Electric Water Heater Not Heating Water (Trips Breaker) 

Very good video. However, I STRONGLY recommend that you drain the water heater completely before removing the heat element to be on the safe side. I followed the video hoping to perform a quick element swap. However, there was years of mineral and sediment build-up. And once the element was loosened and partially removed I could not pull it out all the way and could not screw it back in. Never realized how much 40 gallons is. The result was a clean garage floor and lesson learned. Very glad the water heater is in the garage!

This was the fourth vid I watched on the subject. Yours was the only one which described WHY a bad element trips the breaker, as well as the only one showing how to do the change with the tank full. You rock my man, thank you!

Thank you so much for the step by step instructions! I did drain my tank, but otherwise followed your instructions precisely. For a bit over $50, which included both elements and the 1.50” socket, we can eek out a few more years from our 2016 heater. Saved a bundle versus the cost to replace, and I can’t thank you enough. 👍

Thank you for this information. It's been a long time since my water heater has had problems. So, I'm sure this video will help me soon! Thanks for all the time and effort you've put into this video and looking forward to the next one!

Excellent explanation particularly showing how a corroded element can trip a breaker. When I was a teenager growing up on my stepfather's farm, we had this problem with the lower heating element on his 50 gallon electric water heater. Except the corrosion happen closer to the center of the element and as such, had a high enough resistance to ground that not enough current was drawn to pop the breaker. The reset button on the upper thermostat was jammed, and the water overheated near boiling, something during the night. Discovered this in the morning because the hot water at the kitchen sink was, let's just say hot enough to brew coffee. Went to the basement with Dad to investigate the situation and the pressure relief valve was running full force. That explains why I was awakened by the sump pump during the night with calm weather. That's the time I wish the breaker box wasn't in the basement 😄

Just wanted to say thank you!!! Had this exact issue and I knew I would be able to fix the issue but did not know the reason for the problem and you shed light on this issue. So , Thank you sir. Hope you and yours are blessed more each day.

Thank you so much for this. My wife and I just closed on our first house a week ago and moved in yesterday. we had hot water last night but discovered no hot water this morning. We had a lot going on today so was only able to investigate this evening and found that the breaker was tripped. It hasn't tripped again yet and still waiting to check for hot water but thanks to this video I'll know exactly what to look for if it continues tripping.

My day just went from poopy to awesome. I feel confident I know the reason why the breaker keeps tripping now. I just replaced one heater element but I’m sure the other one is now corroded as well. This video is so well put together, informative, and easy to follow. I really enjoyed it

Thank you so much for this. My wife and I just closed on our first house a week ago and moved in yesterday. We had a lot going on today so was only able to investigate this evening and found that the breaker was tripped. It hasn't tripped again yet and still waiting to check for hot water but thanks to this video I'll know exactly what to look for if it continues tripping.

Thanks man! You just changed my day from horrible to not-so bad I can do this. Thanks for taking your time to explain in detail and to get good shots. I try to fix things at home as much as I can but this was a bit out of my league. Even called an electrician thinking it was not the heater. Ordering the lower resistance now. Thanks again.

Great video and narrative on explaining everything in layman's terms. Thanks, I appreciate your time and efforts.

This worked! Great explanation, helpful visuals, perfect pacing. Called the manufacturer and immediately got the part number for the element, which I found at a local plumbing supply for $15 (generic). Had to buy the tool, but that’s ok (there’s always the other element to fix eventually). Everything else went as described. Thank you so much!

Your video is super helpful/Informative. I feel confident enough to test my tank. I won’t be doing the repair but after watching your video I’m most certainly I could. Thank you so much.

Thanks so much for the very step by step explanation, have done this once before years back .Good to have A refresher. Didn't have a multimeter at that time.

Thank you so much! Your video is still useful today as far as my experience! This solved a problem I did running to the last two days with my waterheater.

This is very good. Covered the important steps very well. Thanks.

Thank you! My Unit is 16 years old and I had feeling the element was shot. Good video! Subscribed

Thank you! I'm going to buy the tools and hopefully I'll have hot water again soon.

I came to your video because my water heater kicked off the breaker. EVERYTHING you said was what was happening to mine. I used your video to fix mine. Also, forget the crappy socket and buy a real serious one. At Lowe’s, they have a set of the crappy sockets for 19.99. NONE OF THEM will fit the new elements on big tanks. Skip them . You will want to get a six sided 1 1/2 inch or 38 mm socket. I tried to remove the elements with the non-6 sided socket, and it halfway threaded the nut as it is thin. So 6 sided impact, especially for old tanks (20 yrs). And yes, I am subscribing to this. Thank you.

I recently replaced my water heater with a Rheem and the lower element burned out in three months. Our water is very hard from a well. I pulled the element and found it was completely corroded with half inch of scale on it and burnt in two! This prompted me to do some investigating and I found out, the straight elements, such as the one you removed in this video, are more susceptible to corrosion, especially in hard water areas. I then learned that the U shaped elements are made for that very reason, and are less susceptible. Not only that, but since there is more heating surface area, more efficient at heating the water as well. Needless to say, I replaced them both.... Just food for thought!

