The hot water at the faucet is 150 degrees.
The thermostats on the water heater are set at 120 and my voltage indicator shows power to the elements.
I turn back the thermostats all the way and still show power at the elements.
I replace the thermostats (upper and lower), water is still 150 degrees and I still show power at the elements.
What am I missing?
Thanks,
Rich Beckman
Replies
Rich,
Just a thought...
Are you certain of the accuracy of your thermometer you are using at the faucet?
Also, and I'm not sure on this but won't you always show power at the elements unless the thermostat is bad altogether? I think voltage would be present unless the entire tank has been brought up to its highest desired temp with no disturbance for a while and then if you had adjustable thermos., turned them all the way down and checked for voltage immediately.
Or is that exactly what you did???
Mike
Hey Rich,
Check your elements. One may be grounded and need to be replaced.
Check the voltage ACROSS the element(s). It should be 208 to 240 volts. If you check the voltage AT the element, you can see 120 volts even though no current is flowing.
Thanks for the help! I now believe I did the right thing in changing the thermostats. It looks like it is working.
I can't testify to the accuracy of the thermometer I used, but I didn't need a thermometer to know the water was indeed significantly hotter than the 120 the heater was set at.
Rich Beckman
To check the thermometer, assuming the unit can handle these ranges, put the tip in rapidly boiling water. Should read close to 212 degrees F (or 100 degrees C).
Put in ice water and it should read close to 32 degrees F (0 degrees C). In both cases you will need to leave it in for several minutes to compensate for the probe to equalize. Note the boiling point will be lower if you live at altitude.
OK. Many are feeling insulted about now, sorry about that, but this is the same way some labs rough calibrate their equipment. It is simple. Reliable and fairly accurate considering that you don't need an expensive reference that also needs calibrating. This is why I like water levels and enjoy telling a braggadocio that his fancy laser level is out of calibration or not set up properly. Simple, inexpensive technology wins again.