Does my water heater have a bad thermostat?

OK, I'm not a pro plumber, just an old DIYer.
Water heater tstats are very easy to change.
Just look at or sketch the layout of the tstat screws. Then go to a hardware or plumbing supply store and get tstats that look exactly like those on it (does not have to be same brand).
With the power OFF of course, change the wires one at a time from the old to the new tstats, and you can't go wrong. Almost idiot proof, even for me. LOL
Good Luck!
Mike

cdwz said:

Cool! But how does the pressure increase when there is no power to the elements? Is there something connected to my water heater that I'm unaware of? I thought for sure that with the breaker off, and no electricity to the heater, I was safe!

Click to expand...

Breaker off you're okay!
Turn it back on without being fixed...

Redwood said:

Breaker off you're okay!
Turn it back on without being fixed...

Click to expand...

I think maybe the confusion was my fault in that I somehow did not properly convey the message that the breaker has been off for the entire time. I was thinking that people were telling me that the heater was going to blow even with the power off, so it wasn't making sense to me.

The plumber replaced the thermostat today, but the breaker is STILL off, because when I got home from work, the water that came out of the hot tap in the kitchen was a few degrees short of pure steam. It looks like he just assumed it was the upper thermostat that was bad and didn't bother checking the bottom one.

So it's evening showers tonight, because the water is bound to be a bit chilly tomorrow morning.

Geez, this entire remodel job has been a pain since day one. I cannot wait for it to be finished.

Sounds like you need a better plumber!
This really isn't rocket science...
Or, is it!
Do test the T&P valve before power is applied again.

How did you like the video clip?

Water Heater Explosion ! ! Update ! !

Go Back To What I Said About Your Elements ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Redwood said:

Sounds like you need a better plumber!
This really isn't rocket science...
Or, is it!
Do test the T&P valve before power is applied again.

How did you like the video clip?

Click to expand...

The clip was cool! Years ago, my parents' water heater overheated, but it just flooded the basement with scalding water that came out of that tube leading from the check valve (which I suppose is fortunate, after viewing that clip!)

Perhaps I need a better plumber, but I always seem to need better contractors in general. The amount of things I've paid to have done, only to demand they be done over is close to 100%. My only reliable contractor is my floor tile guy.

Unfortunately, I live in a small rural town, and there's one plumber (he's the guy who wanted $325 to replace one thermostat) and he seems to have "captive audience" syndrome. Our bathroom contractor has his own plumber, and he's the one who's done the plumbing for both of out bathroom remodels as well as replace the water heater thermostat. After the job on the water heater... well, let's just say I hope he's better at sweating pipes!

MACPLUMB 777 said:

Go Back To What I Said About Your Elements ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Click to expand...

Yes! Somehow I totally missed that post. Funny how my "$325 for a thermostat" local plumber is convinced that elements never go bad!

I bet you're right, and in fact, I bet the element got damaged while the water was shut off (for 3-4 days) while the bathroom remodel contractors were working on the bathroom plumbing. I bet the water level went down in the water heater and exposed the element to air and that damaged it.

I don't know if it's possible, so that's just a guess, but I do know they had the water off for a few days, and I also know that we have a timer on our back yard yard hose (which is lower than the water heater) that was set to water some new sod out back. I think when the timer opened the valve, the water in the pipes ran out and maybe siphoned some water out of the heater from the supply side or something.

Ahhh, I'm probably sounding like an idiot now. In any case, I bet you're right about the element. How do I check the elements, or do I just replace them both to be safe?

that's what you think

I don't think I have to worry about an electric water heater exploding. A gas one maybe. Thanks for the link though.

Gas or electric, it doesn't matter. The explosion is from superheated steam, not natural gas, and the heater doesn't care how it got superheated. The one that destroyed the house in Phoenix WAS an electric heater, as was the small 6 gallon one that took out a school cafeteria in WI.

heater

How about calling a plumber who knows what he is doing and knows how to test a water heater, and not just "assume" he knows what is wrong, and then replaces parts that are not defective in the first place.

hj said:

Gas or electric, it doesn't matter. The explosion is from superheated steam, not natural gas, and the heater doesn't care how it got superheated. The one that destroyed the house in Phoenix WAS an electric heater, as was the small 6 gallon one that took out a school cafeteria in WI.

Click to expand...

Talk about beating a dead horse. I'll say this one last time. There is NO power connected to said water heater. Breaker = OFF. With NO electricity, the likelihood of said water heater exploding is probably right around zero.