You sir are a life saver. Thank you so much! Now my wife won't think i am clueless about how I go about fixing our water heater.

Cool very informative down to how to use the multimeter. Gonna go out and buy one to check mine out cause its tripping my breaker. Thanks a lot!

This was awesome. Fixed it . Bang !!! 💪💪💪 This vid is worth an $875 water heater Changeout job ...

Excellent job of explaining step by step on first finding the problem and then how to repair it. I came here to find out the ohms range on the elements and you also answered that. While you were reinstalling the wire it reminded me of the trouble I used to have with the screw pushing the wire away because I didn't put the wire on the right side of the screw so that it would pull the wire tighter into the connector instead of forcing it out. You knew and automatically done it without thinking but I thought it might be worth mentioning for those that might not know. That's for sharing your knowledge with us.

Excellent workmanship!

Thanks man. This video saved me a ton of cash doing it myself.

Very well done and introduced easy and applicable instructions

Thanks so much, saved me tons of money, tested it just like you showed, turns out it was a bad breaker, replaced that and hot water was back!

you might not need it, but showing some support. Great stuff

very good video, thanks

Absolutely helpful. Thank you

Great video-straight forward and to the point. I did this several years ago, have to do it again and this refreshed my memory. Thanks!

diy vids are my favs, thx

Maaaaaaan,You’re the best.. the multimeter made the problem solving so much easier.... Thanks for the help..👍🏽

I would like to thank you for properly calling this a "water heater". It drives me nuts when people say "hot water heater". Nobody would ever need a hot water heater because if the water was already hot there would be no reason to heat it.

Very well explained and easy to follow video thank you...I have a Rheem Optima got up this morning and the power supply had tripped so no hot water.I did everything you explained and the top element was 17.7 and the bottom 15.8 ( is that normal ?) and no readings when touching screw to the tank.....so I reset it and it was good for 10min then tripped again....so I guess I have a problem elsewhere,but once again thanks for a very informative video....Subscribed.

Thanks keep up the good work

Good video. Not having a multimeter I'm just going to take turns disconnecting the upper and lower elements.

Thank you for the video

Amazing and easy

Nice job and good video.

Thanks for sharing and regards.

This was so helpful and easy to understand! I can't thank you enough!

Good video!

Ty so much

great job

Great video 👍🏾

i’m not sure if i can do this yet, but i jus put these items in my amazon cart. definitely giving it to leasing office for reimbursement. i’m checking out the outside of the heating elements…… there’s a dark yellow hardening of stuff around them both, upper and lower . is that sign of inner corrosion ?!

thank you

My son just got out of the shower accusing me of using all the hot water. I didn’t hop into the shower as of yet. Went down and checked the circuit breaker and it was tripped. When I turned it on I heard a pop inside the tank. Opened RU-vid and viola you have the exact same water heater as I do. Going to test it momentarily. Thank you for the video.

Gracias Hermano, my heater don't work and I'm gonna check this.

Thank you for this information.

I just used one of your videos to help fix a water pipe leak that was split in the ground. I used your pvc pipe video to fix it. Now that that's fix my water is not getting hot so I'm wondering if I was supposed to turn the electric hot water heater off when I turn the water off at the water main. It took me awhile to fix the pipe so it was off alittle while. The strange part is the hot water faucet side gets kinds like warm but never heard to hot. I hope not to have to replace a hot water heater since I really cannot afford it. My dryer just broke , it quit spinning around and usually it a heating element but not this time. Lol, real life struggles. Binge watching your videos tonight. New sub!

Thank u for informative video. Would u please tell me how old this wh is and model number and where did u get replacement part and also model number?

Change your anode rod every 5 years depending and tank can last 30 years. Pick proper material depending on water.

awesome

Nice

Great video. I need to remove the upper Electric Thermostat on my water tank. Trouble is when I tried to do this, I was unable to wiggle it free. The bottom seemed to be in a slot. How am I supposed to remove this so I can put in a new one?

If you want to do this, consider removing the other heating element to inspect it and take a minute to drain the heater.

This is a very well done video, BUT ... I was able to screw up some things that weren’t anticipated. Forgive me if I repeat something that was covered, but it’s been about a week since I watched it. LESSON: Before you do much of anything else, get the exact replacement part (OEM). I did not empty the hot water heater figuring that a small amount of water on the basement floor wouldn’t be an issue. The heating element (lower) was so badly corroded that it refused to come more than half way out. By the time I’d wrestled it out, a fair amount of water had escaped. I’d had some difficulty finding the correct replacement element so I went with one from a local hardware store ($13) that had the “same” specs. It went right in, but the threads didn’t match up, didn’t even “catch.” More water escaped. Now I’m in a little bit of a bind. I’ve got an almost full 50 gallon hot water heater leaking water around the replacement element (which did stay in place even though it wasn’t screwed in). I got a long hose in an effort to drain the heater, but for some inexplicable reason, the threads here didn’t match, and the leaking around that connection leaked like crazy. I used a hacksaw to cut off the corroded tubes from the old element and used the threaded part as a plug. At this point I had water all over, a new, useless heating element, an almost empty heater, and no proper replacement element. I called Kenmore, and they tried to sell me a 4500W element ($88) when the specs clearly stated that 3800W was needed. With more research, I found the proper part on Amazon ($40) that would arrive in 5 or 6 days. After almost a week with no hot water, the element arrived yesterday, it fit, and we’re back in business. LESSON: Before you do much of anything else, get the exact replacement part (OEM).

