electric water heater running out of hot water all the time
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- čas přidán 4. 05. 2017
- testing heating elements on water heater
electric water heater running out of hot water all the time
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I stopped the video and searched for the smoke detector with low battery, when I realized that none of mine had a bad battery and this nasty sound came from the vid, lol. ^_^'
Amazing how hard it is to tell where those chirps are coming from on those things.
I thought very little hot water meant the dip tube for the cold water input was broken off. You didn't check the dip tubes.
I really like your channel - I watch every day. ~Cindy! :)
I would of checked amp draw. You may have a bad stat on one of those water heaters. Then I would of checked mixing valve. I wouldn’t just go by continuity. I too have had elements that were bad and still read continuity.
In our neck of the woods (NY) we use to have a problem with the dip tubes rotting out causing the tanks to run out of hot water too fast.
I got one of those hot water heaters given to me that couldn't heat water. I use it in my garage just for the laundry which is heated by PV solar. Free hot water! After cleaning it out, I started filling it. Soon it was evident that it kept making water splashing sounds even though it was partially filled. It was obvious the dip tube had broken off. I just plumbed the cold water into the lower drain port. These dip tubes break off a lot and the cold water just circulates around the top immediately tempering the hot water. No mystery here. Those drain valves suck for cleaning anyway. Add a T and use a ball valve to really get sediment out.
You need to talk more details. What each wire is for, what the Ohms should be, etc. You need to check the voltage, amps, talk through every step needed to find the root cause.
years ago i worked at a complex that had 30 gallon electric lowboys for 2 bedroom units under the kitchen counters..strange setup. the owners decide they want to upgrade kitchens and install dishwashers....told them we will need to fit a bigger tanks to keep up with demand...what did i know right i was just the head maintenance guy...long story short few years earlier the local gas company offered to turn the whole complex over to gas and basically gives us the water heaters at big discount .we just had to have licensed plumber re route water lines and hook up...this was 90 apartments so the gas company did not mind eating the up front costs. owners said no to much of a hassle. ..tenants always bitched to me there was never enough hot water back then.. no idea what they did to fix it.
So for everyone in here wanting the quick solution and waiting for this video to end, THE TRICK IS TO TURN THE WATER TEMPERATURE DIAL UP. simple. That’s all he did. Checking the elements was just for his own piece of mind and an unnecessary step. Don’t even need to shut off the breakers to adjust the heat
I wish there was a law to keep aholes from building houses with 3 foot crawl spaces. Try changing the anode or dip tube on that water heater. At least it didn't have a dirt floor. I loved crawling all the way across a houses crawl space to change a water meter. I did this in the dark, no lights in the crawl space. Finally changed the meter crawl out and discover that I changed the meter and re-installed the old meter. At least the floor is concrete and not dirt.
Im so glad I got to of my hot water heater tank type and installed a tankless on demand water heater. Most amazing thing ever lol
Those are not the best.
What was thermostats set on
Thank you very much now I know how check the hot water tank
looking great there steve I did not even recognize you! I wish I can lose weight like that!!!!!
In the case where the water In the bbn upstairs shower as well as the sink in the same bathroom get like warm after running for less than a minute, yet the water in the downstairs bathroom and kitchen stay hot, what would cause that? It cant only be the shower valve if the sink in that bathroom is also getting cool as well.
Does the smaller tank supply only the hot tub?
Could also be the dip tube is broken off or a cross connection in the plumbing
Seen a few mixing values cause cross connection. Now If the heater looks good, I shut the cold off on all the angle stops on sinks and see if it stays constant. Then it's process of elimination. Turning one angle stop at a time until the issue returns.
agree with u
Remember Well water coming in at 45 degrees takes much longer to heat up . Electric heater must be over sized , if you are using an 80 gallon you could use a 120 for better recovery ,or a holding tank .
Did you check the dip tube dip s..
The only event I have run into is when the upper thermostats sequencer contacts that then supply power to the lower element only after the upper is done heating fail,then the water heater only heats the top part of water in the tank giving it low recovery and reduced capacity ,, the element would test fine but it never gets any power when that happens. usually the upper thermostat shows signs of damage when that happens ,, but I have seen one fail where it was not obvious when looking at it.. a broken cold water dip tube will also do this .
That basement reminds me of the dude in the hole in the ground off rhe movie joe dirt. Lol
how high can I safley set my water heater to elctric
I'd bet money, turning up the therm did not sort the problem. If the system works one day and not the next. Turning up the heat is not the issue.
I've had elements that were shorted out that showed continuity. I always confirm ohms now when testing them. 3000w should be +/- 19 ohms.
If he's got a jacuzzi tub then yeah, too small!
I've never seen a circuit breaker panel with so much space between the left and right side
My electric hot water heater fills with sediment about every 5 years. That will decrease availability of hot water, without affecting temperature.
