no hot water

[Silver86]

woke up this morning... jump into the shower only to be blasted by the coldest water i have ever felt!

the heater itself is less than a year old. when i checked the breaker, it was tripped. reset the breaker, waited, and still had cold water. been having trouble with this breaker. only during the summer months. it would occasionally pop when both a/c and the waterheater were running. they are not on the same breaker. possibly old/defective breaker?

there is nothing that i can physically see on why the unit is not operating.

anywhere else i can look... or should i call an electrician?

[WI_Dave]

How long did you wait after resetting breaker? Is it an instant hot heater?

[Silver86]

How long did you wait after resetting breaker? Is it an instant hot heater?

25 or-so minutes... but usually you can hear the water heater running once you reset the breaker (not sure how to describe the sound an electric water heater sounds when heating the water.)

[DirtyMax]

What amp circuit is that thing on and what else is on that circuit? If it's only a 20 AMP circuit, electric ones can draw nearly that so you probably need to have it split off to a larger circuit. It shouldn't be run on the same circuit with your A/C either I'd assume.

And 25 minutes is not very long to give 40+ gal of water to heat up. It takes me over 30 minutes to get 3 gallons to come to a roll on the stove top...

[WI_Dave]

^^^ Thats why I asked, if the water cooled down enough, it can take a long time to heat up that amount of water. Give it a few hours and check it again, or if you can test if there is a draw (on the power-in line) you will know if its working.

[Silver86]

What amp circuit is that thing on and what else is on that circuit? If it's only a 20 AMP circuit, electric ones can draw nearly that so you probably need to have it split off to a larger circuit. It shouldn't be run on the same circuit with your A/C either I'd assume.

And 25 minutes is not very long to give 40+ gal of water to heat up. It takes me over 30 minutes to get 3 gallons to come to a roll on the stove top...

the unit is on its own breaker... and its a double wide breaker... if that helps (im not at home so i cant check atm).

just called the wife. still no hot water, and breaker is not tripped.

this all started around 4am... pleanty of time has passed for there to be hot water.

edit: oh... not a 40+ gal. tank... its a small unit... 16 gal i think.

[JC70SS]

did the pilot go out? ours did last winter...just a simple re-light.

[Waver]

did the pilot go out? ours did last winter...just a simple re-light.

THat was what I was about to ask

[DirtyMax]

I thought he said it was electric...

[Silver86]

I thought he said it was electric...

dont think i did, but it is.

[Korndogg]

dont think i did, but it is.

(not sure how to describe the sound an electric water heater sounds when heating the water.)

[theavenger333]

we have a semi frequent problem with the electric unit we have at the cabin. when it gets turned off and drained, the coils inside take a small amount of abuse. they're meant to be on all the time, regulating themselves, and cooling themselves with the water inside. if your breaker keeps tripping, i'd bet you ruined one of of both coils. if one coil went out say the top one, you'd get lukewarm water, then get the hot water from the bottom. or vice versa if the bottom coil went out. this can trip the breaker, but usually it trips the reset on the actual unit. i'd bet one of or both your coils are shot. they're super cheap, like 15 bucks. easy to replace too

[Silver86]

we have a semi frequent problem with the electric unit we have at the cabin. when it gets turned off and drained, the coils inside take a small amount of abuse. they're meant to be on all the time, regulating themselves, and cooling themselves with the water inside. if your breaker keeps tripping, i'd bet you ruined one of of both coils. if one coil went out say the top one, you'd get lukewarm water, then get the hot water from the bottom. or vice versa if the bottom coil went out. this can trip the breaker, but usually it trips the reset on the actual unit. i'd bet one of or both your coils are shot. they're super cheap, like 15 bucks. easy to replace too

exactly what it was... bottom coil is shot... going to drain it this evening and hopefully have it replaced so we can have hot water for the weekend...

great week to put the condo on the market... lol

[theavenger333]

if you can get the right replacement part, you can do it yourself if you can use a pipe wrench. the leads attach with small screws like an old UHF antenna, and the whole coil is a large bolt. if a socket fits it's like a 1" otherwise use a pipe wrench, it comes right out, very easy. take the old one with you and get the new one. install. make sure the heater tank is all the way full before turning it back on.

[Silver86]

if you can get the right replacement part, you can do it yourself if you can use a pipe wrench. the leads attach with small screws like an old UHF antenna, and the whole coil is a large bolt. if a socket fits it's like a 1" otherwise use a pipe wrench, it comes right out, very easy. take the old one with you and get the new one. install. make sure the heater tank is all the way full before turning it back on.

thanks for the tip!

thats what she said