First off nice video and help full, now for a question for you. Our water heater does not seem to kick out the hot water like it used to, only have one element a 3500w one and just gave it a test and is reading 16.9 and thermostat is set around 135 degs any thoughts?

Great Video. Thank You. Is it possible if you can tell me how to fix the water pressure on the water heater? The water company turned off our water by accident, they had the wrong address. After they turned the water back on the water pressure went down & when we called them they told us we had to get ahold of a plumber to fix it because all they did was turn off & on the water. I can't tell you how mad & upset we are. Thank You for your time.

Legrand RCCB trips, when i start electric geyser/exhaust Fan, both equipment are new.

Just got an Electric "lowboy" 40 gallon under-countertop water heater installed. When the plumbing guys left after install, it took about 4 hours for the water to get hot. When I got back several days later, no hot water, and the circuit breaker was still on (in other words, it hadn't shut off). Any idea what might have happened to stop the thing from working? Plumber is coming out in a couple of days, but any pointers you might share? Bless you!!

The breaker for the water heater is tripped and won’t go back to ON position, there’s a burnt smell coming from the water heater. No hot water is coming out. Does this mean I need to replace it or can I have a plumber fix it? I already called a plumber and described the issue and he said I need a new one. Quoted me $1,200 for parts and labor. I live in a one bedroom condo and the water heater is Rheem 40 gallons. What should I do?

@ElectronicsNmore what if you've replaced both elements and thermostats,what causes the breaker to keep flicking off?

Will it have a very low resistance if it is failing and tripping the breaker? Because presumably if it fails by rising, it will just not heat the water. They should gold plate these things. Even if adds 10 dollars to the price, it would better to not have all that corrosion in your water and it would last a lot longer. Why didn't you replace the top one as well?

Hi sir good video the top of my wiring look like it's fried my water heater gets hot but it trip the breaker I can not afford to pay anyone to repair could you give me an idea of what may be the problem

Thanks good job. Good learning.

Question: i had a small 10 gallon electric 240 volt water heater that the tank burst. I did not want to put another 240 volt water heater, so I went with a 120 volt water heater instead. I took one of the black wire and connected to the line in and connected the common wire and capped the second hot wire (red one) and tied the ground wire. Turned power on and it does not heat up. I noticed the current from the heater breaker to the element is not going through as if the thermostat is not working. Do you think it is a bad thermostat or is it my power connection?

Doea it matter which wire goes on either screw of the new element or is it universal ?

Did u turn it off first from the range?

Always make sure connections (screws to wire)are tight..very tight.if not you could ?have a fire...THANKS

So both of my elements have 11 ohms in the lowest setting of 200 and no reading on 200k. So apparently they are both good. So why is it tripping? I even change my breaker thinking that that was the problem but it didn’t help.

I replaced both 30A thermostat and heating element 4800w and still trips the 20A breaker faulty breaker?

How do you reset it and give the heater light once everything is installed do you just press the red power button?

My hot water heater doesn't trip the breaker. It causes the reset button on the upper thermostat to click, and has to be reset. I've heard this is due to overheating . Its set at 120/125. Could it be defective thermostat?

I've got a 19 gallon, 110V tank . power checks, continuity checks, thermo checks, element checks. What else is there to check? What could be the problem?

I have a brand new electric water heater, so it wouldnt be corrosion but the breaker trips and has blown the breaker. We cannot figure this out.

What about not getting a continuity reading at all? The heater is gone??

I ran the wires to a 30 amp breaker from a 20 amp it worked for about 6 hours breaker doesnt trip but no hot water but I didn't change the bottom element but got a reading on both elements

I would not be comfortable to have paint etc. sitting that close to my waterheater....in a closes-up room like this. Is this not a possible fire issues?

My water heater is a fat 40gal, I think, small, single element

Reset button feels like stuck now, turned breaker on and off, replaced heating element, but I'm still not getting hot water?

Teflon tape on the heating element. Yay or Nay?

Why didn’t you show the corroded heating element you removed?

TV

Wow 15 years old , they used to make things last.

Put a new water heater and a new Braker and still no hot water. Do you know what wrong.

Is this an electrician thing or plumber thing?

No power nothing work. You must measure the voltage first

Overheating has nothing to do with the Element

Great video Thanks