Testing is the only option if you want to determine whether or not one or both of them has failed.
Electric water heater thermostat troubleshooting.
Touch one meter lead to the top screw and the other lead to the metal body of the water heater.
Too much hot water can be almost as frustrating as not enough hot water.
Turn off the power at the breaker panel.
The reading should be between 110 and 120 volts.
You cannot inspect a thermostat with the power turned off.
As you will need to get your fingers into the area occupied by hot electricity.
If that s not the cause then the heating elements may have failed and need replacement.
Troubleshooting the thermostats and heating elements the first step in troubleshooting a hot water heater is to gain access to the areas to be tested.
However the dial indicator.
Hence make sure you don t touch any exposed element or powered component of the electric water heater.
If the thermostats are okay you need to test the water heater elements.
Easily identify the c.
Water heater no hot water heater trips circuit breaker hot water runs out water only warm thermostat reset button popped no power.
The water heater thermostat has a dial indicator that allows you to control the temperature of the water.
Sometimes merely resetting this bottom will cause the heater to begin working again.
If you re experiencing this problem it s possible that one or both of your water heater s thermostats is set too high.
The meter should read somewhere between 220 and 240 volts.
Water in an electric water heater is heated by two heating elements in most cases.
Turn off the power to the water heater in the service panel.
Also check the reset button on the thermostat the red button located at the top of the thermostat.
A thermostat problem is fairly unusual though it s much more likely that a burned out heating element is causing problems.
When you check different components of an electric water heater you do so after turning off the power.
To check the thermostat settings.
See testing electric water heater elements for more information.
To test the lower thermostat turn the top one to its lowest setting and the lower one to its highest setting.
Electric water heater thermostats are a fairly simple devices that can fail from time to time.