Water heater not working as well as it used to


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Old 06-25-16, 03:10 PM
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Water heater not working as well as it used to

Just over a week ago a storm knocked out my well pump and controller. Since getting the new pump installed, the water does not appear to be as hot as it previously was and also the hot water runs out faster.

When the new pump was installed I ran a hose outside until the water cleared. But, the water took a few days to clear entirely. The first thing I did was flush the water heater, water initially came out dirty but cleared quickly. It made no real difference though, the hot water still does not feel as hot and runs out quickly.

Is it possible one of the elements was damaged at the same time as the storm knocked out the pump? Is there a way I can test the elements? The heater is about 8 years old, running perfectly until the storm.

Thanks.
 
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Old 06-25-16, 04:00 PM
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Highly likely one of the elements or thermostats was affected. You can't really test the elements unless you remove all the water, since the minerals in water will conduct electricity and give a false reading to your ohmmeter.
 
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Old 06-25-16, 04:09 PM
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Larry, seems to me the elements are insulated and resistance can be measured with or without water...unless the insulation is damaged; in which case the element is toast anyway....

The element resistance should be measured with the power off and wires removed, and resistance from the element to ground should also be checked.

Or am I missing something?
 
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Old 06-25-16, 04:24 PM
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Assuming this would work with my heater (would have to check and confirm) I wonder if it might make sense to just pick something like this up:
Shop Utilitech Water Heater Tune-Up Kit at Lowes.com

We have a lot of iron in the water and for $30 and what I imagine to be not a lot of time it may be simple to just swap these parts for new ones.
 
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Old 06-25-16, 05:01 PM
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Paul you are right, I just wanted him not to have a false "good" reading of resistance with the water present in a blown out element. He should get an open reading and possibly wouldn't with water present.

Naiku, the tune up kit will work fine if your elements are of that type and wattage.
 
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Old 06-26-16, 08:30 AM
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Looking on the side of my heater it says it is 240v and both elements are listed as "4500/3500 watts"

It is a Bradford White M280R6DS-1NCWW.

Is the 3500 watts a minimum and 4500 a maximum value?
 
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Old 06-26-16, 08:37 AM
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Did you drain some water from the heater around that time? The elements will be fried if the heater kicks on and there is a large air pocket in the tank.

When measuring resistance, it is better if all additional wires, etc. are unhooked from at least one of the two places you touch the meter probes to. Otherwise other components or subcircuits will be included in the meter's reach which can cloud the results.
 
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Old 06-26-16, 09:10 AM
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If you re-read the ID tag it should say something like.....

240/208 volts
4500/3500 watts

When checking resistance on a water heater element.... NO wires can be connected to either terminal.
 
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Old 06-26-16, 06:36 PM
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Found the problem:



Lower element was split wide open, took a bit of wrestling to get it out. A lot of sediment in the bottom of the tank, tried to vacuum it out but the hose was too big to get much. I left the thermostats alone but replaced both elements.

Waiting on the water to heat up now. Hopefully all good until I need to replace the whole thing.
 
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Old 06-26-16, 08:31 PM
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If the bottom element is sitting in the sediment it won't last too long.

If I read the chart correctly... that water heater comes with a 6 year tank warranty.
bradford white/sites/default/files/product_literature/201-B.pdf
 
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Old 06-26-16, 09:10 PM
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Duct tape a piece of ¾" PVC pipe to the end of the vacuum hose and use a very big flat tip screwdriver to carefully break up the sediment if needed.
 
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Old 06-27-16, 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by PJmax
If the bottom element is sitting in the sediment it won't last too long.

If I read the chart correctly... that water heater comes with a 6 year tank warranty.
bradford white/sites/default/files/product_literature/201-B.pdf
I figured it would not last long sitting in there, I got most of it out so am not too worried about it. Mine is about 7.5 years old, so no warranty left now


Originally Posted by ray2047
Duct tape a piece of ¾" PVC pipe to the end of the vacuum hose and use a very big flat tip screwdriver to carefully break up the sediment if needed.
I watched a video of someone doing exactly this, I figure in a few months I will drain it again and try to get some of it out of the bottom.

At this point I am happy to have gotten it back up and running for $30!! now onto the next job, which is likely going to be back to trying to figure out fuel issues on the lawn tractor and getting a generator working before trying to sell it.
 
 

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