Last March, before returning north, we had a new 38 gallon water heater installed in our Florida condo.
The old one was still working but was 17 years old and most of our neighbors had changed theirs out already.
Being on the 2nd level we didn't want it to spring a leak down on our neighbor below.
When we got down here a month ago I turned on the electric to the water heater as I had always done in the past and I do remember some sounds that I hadn't remembered hearing before. We had hot water so I didn't think there was a problem. The other evening my wife went to take a bath (rather than her usual shower) and we realized the water wasn't as hot as it used to be with the old water heater (which could be very hot while filling the tub).
Here's what I'm thinking after looking at the heater's owners manual (which states "do not turn on the electric unless the tank is completely full of water".) In the past I would shut off the water before leaving to go north and my House Watch man wouldn't run any water during the entire time we were gone. My new HW man insists on running water which involves shutting the supply on and off. I'm wondering if my tank was half empty when I turned on the electric which burned out my upper heating element (which means that only the lower element is heating the tank) ....explaining the tepidness of the water currently? Are these heating elements that fragile that this one mistake could burn it out? I see a YT video explaining how to test the elements with a multi-meter (which I don't have with me but can probably borrow from a friend). At any rate the new elements aren't very expensive if that's the issue but I was wondering what more knowledgeable guys think.
PS; I already raised the T-stat temp a few degrees as suggested in the OM with no improvement to speak of.
The old one was still working but was 17 years old and most of our neighbors had changed theirs out already.
Being on the 2nd level we didn't want it to spring a leak down on our neighbor below.
When we got down here a month ago I turned on the electric to the water heater as I had always done in the past and I do remember some sounds that I hadn't remembered hearing before. We had hot water so I didn't think there was a problem. The other evening my wife went to take a bath (rather than her usual shower) and we realized the water wasn't as hot as it used to be with the old water heater (which could be very hot while filling the tub).
Here's what I'm thinking after looking at the heater's owners manual (which states "do not turn on the electric unless the tank is completely full of water".) In the past I would shut off the water before leaving to go north and my House Watch man wouldn't run any water during the entire time we were gone. My new HW man insists on running water which involves shutting the supply on and off. I'm wondering if my tank was half empty when I turned on the electric which burned out my upper heating element (which means that only the lower element is heating the tank) ....explaining the tepidness of the water currently? Are these heating elements that fragile that this one mistake could burn it out? I see a YT video explaining how to test the elements with a multi-meter (which I don't have with me but can probably borrow from a friend). At any rate the new elements aren't very expensive if that's the issue but I was wondering what more knowledgeable guys think.
PS; I already raised the T-stat temp a few degrees as suggested in the OM with no improvement to speak of.
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