I ran into issues with the electric hot water heaters, in areas with very hard water, where the elements get crusted with calcium. Even though continuity was good through the element, the heavy calcium crusted elements were not heating the water properly.
Pete Ciallella I live in a hard water area and I have actually been able to read ohms through the elements and they have 230v but pulling little to no amperage
Why are you whispering in this video. Is it because your secretly a super hero too.
Thanks for the upload Sir.. 👷
I check amp draw too see if the element is good
Really missed the point of this vid. Comments are more enlightening than vid.
thank's for sharing steve Excellent video how is the baby mama doing????
My unit was dead. Found the overload button on upper thermo was tripped. Heating elements both good (11 ohms). Upper thermostat tested good. Found the lower thermostat was broken (open). Replaced that and unit works great now.
That's what I was suspecting (pertaining to this vid) as a reason for not enough hot water. However, in this case, initially the water does get hot but just can't keep up with the demand. Meaning that it is unlikely the thermostat in this case. Like he noted, it's just a matter of the lower efficiency of electric heaters.
First thing I look at with water heaters is to drain them and see what sort of sediment has built up and or for signs of corrosion. I didn't see a drop of water on this video. The sediment will build up and burry the lower heating element. Then check the anode rod. Once that wears out the tank rusts out eventually needing replacement. I'm just a maintenance guy rather then electrician or plumber but sediment/rust issues, and what it does, are 90% of the Water Heater problems i've seen.
I say this cause I've seen WH's set really high in order to counter the smaller capacity and degrading performance. Never dealing with the cause when maintenance can still be done before outright replacement is needed.
+1 for tankless water heaters when the homeowner is willing to upgrade to one. But be sure to clean the sediment out of them out every year. Cleaning them is eazy compared to a tank and can make a tankless last 20 years.
You can put a Niagra external heat pump right in front....or heater booster both will give them more hot water actually cheaper...
What's the solution???
Steve you let me down here! You never checked incoming voltage, amp draw or thermostat operation also could be bad breaker; I've seen all, some in combination!
Jack Edwards stick to flipping burgers at McDonald's coach.
What about dip tubes ?
@@mrbachittarsingh9243 legitimate observation. I had the same thought . What's your problem?
Tank is not strapped. Any safety issues?
I just started running out of hot water in the middle of a shower, Replaced the element 1 year 1/2 ago. Pulled it out again and it was split wide open with so much calcium on it I could open a new calcium supplement company. Coral calcium does not have shit on South eastern Pennsylvania well water.
If there are teenagers...never enough! :-)... But, I quiz folks real good...super hot for 5 minutes? (bottom element)...luke warm after 5?...dip tube. I've read good continuity on bad elements with our bad water....calcification right at flange. Good video once again!
Don't bother cutting the phone call out. Your just wasting everyones life.
Step 1-Verify complaint. Also wonder how they change the anode rod on that first heater.
And how in the F are you supposed to get that out of there if you have to replace it ??
Voltage comin in. Ohms on elements. Double pole breaker bad leg maybe
Try installing a tankless heater we had 6of them for my building saved us money
Dip tube?
2 hot water heaters, 300 amps breaker. Is this a house and how big is this house. Wow
I would have at least checked continuity across the thermostat's and drain a few gallons out to see if tank is gelled full.
Dip Tube ???
With only a 40 gallon tank, one teenage daughter and you yourself will never get a hot shower..... 😂
You never checked for line voltage you could have a bad 2 pole breaker sending only 1 leg
que
Then it would not heat at all and the unit would produce no hot water
Or the thermostats
I think he's missing continuity 🤣
Dang 500amp Service that must be a big house
or apartment building
Tankless all the way, that will handle his hot tub
maybe if they have gas. gas ones only provide 5gpm of hat water continuous. that's one rated at 240mbh. if you're using a hot tub all the time you'd need at least 2 of them twinned together. electric tankless units wouldn't do it. the company i work for sells them and we try to steer people away from tankless units if they have whirlpool tubs.
Jim Y
Why not just use a higher power tankless electric water heater? (Permitting that they have the capacity in that hefty 300A main panel to add such a thing in there!)
in new england anyway where the water comes in at 40f in winter we need a 70-80f rise which the mac gas unit can only do 5.1gpm. electrics don't come close it's take multiple units and the cost of electricity would be prohibitive..
Checked power goin in
Is it common to have two different hot water tanks or two different boilers? Never in my life have we had that, even with 5200 square feet growing up.
Who knows, the building above could be 2 units. Maybe it's a single unit that put in a second water heater when they installed a jaccuzzi tub or a whirlpool. No, not always common, but there's likely a reasonable explanation why there's 2 heaters in the same basement.
my rocket scientist of a brother replaced his shower head with an unrestricted one & wondered why his hot water was then giving out so early.
