limit not a breaker ...

If the reset is tripping it's tripiping on temperature .... Check current draw with stat turn right down for no call for heat ... Check both side of element for current draw with star both turned on and off...

Do that for both upper and lower ...

If it's tripping at panel could be to large of elements for breaker...therefore wire gauge is also to small... 

Did you replace the tank with identical tank of wattage as the previous or did you up size ...???


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

...


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

Check continuity between the elements and the tank. Every so often you will see them grounded out and causing that issue... Yes I've even seen them do this out of the box.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

20 amps drawn should have 30 amp breaker. 4500 watts should show about 17-19 amps.

if a 20 amp breaker with 4500 watt elements should throw the breaker before limit.


Check upper element, would think sparky would have checked panel box.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

I'd replace the thermostats and the overload and see if That makes any difference

Sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

4500w will have about 18 amps
5500w will have about 20 amps 

I'll guarantee one of the elements is bad causing a ground. 
As the old timer stated earlier.. The reset button is a high limit that trips due to high temps.. I think 180* but 99% sure on that. 
Nothing electrical will directly effect the eco. The short to ground causes the tstat to essentially be bypassed so it just heats and heats to the point where it trips the eco. Then you can reset it and test and everything will ohm and amp out fine.. The test is the continuity from the element terminal to the tank. This is the step I find a lot of people are unaware of. You'll have to kinda dig the probe in to the tank you normally can't just touch it. I'll even go a step further and check continuity from every wire to the tank. This will indicate if there is a wire grounded out.


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## HSI (Jun 3, 2011)

It's most likely your upper element is bad.


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## Piper34 (Oct 10, 2011)

This always seems like it should be simple but I never have any luck I've been in that situation a couple times I like replace tank but not cost effective and it really bothers me because there are so few real (parts) and it should be simple but this is one problem that always gets me I'll be following thread good luck if all else fails kick the SOB


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## Plumb Bob (Mar 9, 2011)

Should have bought a Bradford White!


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## Plumb Bob (Mar 9, 2011)

Definitely would have replaced both elements and thermostats, like you said not to many parts to replace. If you have 4500 watt NON- Simultaneous water heater, a 30 amp breaker should be fine.


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## redbeardplumber (Dec 4, 2012)

What was it piper?


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## Plumberman911 (Dec 23, 2012)

Rheem


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## piper1 (Dec 16, 2011)

sorry guys.. had to go away for a week .. back home now, did not get a chance to troubleshoot it. went and pulled the heater swap it like for like..when i got it down to the truck. nothing jump out and said i'm broken.. the olny thing that i could see, wrong was the lowwer element gasket was crushed (overtightened) i don't know if that would do it? we whated to keep the coustomer happy! there have been no problems with the new heater install .. i do appreciate all the help from pz ..i'll try to apply what you guys taught me, to the next problem heater.. i do think now, that i should have paid more attention to amps. (which i did not) because of that i may never know. what caused the problem.


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## JDGA80 (Dec 9, 2012)

Did someone wire the water heater before filing with water < whistling>? You can pull the wires next time and with an alligator clip to the casing check each wire for continuity to ground. That will rule out short to ground. Then alligator clip to one wire and check each other wire, rotating through the alligator clipped wire to rule out a short to power condition. Wait till you start fooling with the whirlpools that have printed circuit boards, energy modes, and thermistors instead of thermostats. Good times!


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