Problem with Rheem 40 GAL ELEC TALL Water Heater 6YR SC 82VH402
My hot water heater tripped the circuit breaker on the house panel. I reset the circuit breaker but the heater still would not begin to heat. I drained the tank and found one burned out heating element. I went ahead and replaced both upper and lower. Still not hot water. I used a fluke meter and verified power to the outlet and the top element and thermostat it was good. However when checking the bottom element with the meter there was no voltage. I purchased and replace both to and bottom thermostats. Still the heater does not heat. The unit is only 3-4 years old installed by the builder after the first one failed after being in the house only 9 months. Is there something else I should check before replacing with a new one?? I'm about 4hr and $50 into this project.
Comment by asker:----
I ohm tested the bottom element 13.5, top 0. Unplugged the heater, drained and removed top new element and found half of it missing/burned off. Replaced it with the old element that was not burned out and ohm checked prior to installing to get 13.5ohms. Filled water heater back up "prior" to plugging in this time. Now l just need to turn the thermostats down a little. The heater is now working : >)
Solution:---
Tough problem here. Most dual element heaters share one line. if this is the case and you have power on the top and none on the bottom I would check the connecting wires one to another. also check the settings of the thermostats. They may be adjusted all the way down. If the wires and connections are good I would recommend ohm testing the new elements. I have burned elements out by introducing cold water to very hot coils (forgetting to turn the water on after flipping the breaker)
Never forget that calcium buildup will short the element. If touching on the bottom you will burn it up.
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