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Posted by Gerry Atrick on March 4, 2007, 10:40 am
wrote:
>The circuit stayed fine thru the night, I ran some hot water and cautiously
>opened the 2 panels on it to see if I could examine anything out of place and
>(not knowing or touching anything) but it did make a pop/knock sound in the
>tank while looking at the tank.
>
>I put the panels back and it brings a question to mind...
>Why are there 2 thermostats on the tank?
>
Because there are two heating elements. One thermostat for each
element. If it popped inside the tank, you got a bad element.
Not too hard to fix. Shut off the power, drain the water from tank,
and remove the 4 bolts that hold in the element. Of course your guess
is as good as mine if its the upper or lower element, so you may as
well remove both. Look for holes, cracks, pits corrosion, and other
damage to the element. They should be smooth.
You'll likely need a new gasket for the good element that you replace.
Or just replace both elements and be done with it. They are not real
expsnsive.
>Tank info: I do not see a year on it.
>Raheem for manufactured homes, model 71-52d b,
>wattage 240/208 upper and lower 4500/3380
> 50 gal and yes it has a double circuit switch.
>>John
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Posted by mm on March 5, 2007, 3:49 am
The first time I bought a new heating element, the AOSmith supplier
gave me a tip.
Don't bother draining the tank, even for the bottom element. Turn off
the power, turn off the main water supply, and open the hot water
faucet at the lowest sink in the house. The water will run for a
while, and then it will stop. If it doesnt' stop, try to turn off the
main water supply again (but mine stopped within a minute or two.)
Then position the new heating element where you can reach it
immediately, unscrew the old one and as quickly as possible, remove it
and put the new one in, and screw it in. The time when there is
nothing in the hole is 3 seconds or less, and I would guess about 2
tablespoons of water fell into the water heater insulation. I left
the cover off for a couple weeks to give it time to dry.
Everything went like a charm. I think I have to replace another one
this week. If anyone wants to know how it goes this time, ask.
This was a screw-in element, but it might work as well with a bolt-on.
On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:40:28 -0600, Gerry Atrick
>wrote:
>
>>The circuit stayed fine thru the night, I ran some hot water and cautiously
>>opened the 2 panels on it to see if I could examine anything out of place and
>>(not knowing or touching anything) but it did make a pop/knock sound in the
>>tank while looking at the tank.
>>
>>I put the panels back and it brings a question to mind...
>>Why are there 2 thermostats on the tank?
>>
>Because there are two heating elements. One thermostat for each
>element. If it popped inside the tank, you got a bad element.
>
>Not too hard to fix. Shut off the power, drain the water from tank,
>and remove the 4 bolts that hold in the element. Of course your guess
>is as good as mine if its the upper or lower element, so you may as
>well remove both. Look for holes, cracks, pits corrosion, and other
>damage to the element. They should be smooth.
>
>You'll likely need a new gasket for the good element that you replace.
>Or just replace both elements and be done with it. They are not real
>expsnsive.
>
>
>>Tank info: I do not see a year on it.
>>Raheem for manufactured homes, model 71-52d b,
>>wattage 240/208 upper and lower 4500/3380
>> 50 gal and yes it has a double circuit switch.
>>>John
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Posted by Dave Martindale on March 4, 2007, 5:44 pm
>I put the panels back and it brings a question to mind...
>Why are there 2 thermostats on the tank?
There are 2 elements as well, with different roles.
Normally, when you draw some hot water from the top of the tank, cold
enters at the bottom. The bottom thermostat detects the drop in
temperature and turns on the lower element. This reheats the entire
tank, slowly. Hot water rises within the tank from the bottom element,
mixing up the tank contents until the entire tank is hot. Because
you're heating the whole tank, it takes a while.
If you use a lot of hot water, and the cold water reaches the upper
thermostat, then it turns on the upper element. The job of the upper
element is to quickly reheat a small volume of water, the water between
the upper element and the top of the tank.
Many hot water tanks have the upper thermostat wired to disconnect the
lower element when the upper element comes on, to limit the maximum
current drawn. So when you draw most of the hot water out of the tank,
the upper element heats up just the top part of the tank until it's hot
enough, then the lower element takes over until the whole tank is hot,
then both are off.
Dave
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Posted by Just Joshin on March 4, 2007, 9:56 am
>Hello,
>
>I was wondering if anyone would take a moment and help here.
>
>I have a 3 year old water heater (will get information on it on demand)
>
> Problem is that it seems to pop the circut breaker at times, sometimes 1x a
>day (or once every 3 days) and then it didnt pop the past week.
>
>Resets easily. Except for today where it made a occasional pop noise from
>the heater wall. Also dims the lights, when it pops, smf when it does pop
>nothing else is off.
>
>Any suggestions or do I need to buy a new one?
>
>Thank you for your time.
>
>John
imho:
You might have something that is beyond just a DIY fix. I was told by
an electrician, that a water heater breaker kept tripping, and the
home owner was mad. So he checked it out, the breaker was the right
size, but the wires were undersized, causing localized heatin at the
breakers terminal and tripping. Good thing the home owner said
something, that sounds like a potential fire problem.
In short, get a quick check by an electrician, the breakers might by
'old' or something.
tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info
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Posted by JohnA via HomeKB.com on March 4, 2007, 12:16 pm
Again sorry to forget to put all the information in
It is an electric hot water heater. 50 gallon one. made in 2001
the breakers say 25 on the 2 of them
The tank would only pop once... 'just a single pop'. Like at no
particular time just random off the wall times would it pop (the most was 3
in a day). Loud enough to hear in the other room.
When the kids take showers, I would sit in the kitchen to listen it fire up
and it would work fine, it SEEMS to do this when it isnt really doing
anything (probably gets bored and wants attention). I was once sorta close
to it today when it did pop and it seemed to be in the middle of the tank but
i cannot be sure of it.
You guys are awsome to help me do this and I WILL NOT do anything that is
dangerous to me or my family, I REALLY appreciate all your ideas.
I have called the company and they told me to disconnect the bottom element
(I wont do it until i get some wire caps tho and when turn the breaker off)
to see if it still sets the breaker off. I need to get an OHM meter and
check the elements first.
Which I will have no idea if that works because like I said before it trips
the breaker when it feels like it and it makes that 1 TIME pop noise just a
little more then the breaker.
--
Message posted via HomeKB.com
http://www.homekb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/repair/200703/1
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