Electric Hot Water Heater Thermostat Test

If the hot water heater is not working one of the thermostats may be bad.

Electric hot water heater thermostat test. An electric hot water heater has two thermostats controlling two separate heating elements one in the upper half of the tank one in the lower half. Turn off the breaker that powers the hot water heater. In such a case there is a need to carry out a voltage test. This is important especially as open and grounded heating elements result in inaccurate tests.

You will also need to check the water heater thermostat with digital multimeter tools. In this case testing the thermostat is a little bit of a technical task but not hard at all. Testing is the only option if you want to determine whether or not one or both of them has failed. Electric water heater thermostats are a fairly simple devices that can fail from time to time.

The hot water heater must not be active have electrical power while you re testing the element. An electric water heater uses one or two heating elements to heat the water inside the tank. Although most of the cases this scenario occurs for the power supply problems. Look for it in your home s basement laundry room or large storage closet.

When a water heater no longer produces hot water. At times the water from your electric heater could be cold and the heater not functional despite the power being on. To look for faults you will need to use a screwdriver. Measuring the voltage of a water heater thermostat using a digital multimeter.

If the thermostats are okay you need to test the water heater elements. How to test a water heater element with a multimeter. When a lower heating element or thermostat fails the top thermostat and element will continue to heat water in the upper half of the tank but you will notice the hot water quickly runs out or is only lukewarm. Electric water heaters have one or two elements and each is controlled by a thermostat.

How to test water heater thermostat this case might happen for the defected thermostat. Usually when the upper thermostat goes bad you will have no hot water at all while a bad lower thermostat makes itself known when there is only a small amount of hot water before the tap water goes cold. Here are the steps to follow while measuring the voltage of your heaters thermostat. Remaining always on is the most common issue with electric water heaters.

When an upper heating element or thermostat fails the entire water heater stops producing hot water.