How To Repair Electric Water Heater? Water Heater Repair

How To Repair Electric Water Heater? Water Heater Repair

Hello, friends, our today’s topic is How To Repair Electric Water Heater? Water Heater Repair. If you want hot water (in small quantities), the electric water heater is a cheaper alternative in the short term than a gas boiler. In the long term, however, this solution is less lenient for your wallet: you may see your electricity bill rise dramatically when you consume larger quantities of hot water, as in winter.

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However, in some situations, the electric water heater may be the most appropriate solution. For example, for homes without connection to the gas distribution network.

Here are some tips for repairing your electric water heater, if necessary, and maintaining it properly.

Repair Electric Water Heater? Know The Components!

The main components of an electric water heater are, without a doubt, the thermostat, the safety valve, the heater (or resistance), and the water tank. The water to be heated circulates in the tank. To ensure that your boiler is in good working order, take two things into account first: first, check for leaks. Second, check regularly that the insulation material in the tank is in good condition.

Heating Element: The Heart Of Your Electric Water Heater

The heating element, or resistance, represents the central point of the electric boiler. Controlled by the thermostat, the resistance heats the water in the tank. Only cold or lukewarm water comes out of your tap? You will probably need to replace water heater the resistance or the thermostat. Have the resistance of your electric water heater checked at least once every two years!

Thermostat: The Brain

If we can consider the resistance as the heart of the electric water heater, we can then consider the thermostat as the brain of the device. The thermostat of an electric boiler is responsible for regulating the water temperature and continuously adjusting the resistance. You only get cold or lukewarm water, and the resistance of your electric boiler seems in good condition? The problem is probably in the thermostat!

Electric Water Heater Safety Valve

An electric water heater may undergo an overpressure, following the heating of the water (generally above 70 ° C) inside the appliance. When the pressure becomes too high, the water must find a way out, which will cause a leak … at least, without a safety valve! Thanks to the latter (also called ‘safety group’), the pressure can escape safely, without the water flowing.

Of course, the correct installation is crucial!

How To Fix An Electric Water Heater

One of the components of your electric water heater lets you down? You can easily replace it with spare parts! However, you will first need to disassemble your boiler, in the required order:

• Cut the electricity;
• Close the water supply and open the safety valve;
• Open the tap until only cold water comes out. This involves emptying the water heater (and therefore, at the same time, reducing the pressure);
• You can now unscrew the protective cap from your electric boiler. Do you need to change the resistance or the thermostat? Start by disconnecting the wiring and then replace the part!

Golden Tip: Descale Your Electric Water Heater

Who has never come across a TV ad touting the benefits of an anti-limescale? Do not take limestone lightly! For an electric water heater that lasts a long time, regularly immerse the thermostat and the resistance in an effective anti-limescale (e.g. half water, half vinegar).

Electric Water Heater Failure Guide

How To Diagnose A Failure On An Electric Water Heater

The first observation of a storage water heater failure is cold water. To get to the essentials, and especially what interests us, a storage water heater is a large white tank composed inside of a:

• electrical resistance whose role is to heat water;
• the thermostat which controls the temperature by controlling the resistance ;
• anode which is an anticorrosive device.

Outside and to distribute and be supplied with water, the storage water heater is composed of:

• safety group, safety body by definition which has several roles including controlling the internal pressure of the tank (max. 7 B);
• siphon connected to the drain – essential for draining expanded water;
• pressure reducer, necessary if the pressure is higher than 3 bar (B). It avoids water hammer ;
• expansion tank, so as not to lose the 3% of dilated water daily ;
• thermostatic mixing valve, to control the temperature of the hot water at the outlet (recommended from 55 to 60 ° C);
• dielectric connections at the inlet and/or outlet of hot and cold water to also protect against corrosion.

Some of these elements are compulsory and others necessary for optimal use. But concerning cold water at the time of the shower, it is most often a problem of electrical origin.

Water Heater Failure Detection

After finding cold water, the best is to proceed by elimination and to start with the simplest breakdown.

Check your energy subscription, it may simply be that the washing machine, dishwasher, and electric heaters were running at the same time. If this were the case, simply increase your consumption plan and you will have hot water. If not, go to the electrical panel and consult the modular circuit breaker and check its position – the circuit breaker must be raised, if it is lowered, raise it and see if it remains in this position. If the circuit breaker does not hold in the on position, your water heater is short-circuited. There are several possibilities for this problem:

• your electrical installation is faulty – two wires touch each other etc. ;
• the tank of the balloon is pierced and water flows over the wires;
• an electrical component is short-circuited – resistance or thermostat.

