Any water heater experts?

I drained my hot water heater today to clean it...

Followed these instructions to the LETTER:

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-drain-a-water-heater/index.html

4 hours later...NO HOT WATER

Opend up both panels, nothing looks burned or wet...???

HELP!

Is there a reset on the thermostat? I can't remember....I would just check with my voltmeter and see where I am missing the power.

I need to clean mine out once every couple years, I have hard well water so it fills up with minerals and burns out the elements.

sixtysix wrote:

Is there a reset on the thermostat? I can't remember....I would just check with my voltmeter and see where I am missing the power.

I need to clean mine out once every couple years, I have hard well water so it fills up with minerals and burns out the elements.

Is it safe to hit that reset button with the power ON?

I can replace thermostat and coil for like $30, will try that if reset wont work...

is it gas or electric? give me a call tomorrow and I can walk you through the steps to check what the problem might be

barnbuilder1 wrote:

is it gas or electric? give me a call tomorrow and I can walk you through the steps to check what the problem might be

Electric....

Thanks man!

Anomaly wrote:

barnbuilder1 wrote:

is it gas or electric? give me a call tomorrow and I can walk you through the steps to check what the problem might be

Electric....

Thanks man!

good, I've never worked on a gas heater..

barnbuilder1 wrote:

Anomaly wrote:

barnbuilder1 wrote:

is it gas or electric? give me a call tomorrow and I can walk you through the steps to check what the problem might be

Electric....

Thanks man!

good, I've never worked on a gas heater..

The RED button don't click on thermastat...

Nothing looks or smells burned out...

Anomaly wrote:

barnbuilder1 wrote:

Anomaly wrote:

barnbuilder1 wrote:

is it gas or electric? give me a call tomorrow and I can walk you through the steps to check what the problem might be

Electric....

Thanks man!

good, I've never worked on a gas heater..

The RED button don't click on thermastat...

Nothing looks or smells burned out...

then the reset hasn't tripped and your either not getting electric to the elements or the elements are not working, the thermastat can go bad also

Heading to lowe's this morning!

Man am I blessed...

So I am by NO MEANS an electrician so when I go to drain my water heater since it's in the garage I ASSume turning off for the breaker for the garage would NATURALLY get the hot water heater as well. So I drain it turn it back on when done...no hot water. From reading stuff on the web I gather that somehow I ddin't fill it up enough and burnt the elements out. Before I head out to Lowe's this morning to get new elements I think, "call the guys name on the water heater JUST to make sure you have a handle on this..." I call the guy explain to him what I did and his response, "you are lucky to be alive, you never turned off the power to the water heater!!!!" In going back out to the box, he was right, dual pole 30 amp breaker, not marked clearly but definitely WATER HEATER. So if I had not called, I would have simply turned the GARAGE breaker off again and started loosening screws that still had 240v of A/C going to them!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so mentally shaken, I'm paying the $85 service fee to have him come out and do it!

I don't look for an angel or a demon behind every bush when something good or bad happens, but Jesus was DEFINITELY looking out for me on this one....

WOW...You are truly blessed Alan...When it comes to electrical in my house I leave it to the experts. I rather pay the little fee the either burn down the house or worse pay with my life. Glad you are ok and everything is being taken care of and nothing bad happened...Lesson learned here for everyone.

-- holy shit man!!



Side story -- I have actually been banned from doing ANY work inside my house. Long story short...I put in my surround sound myself...easy right!?!?

Anyhoo...the installation went fine, until my dog was sniffing by the wall about a month later. I went over to check and the rug was a little damp by the wall. So, I called the plumber and went to work. My wife called me an hour or so later. I thought that she was calling me to tell me abou the bill...no, she was acutally laughing! Apparently, when I drilled a hole for one of the speaker wires, I apparently drilled through a drain pipe for one of my bathrooms upstairs that hardly ever gets used...the plumber was amazed that I drilled through the pipe AND threaded the speaker wire through the pipe. My wife said that in his 20 years, he never saw anyting like it...soooo now I am banned for life from doing internal home improvements.

I am just trying to figure out how to screw up really bad outside so that I get banned out there too!!!

Alan, I am glad to hear that you are fine! Somebody was watching over you this morning!

I hate when things go unexpectedly. I put my AC on for the first time this year and it did not go on. So the end result it cost me 1k to fix. No guarantees on how long it will last. I know it cost 6k to replace...damn effin Central AC...

Next time you're at Lowes, pick up an inexpensive volt/ohm meter. ( a VOM)
Get someone to instruct you in it's use. It could save your life next time.
Even trained electricians never assume the power is off unless the meter confirms it.

Noisy Nova wrote:

Next time you're at Lowes, pick up an inexpensive volt/ohm meter. ( a VOM)
Get someone to instruct you in it's use. It could save your life next time.
Even trained electricians never assume the power is off unless the meter confirms it.

Great point. Every man should have one.

Anomaly wrote:

Man am I blessed...

So I am by NO MEANS an electrician so when I go to drain my water heater since it's in the garage I ASSume turning off for the breaker for the garage would NATURALLY get the hot water heater as well. So I drain it turn it back on when done...no hot water. From reading stuff on the web I gather that somehow I ddin't fill it up enough and burnt the elements out. Before I head out to Lowe's this morning to get new elements I think, "call the guys name on the water heater JUST to make sure you have a handle on this..." I call the guy explain to him what I did and his response, "you are lucky to be alive, you never turned off the power to the water heater!!!!" In going back out to the box, he was right, dual pole 30 amp breaker, not marked clearly but definitely WATER HEATER. So if I had not called, I would have simply turned the GARAGE breaker off again and started loosening screws that still had 240v of A/C going to them!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so mentally shaken, I'm paying the $85 service fee to have him come out and do it!

I don't look for an angel or a demon behind every bush when something good or bad happens, but Jesus was DEFINITELY looking out for me on this one....

HOLY CRAP ALAN! You definitely are lucky to be alive! It's a good thing you called that guy and a real good thing you had someone looking out for you! Glad to hear all is okay with YOU!

Pick up a non-contact voltage detector for $20, Lowe's carry's Greenlee brand I think....could save your life, a VOM is a good second choice as it's handy for cars and such. We carry a Fluke one at work as a secondary test for dead circuits.....Glad you didn't get fried!!

http://www.greenlee.com/product/gt-11/start.html

Glad everything worked out for you. Get a multimeter and learn how to use it. When you do use it to check for voltage make sure it works on a known live circuit before hand. This is as simple as plugging the two meter leads into a live receptacle. Another good tool for a homeowner is an inductive voltage tester. That circuit your water heater is on has about half the power used in an electric chair available to it. It can vary somewhat from state to state but the National Electrical Code allows homeowners to do minor electrical maintenance work. Any new installations should be done by or at least inspected by a professional. If you are unsure what you are doing, contact an electrician. After all, electrocution is not the only hazard involved in electrical work. A lot of people may not know it but the NEC code book is written by the NFPA, National Fire Protection Association. Poorly done electrical work is one of the leading causes of house fires. BTW I am a licensed electrician if anyone has any questions PM me.

Oh Boy, THAT is something ! When I first started reading the thread,
I was going to say, to call someone in. Those hot water heaters can
evidently be more than a little bit dangerous. Then when I saw what
you said happened, I was shocked. Thankfully EVERYTHING worked
out well ! Sometimes it's good to call a professional in to help you
out. This way you can be sure that all is well, and you won't have
to worry about anything. I'm very happy that nothing bad happened
Alan !

Well, Alan, you've learned enough in the past 24 hours, you now qualify
as an expert.