Hot water heater question - do I really have to disconnect power first?
Question:My hot water is too hot. So I looked at the heater and it has stickers on the side that say in red "disconnect power supply before removing panel to adjust temperature." Why do I have to disconnect the electric first? It's just a panel and thermostat, right? It's hard wired, not plugged in. Thanks
Answers:
it will only take a few sec. to throw the breaker. it will take your family a long time to get over your death.you have 240 coming in to your water heater that means death
we didnt to turn ours down..but there is a warning there and your life...you get to chose
Have an enemy of yours do it, that way if something happens, you'll be OK.
You can pull the breaker in your breaker box just to be on the safe side. It's better to be safe than sorry when dealing with electricity.
If your water level happens to drop below the first thermal controller and it instantly tries to heat up, you could destroy that thermal unit. Expect around $50 for a new one (not installed) if you decide to install it yourself you will need to purchase a special wrench also. My advice? Take to 10 seconds, kill the breaker for the heater, adjust it, hit the breaker back on. Not to mention the personal dangers listed above.
By disconnect power they mean " interrupt the power supply to the waterheater" which you can do simply by turning off the breaker to the water heater.
Why? Safety...you don't want to take the chance of getting a serious shock do you? Especially, in any environment that contains both " water and electricity."
There should be a thermostat u can adjust on the outside of the tank.
safety first! but ive never hit the breaker to adjust the thermostat.
The stickers are there so that if you get electrocuted, they cannot be sued.
How old is this thing, usually the adjustment knob is on the outside of the unit.
Throwing the breaker is the safe way to adjust the temperature. If you are comfortable sticking a metal screwdriver near hot circuits, then go ahead, but the breaker panel is there for this reason also.
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