I can see a gas water heater exploding even if the gas was shut off and there was somehow gas remaining in the unit, but no matter how many times you tell me about that water heater in Phoenix, I cannot see how that has anything to do with mine which has NO power and is sitting in the basement at around 70 deg F.

hj said:

How about calling a plumber who knows what he is doing and knows how to test a water heater, and not just "assume" he knows what is wrong, and then replaces parts that are not defective in the first place.

Click to expand...

I wish it were that easy to find ANY contractor who knows what he's doing but it seems like all contractors who step through my door suddenly forget everything they've ever known. And most of these contractors have come highly recommended by other people whom they've done work for.

Unfortunately, there is only one plumber in my town. I just called another plumber who is in the next town over, and he told me, "Sounds like a bad thermostat. Those are pretty easy to replace. You can probably pick one up at Lowes and do it yourself." He's not interested in driving out to my place unless it's to install a new unit.

We need a head banging against the wall icon, because that's about how I feel right now.

Where do you live? Maybe we'll open a branch office

Just a suggestion from a non-plumber.
If you want to verify the elements not "slow heating" constantly, get an amprobe,..........a meter that measures amp draw or current through a wire.
Maybe you know an electrician if you don't have one.

Turn your stats all the way down, and check a leg of your incoming power supply. If it is anything short a zero,..........you have a problem that replacing t-stats will not fix.

nhmaster said:

Where do you live? Maybe we'll open a branch office

Click to expand...

I wish!

Last winter the pipes going to the kitchen sink froze (they're run in the space between the drywall and the outside wall, so it gets quite cold in there) so I phoned our local plumber to come and move the pipes so that they go directly down through the bottom of the cabinet (and floor) so that they would be in the warm ceiling of the basement and not freeze again.

He never showed.

I called again.

He still didn't show.

Guess it's not a big enough job for him to bother with.

Maybe I'll call another plumber to come re-route the pipes, and maybe I can get him to look at my stupid water heater while he's at it.


@Marc: Thanks for that suggestion.

heater

I am not sure about your plumber's experience, but I will replace at least 100 elements before I find a defective thermostat. But regardless, I would never replace anything until I knew what the problem was, and would not even consider giving a firm diagnosis over the phone, based on the customer's description.

We always show up on Tuesday morning. Might just not be this Tuesday morning.

I'm glad I turned the breaker off when I got home last night (after the heater was "fixed"). Even after being off for almost 24 hours, having two showers (i.e. two showers worth of cold water introduced into the heater to mix with the hot water), I measured the water coming out of the tap at 132 degrees.

Bottom stat was set to 120 when I killed the breaker, top one was at factory setting (probably 120 tops). Not sure how long it takes for water in the heater to cool off, especially with fresh cold water being introduced, but I think it's safe to say that it won't pick up 12 degrees when the power is off. I think it was probably waaaaay higher than that last night.

Fixed!

I got tired of trying to find someone competent to come out, so last night when I got home from work, I drained the water heater and pulled both elements. They actually did not look as bad as I expected (our town is on a municipal well system, so you get a lot of white, crusty deposits in the water), but I decided to replace both of them because they're not very expensive.

I took them to our local hardware store and matched them up, and also picked up a new lower thermostat. Got home, installed everything, turned the water back on, purged as much air out of the lines as I could, and finally flipped the breaker back on.

This morning, with the heater set at 130, the water measured 129.5 coming out of the tap. I think I can pretty safely call it "done", but I'm sure paranoia will drive me to check the water temp for a few more days.

Thanks for all the help and advice (not to mention the cool videos, which I used to scare my wife witless)

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it was a bad element all along...
See the 2nd post...

Sounds like it just might be fixed!

Haha! Yeah it may have been a bad element, but I don't know for certain as I just went ahead and replaced everything. The t-stat was only $7 and the elements were $11 each, so I figured why not just replace the whole nine yards.

It's certainly cheaper than a new water heater (or blowing up the house, heh)

elements

Well, if you installed "high watt density elements" which are the most popular HD version, you will probably have to replace them again in a few months, or may weeks. But you will not know it right away, because the bottom one will burn out, but the top one will keep at least a third of a tank of hot water. When it also burns out then you will have no hot water and know it is time to change both elements again.

hj said:

Well, if you installed "high watt density elements" which are the most popular HD version, you will probably have to replace them again in a few months, or may weeks. But you will not know it right away, because the bottom one will burn out, but the top one will keep at least a third of a tank of hot water. When it also burns out then you will have no hot water and know it is time to change both elements again.

Click to expand...

That's good to know. I don't remember what brand mine are, but I bought them at our local ACE Hardware store, and I got the exact wattage replacements as the originals. The owner of the hardware store has been around for a hundred years, and he usually stocks good stuff. He also advised me to flush my heater once a year because of all the deposits in the water.

I'll peek at the packaging when I get home to see if they mention high watt density.