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Electric hot water tanks - thermostat Reinhard 02-16-2008
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Posted by Reinhard on February 16, 2008, 9:03 pm
I have two 75 gallon(US) electric hot water tanks plumbed in parallel.
House is new - we moved in 16 months ago and starting about 3 weeks ago
there has been a shortage of hot water. We are running out of hot water
sooner than we used to with similar use patterns. Water temp is plenty
hot to start with and for quite a while. The problem is about a one-third
to one-quarter loss of capacity. We are now running out of hot water when
everyone is taking a shower, some of us like long showers. If only 2 or 3
people shower there is no problem. For over a year we could never run out
of hot water but now we do, fairly often.

I think the dip tubes must be fine or we would have a problem with the
first shower, not the fourth.

I tested the elements with a continuity tester and all four lit up the
light. I also tested for resistance and got about 14.3 ohms for all 4
elements. That's why I think a thermostat is the problem.

Voltage is 240 and there are 4 thermostats. The make of the tanks is
Giant, model 172ETE-3F7M, 4500 watt elements.

The upper wire block has 7 screws - 4 in the left column and 3 in the
right column, there is a high limit reset button which has no effect on
problem. There is a yellow and a blue wire to the upper element and a red
wire to the lower element and a black wire to the lower thermostat. There
is a temp setting screw.

The lower wire block has 2 screws - black wire in and a black wire to the
element.

I downloaded the manufacturers wiring diagram and the connections match
the diagram. Worked fine for over a year so I assume connections are OK.

Can someone explain how to test and determine which thermostat is bad? Or
could there be a bad element?

Thanks,

Reinhard

Posted by hallerb@aol.com on February 16, 2008, 9:30 pm
> I have two 75 gallon(US) electric hot water tanks plumbed in parallel.
> House is new - we moved in 16 months ago and starting about 3 weeks ago
> there has been a shortage of hot water. We are running out of hot water =
=EF=BF=BD
> sooner than we used to with similar use patterns. Water temp is plenty
> hot to start with and for quite a while. The problem is about a one-third
> to one-quarter loss of capacity. We are now running out of hot water when
> everyone is taking a shower, some of us like long showers. If only 2 or 3
> people shower there is no problem. For over a year we could never run out
> of hot water but now we do, fairly often.
>
> I think the dip tubes must be fine or we would have a problem with the
> first shower, not the fourth.
>
> I tested the elements with a continuity tester and all four lit up the
> light. I also tested for resistance and got about 14.3 ohms for all 4
> elements. That's why I think a thermostat is the problem.
>
> Voltage is 240 and there are 4 thermostats. The make of the tanks is
> Giant, model 172ETE-3F7M, 4500 watt elements.
>
> The upper wire block has 7 screws - 4 in the left column and 3 in the
> right column, there is a high limit reset button which has no effect on
> problem. There is a yellow and a blue wire to the upper element and a red
> wire to the lower element and a black wire to the lower thermostat. There
> is a temp setting screw.
>
> The lower wire block has 2 screws - black wire in and a black wire to the
> element.
>
> I downloaded the manufacturers wiring diagram and the connections match
> the diagram. Worked fine for over a year so I assume connections are OK.
>
> Can someone explain how to test and determine which thermostat is bad? Or
> could there be a bad element?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Reinhard

use a clamp on ampmeter. that will tell you if both tanks are drawing
the same current.

you might have a bad thermostat or bad element.

and always use a analog meter, not digital.

the digital meters are so sensitive the readings can be wrong

Posted by =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=22Blattus_Slaf on February 16, 2008, 9:40 pm
Reinhard wrote:
> I have two 75 gallon(US) electric hot water tanks plumbed in parallel.
> House is new - we moved in 16 months ago and starting about 3 weeks ago
> there has been a shortage of hot water. We are running out of hot water
> sooner than we used to with similar use patterns. Water temp is plenty
> hot to start with and for quite a while. The problem is about a one-third
> to one-quarter loss of capacity. We are now running out of hot water when
> everyone is taking a shower, some of us like long showers. If only 2 or 3
> people shower there is no problem. For over a year we could never run out
> of hot water but now we do, fairly often.
>
> I think the dip tubes must be fine or we would have a problem with the
> first shower, not the fourth.
>
> I tested the elements with a continuity tester and all four lit up the
> light. I also tested for resistance and got about 14.3 ohms for all 4
> elements. That's why I think a thermostat is the problem.
>
> Voltage is 240 and there are 4 thermostats. The make of the tanks is
> Giant, model 172ETE-3F7M, 4500 watt elements.
>
> The upper wire block has 7 screws - 4 in the left column and 3 in the
> right column, there is a high limit reset button which has no effect on
> problem. There is a yellow and a blue wire to the upper element and a red
> wire to the lower element and a black wire to the lower thermostat. There
> is a temp setting screw.
>
> The lower wire block has 2 screws - black wire in and a black wire to the
> element.
>
> I downloaded the manufacturers wiring diagram and the connections match
> the diagram. Worked fine for over a year so I assume connections are OK.
>
> Can someone explain how to test and determine which thermostat is bad? Or
> could there be a bad element?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Reinhard

Which tank is cold?

--
Blattus Slafaly ? 3 :) 7/8

Posted by Pat on February 16, 2008, 11:28 pm
> I have two 75 gallon(US) electric hot water tanks plumbed in parallel.
> House is new - we moved in 16 months ago and starting about 3 weeks ago
> there has been a shortage of hot water. We are running out of hot water =
=A0
> sooner than we used to with similar use patterns. Water temp is plenty
> hot to start with and for quite a while. The problem is about a one-third
> to one-quarter loss of capacity. We are now running out of hot water when
> everyone is taking a shower, some of us like long showers. If only 2 or 3
> people shower there is no problem. For over a year we could never run out
> of hot water but now we do, fairly often.
>
> I think the dip tubes must be fine or we would have a problem with the
> first shower, not the fourth.
>
> I tested the elements with a continuity tester and all four lit up the
> light. I also tested for resistance and got about 14.3 ohms for all 4
> elements. That's why I think a thermostat is the problem.
>
> Voltage is 240 and there are 4 thermostats. The make of the tanks is
> Giant, model 172ETE-3F7M, 4500 watt elements.
>
> The upper wire block has 7 screws - 4 in the left column and 3 in the
> right column, there is a high limit reset button which has no effect on
> problem. There is a yellow and a blue wire to the upper element and a red
> wire to the lower element and a black wire to the lower thermostat. There
> is a temp setting screw.
>
> The lower wire block has 2 screws - black wire in and a black wire to the
> element.
>
> I downloaded the manufacturers wiring diagram and the connections match
> the diagram. Worked fine for over a year so I assume connections are OK.
>
> Can someone explain how to test and determine which thermostat is bad? Or
> could there be a bad element?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Reinhard

This is slightly OT, but I have 8-unit apartment complexes that run
off of 150 gal electric tanks and no one ever complains about lack of
hot water.

Posted by mm on February 17, 2008, 4:09 am
On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:28:04 -0800 (PST), Pat

>
>
>This is slightly OT, but I have 8-unit apartment complexes that run
>off of 150 gal electric tanks

More than one? How many?

> and no one ever complains about lack of
>hot water.


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