Problematic hot water heater?
Question:I have a whirlpool electric hot water heater. It has an energy smart electronic module on the top of the tank that has lights that light up when there is a fault. Whenever we use the dishwasher, take a shower, or use hot water for long periods of time, the water heater will display on the module "check lower heating element" and will flash this fault the whole time until you press the reset fault button. If you don't press the reset button the hot water will not restore and you're just left with cold water once all the hot is gone. If you do press the reset button, the tank resets and works fine until you use a large supply of hot water again. It's tiring always pressing the button everytime you use hot water, but it does work fine if you do. Any suggestions on what could be the problem? If it's the element, I would think it wouldn't work at all. The electronic module appears to be fine with no burned electronic parts in it. And there is sediment if drained, but little drains
Answers:
It telling you the lower heating element is worn out or not functioning properly.
First make sure the electrical connections are all tight. If they are then it probably needs to be replaced.
They are really easy to replace. As long as you are replacing one you might as well replace both heating elements. They dont cost that much. And it will save you some work in the long run. If you have the model # handy call around to get the parts ordered. After you get the parts.
Turn off the power to the water heater. Should be on its own circuit. MUST DO THIS BEFORE DRAINING THE HEATER OR YOU WILL HARM THE ELECTRONICS.
Turn off the water supply to the heater.
Drain the heater. Should be a valve at the bottom. It your floor drain isnt very close you can hook up a hose to the valve so you dont get the floor wet. After its completely drained. Disconnect the wires from one of the elements.
And use a wrench to unscrew the element. Make sure the elements you got from your supplier are the same ones. Screw in the new element. reconnect the wires. Do the same for the other element. Refill the water heater. Turn on the circuit DONT TURN ON THE CIRCUIT UNTIL THE HEATER IS FULL or you will burn out the new elements.
You may want to fresh water thru the heater for a while to flush out any lose debris that may be in it before you remove the old elements. You are supposed to flush them out once a year but I dont know of anyone that actually does it.
its telling you that the lower heating element is faulty,change IT.
Purchase and put in a lower element yourself. This will cost less than a pro driving up your driveway. If that doesn't work, get a pro and if the element is not needed return it.
the water heater is correct. change the lower element
Electric hot water heaters have two heating elements -- lower and upper. You apparently have a burned out lower unit. When you reset the control unit you reactivate the heater using only the top element. The cycle will continue until you replace the lower element.
check thermostat
I have a question. Why in the world would somebody buy a
water heater with electronic controls ? The old standard
that just has easily checked and replaced thermostats and
heating element works just fine. Anyhow, check the lower
heating element with power off with an ohmeter between the
two terminals and also check from the terminals to ground
to see if it is shorted out. For easy to read information on how a heater works (not electronic controlled) go to
http://appliancequickfix.com/
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