Did he install the Commando 450 recommended by Kramer?
@@nickv4073 He probably used a Commodore-64 recommended by The 8-Bit Guy.
@@nickv4073 I was just about to type that lol
I think the Temp Dip went bad on mine because when I took a shower it was nice hot water then after 10 or 15 mins its starting getting cooler
i like steven but i've seen his videos and sometimes he does not take the time to check stuff thoroughly, maybe he is burnt out
Get a 100lb propane if you can't get NG Cost me $250-280 for 7 months for a 75 gallon HW tank, dryer and 2 propane stoves. Use oil heat still in NE still cheap for now...
That home is begging for a natural gas fired system! Next level!
Why you wear gloves on drinking water or working with electricity? I still not understand.
I got my water heater on a timer. I only heat water at night when electricity is 1/4 to 1/2 the cost of the day. Mostly used during day for shower and I still have hot enough water for warm water at the sink at night. Can't believe he runs out of hot water with two water heaters on all the time.
Taluvian that used to be very common, with the electric company installing a special meter with integrated time switch just for the water heater.
Never liked electric water heaters. They have too long of a recovery time. With a 300 amp main you know that everything in that house is run on electric!
It makes sense considering that many places use natural gas to make the electricity.
Checking continuity does little good. Instead, check resistance (Ohms) for each element. A typical 5500 watt element will read about 8-10 Ohms (on a typical 220-240V hookup). Smaller 3500 watt element will read 16 ohms on 220-240V, or about 4 ohms on a 115-120V circuit.
If the elements check okay, I would look for a broken dip tube (which lets cold water directly into the top of the tank), or sediment at the bottom. Chances are the tank needs to be flushed.
Turning up the thermostats fixes nothing, and is the hallmark of a lazy plumber, or one who does not have enough knowledge.
You better look up the definition of Ohm's and continuity. You kinda know what you're talking about.
I'd be more concerned with the failing battery in the smoke detector!
Butch s Favorite Hardy soooo annoying with that chirp
My lower element kept burning out. All that sediment lime, calcium or whatever used to build up and overheat the lower element.
switch to "low watt density" element type, same wattage but heat is distributed over a much larger radiant surface so minerals wont build up on the element surface as fast and cause it to burn up when it cant transfer heat to the water..
Steve is next level
Too bad you whispered through the whole thing. It would have been a lot more enlightening if you had talked loud enough for people to hear and for you to explain what you were doing.
That's a Big Main Breaker. I am Pretty Sure that You don't use Electric Heat Where You live.
tank could be full of calcium
Get them a new battery for that smoke detector that keeps beeping
Bad mixing valve allowing cold water in the hot side maybe
Or not letting hot out.
A Tankless Electric Water Heater would be the solution in this case.
Solution add a third and fourth water heater one for the dishwasher and laundry and then one for the master bathroom.
one for upstairs and downstairs
I like that one Steve never heard it before older since mobey dick was a mino good one !
The inlet tube might be broken off.
Don't see how setting therms higher is of any help; what water there is is hotter but not more hot water. Also assuming back to back showers could have been confirmed by asking them. Your comment was their complaint was running out of hot water all the time; implies more than when showering and laundering.
they have a hotub bro, with that system, they fucked
This video is scary as f@(/
I bet if they switched the shower heads to Water sense the water would last longer.
These people look like they have money. I would suggest a tankless water heater.
I just say text me the address it is a valid correct call when busy .
Tell them they’re wasting $$$ using electric switch to gas or oil!!!
Bought a home with new electric hot water heater and it sucks.
I'm going to tech for residential and commercial electrical wiring
amazing ,a plumber play w/ electricity
Why you whispering? Someone down there
anal rape demons
I’m a electrician and I test more things on a water heater . They can fool you.
Yeah they can. I have had a couple of 120V units with hot/neutral reversed. 💥Ouch! Now it's *always* V first. Several have had elements that go open as they heat up, so it's A second.
My solution to an electronic waterheater running out of hot water... get rid of it and get a natural gas waterheater.
My apartment has a gas water heater which runs the heat too (loop runs off it to the air handler). ~850sq feet with 14' ceilings in a no insulation converted mill. 50 gallon high power 65k BTU power vent unit (.72 EF). I can run the heat, start the dishwasher, start a hot wash (low efficiency top loader, 20 gallons to fill), and still take a nice long hot shower. It's beautiful. Highest gas bill this past winter was $86. Sadly this place was cheap and our stoves and dryers are electric.
Yeah... Cut a hole in your roof to vent the chimney, run a gas line where there is none. Genius solution.
Wasted data, let your camera close to the elements and the thermostats so we can see what you are doing. Am not here to be looking at hand movements and screw drivers from afar, once again you have wasted my data.