Did I ruin the water heater?

Cturner987 · Aug 26, 2009

There is a new electric water heater and we were inspecting it to see if it worked. we turned on the breaker for the water heater and heard the heating element turn on. It was on for about 10-15 min. before we realized the tank had been drained. Did we ruin the heating element by having it on empty?:

JohnjH2o1 · Aug 26, 2009

Yes you did. The upper element is fried but the lower should be OK.
John

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Leejosepho · Aug 26, 2009

Did the smoke get out?!

A local motor shop here has a sign letting everyone know all electric devices actually operate on pre-charged smoke ... and that they no longer work if the smoke ever gets out!

I would have both elements pulled and inspected.

Thatguy · Aug 27, 2009

The element should read 12 Ω.
If you put it in series with 120vac and a 120vac incand. lamp, the lamp should light.

Dunbar Plumbing · Aug 27, 2009

leejosepho said:
Did the smoke get out?!

A local motor shop here has a sign letting everyone know all electric devices actually operate on pre-charged smoke ... and that they no longer work if the smoke ever gets out!

I would have both elements pulled and inspected.

I had a dishwasher let its smoke out yesterday, thanks to handyman connection.

That top element will be tough to remove as it most likely wilted and will come out shaped like a banana.

Damn K-fed (brittany's bf) startin' to look like me! I knew I was starting a trend!

Gary Swart · Aug 27, 2009

Afraid you violated rule #1 about installing water heaters. Never, never, never turn the heat source on before the tank is filled. True with gas heaters as well as electric. Fortunately, the damage is likely repairable.

Runs with Bison · Aug 27, 2009

Dunbar Plumbing said:
That top element will be tough to remove as it most likely wilted and will come out shaped like a banana.

Yep, but it's a lot easier than removing a burnt out and distorted one encased in a thick shell of calcium carbonate looking like some shipwreck relic.

hj · Aug 30, 2009

smoke

I had a friend let the smoke out of his oven's control panel because it was designed for 120v smoke and he sent 240 into it.

Thatguy · Aug 30, 2009

hj said:
I had a friend let the smoke out of his oven's control panel because it was designed for 120v smoke and he sent 240 into it.

But this one is just for letting the magic smoke out of people.\/
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q="soul+weigh"+wiki&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Did I ruin the water heater?

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