Detect A Failure In 5 Steps

1. Before working on the water heater, turn off the power and check the terminals of the hot water tank and with a multimeter in voltmeter mode that the tank is no longer energized.
2. Remove the cover of the electric water heater to access the thermostat and the resistance.
3. Check the correct connection of the wires and that there are no leaks on them.
4. If no leak is found, disassemble and test the thermostat – simulate a rise in temperature by heating the probe and observe the reaction of the thermostat.
5. If the thermostat works, disassemble, and test the resistance. If it is an immersion heater, you must drain the water heater to access it; if it is a soapstone resistance, it is accessible without draining. Its test must be carried out safely and if you need to drain it, take the opportunity to descale your water heater.

How To Change The Thermostat On An Electric Water Heater

You must start by testing the thermostat because a cold water problem on a storage water heater can have various sources – faulty electrical resistance, power supply problem, etc.

1. Turn off the power at the electrical panel.
2. Identify and disconnect the electrical wires from the thermostat before removing it.
3. Before installing the new thermostat, set the temperature by turning the knob to the desired temperature – recommended temperature of 60 ° C.
4. Reconnect the thermostat after installing it.
5. Replace the cover and turn on the power.

How To Change The Safety Group Of A Hot Water Tank

Before replacing it if it leaks continuously, chooses your safety group carefully according to your installation and the quality of the network water. Its role is to limit the pressure inside the tank – the heated water expands and requires more volume, the safety group then allows the evacuation of the water overflow and maintains a pressure below 7 bars (B).

Change The Safety Group Without Emptying The Tank

The tutorial invites you to empty the balloon, which is not compulsory if you do it with a little method!

Start by turning off the power to your storage water heater the night before to avoid burning yourself – the water will be cold because it is not heated. Then, after cutting off the general water supply and the water supply to the group, place a bucket under the security group and take a mop and a cork cut into a cone.

Orient the bucket over the safety group and dismantle the latter – protect the wall in the case and make sure to open a hot water tap in the house before dismantling to break the remaining pressure.

Insert the cork stopper into the opening of the hot water tank and remove the remains of the tow, then clean. Get rid of the damaged group. Then redo the yarn seal, remove the cork and screw on the new security group. Connect it to the pressure reducer (take the opportunity to change the seals), to the evacuation, to the balloon, and screw everything.

Then open the supply valve on the safety group and the main power supply and open a faucet of hot water to purge the air. Turn on the power and wait a bit before getting hot water!

How To Descale A Storage Water Heater

Why Descale A Hot Water Tank

To this question, one is tempted to answer simply to descale but not only. Removing the lime deposit in the tank, eliminating the deposit on the resistance, and checking the good condition of the anode can extend the life of the resistance and the water heater. As for the question: ” Why does a hot water tank build up ?” “; the answer is in the quality of the mains water (if it is more or less hard, i.e. limestone) and because the heated water releases the sediments (and the more it heats the more it releases).

As for the descaling, which is in itself a real task of maintenance of electric water heaters, you must first empty your hot water tank. Since this is an anticipated act, have the whole family showered the day before, having previously cut off the electricity supply and the water supply to the tank; then you will have little water left to drain!

Descale A Hot Water Tank In 10 Steps

1. Turn off the power.
2. Remove the balloon cover.
3. Disassemble the thermostat and the electrical wires.
4. Unscrew and remove the plate where the anode and the resistance are fixed.
5. Changing a resistor that works is useless, descale it with an anti-limescale product that is not too corrosive to avoid damaging the metal, you can also clean it with a wire brush. If your balloon has a sacrificial anode and it is corroded, change it; otherwise, it is also useless. The other anodes are said to be wear-free – impressed current anodes and hybrid anodes.
6. Remove the lime deposit in the flask and replace the seal (change it if it is worn).
7. Reassemble the plate with the anode and the resistance and screw it.
8. Reinstate the thermostat and connect it – think of the ground wire!
9. Replace the water heater cover.
10. Open the general water supply, switch on the electric current.

If however, the anode and resistance assembly is in very bad condition, take the opportunity to replace them with a kit. And if the resistance of the water heater is faulty, replace it using the same procedure.

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