Thermostat Trips Electric Water Heater

Electric water heater red reset button tripping troubleshooting guide about the author based in colorado springs colo jerry walch has been writing articles for the diy market since 1974.

Thermostat trips electric water heater.

How to easily repair fix troubleshoot an electric water heater that trips the circuit breaker or blows fuses little or no hot water. Water heaters have a limit switch that keeps the water from exceeding 180. The thermostats are responsible for controlling the heating elements. When the water reaches 180 the limit switch a little red reset button on the water heater trips.

One on top and one on the bottom. 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. This helps protect you from getting burned or scalded by the excessively hot water. When a water heater starts tripping the eco repeatedly it s time to call a plumber for service.

So you go and reset the circuit breaker. Most electric water heaters have 2 heating elements. We highly recommend hiring a licensed plumber take care of any repairs on your water heater. There is an upper and lower thermostat element pairing as seen in the diagram below.

Diagram of electric water heater. There s a good chance that the water in the tank is dangerously hot and since the problem is usually caused by a failed component it won t get better until the bad part is identified and replaced. The most likely cause of the limit switch tripping is a bad thermostat. Your water heater trips the circuit breaker in your house.

Electric water heaters have a lower and upper thermostat one for each heating element. A diy plumbing water. And once the water has. Electric water heaters have 2 thermostats and 2 heating elements.

When the water has cooled off the thermostats kick on the heating elements to heat the water. First off your electric water heater can actually trip 2 different safety features. 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. How a bad thermostat causes your water heater reset button to trip.

Burnt out heating element. Okay with that out of the way let s look at the possible problems that are causing your electric water heater to trip your breaker. Has this ever happened to you.