Hot Water Heater Repair Guide
Need hot water heater repair help? This hot water repair guide will walk you
through the steps in repairing your water heater. These are the steps I
would take as a professional appliance repairman. So read each section carefully
and your heater will be repaired in no time.
HOT WATER HEATER NO HEAT
First, disconnect power from water heater then remove the two covers on the side of the water heater. Once they are off, you should see two heaters and two thermostats.
On the thermostat there will be a reset button - press it. Now reconnect power and wait about 30 min. to an hour and see if you have hot water. If you have hot water, disconnect power and remove the wires from the heaters; using your ohmmeter check to see if there is continuity between the wire terminal and ground. If so, this will cause the heater to heat all the time, tripping the reset button the heater needs to be replaced.
If its not grounded out both thermostats need replacing. If you don’t have hot water after pressing the reset button and waiting 30 minutes to an hour, disconnect power and check heaters. Remove the wires; take your ohmmeter and check to see if you have continuity between two screws on the heater (you must do this on both heaters). If you do not have continuity between the two screws, the heater is bad and needs to be replaced. Do not take the old heater out until you have new heater!!
If you have continuity on both of the heaters, the thermostats are bad, replace both of them.
If you need to change the heater this is how I recommend replacing it. Once you have the new heater, and you are ready to install it, make sure all of the valves in the house are off (there is no need to drain the hot water heater). Then make sure the water supply to the house turned off. Then crack open one valve and then turn it back off to relieve pressure. Now using an 1 1/2-inch socket, remove the heater and as fast as possible install the new heater. Note that if one valve in the house is open, so that the tank can get air water will gush out when you take the heater out. So be sure all valves are cut off, so that no air can get to the tank. If done correctly, you should not get but about a cup of water in the floor.
HOT WATER TOO HOT
If your hot water is too hot, then it may just need adjusting (note that your hot water should be no lower than 135 degrees if you have a dishwasher) To do so, first remove the two covers from the side of the water heater. Once they are off, you should be able to see the two thermostats on them and there will be an adjustment. Just turn it down and this should fix your problem (give it a few hours).
If not disconnect power and remove the wires from the heaters; using your ohmmeter check to see if there is continuity between the wire terminal and ground if so replace heater if not replaced both thermostats. Note that your hot water should be at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit, especially if you have a dishwasher.
HOT WATER LEAKING
If you’re hot water heater is leaking this normally means it’s rusted out and
the hot water heater needs replacing. Another thing it can be is the pop off
valve. The pop off valve is a safety valve that releases water presser in the
event that it becomes too hot. Note that this will never happen if the
thermostats are working property so replace the both thermostats.
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