Electruc water heater problem?

Hi folks my name is Louis, heard about your forum through a friend that you helped a while back.
I have a 50 Gal electric water heater that is less than three yrs old & over the last few weeks or so started to give REAL!!!! hot water , then its all gone in 10 minutes or so . Its in my tenants place in the utility room which is off of there bath room so I`d like to have an idea of what the issue might be before I call them & let them know I need to come down & intrude in there space.

I`m thinking an upper or lower T stat, or an element, . Is it logical to think if its an element or T stat it might be the bottom one due to the hot water leaving the unit from the top & if the top still works& trying to over compinsate which makes the water hotter @ the top but only heats the top half or so of the water then runs out quickly ?

Thanks folks !!!! Look forward to some thoughts!

Much more likely to be the upper thermostat.

also make sure the insulation is covering the thermostat. if you remove that it will not register ther heat in the tank correctly and over heat the water.

I would give it the full test of voltage, ohms, & amps determine exactly what is wrong. The resistance across the element terminals should read about 13 ohms & open to ground. The upper element would heat first then switch to the lower.

Even though I troubleshoot to the component level. I'm a service plumber and I have to guarantee that my repair works for a period of time. I will then install new upper and lower t-stats and new elements. Also while the lower element is out I clean the minerals out of the tank.

heater

Any of the thermostats or elements can give the same symptoms if it fails so you have to test the entire system FIRST, before you start changing anything.