How To Check Bottom Thermostat On Hot Water Heater

Now the whole water heater is hot.

How to check bottom thermostat on hot water heater. For thermostats on gas hot water heaters you will need to see the article. How to troubleshoot a defective thermostat on an electric water heater. Now to check the lower thermostat you need to set the dial of the upper thermostat to the minimum and set the lower thermostat to the highest. Check for power to your water heater.

This step is vital because it protects you from electrical shocks. Pull out the two panels that protect the thermostat. To test the lower thermostat turn the top one to its lowest setting and the lower one to its highest setting. Boy what a relief.

Remove the screws to open the access panel and expose the electrical wiring to the water heater. The first thing you should check is the water heater s reset switch which is usually a red button on the upper thermostat of an electric water heater you will need to remove the small panel to access it. Place the prongs of the multi meter on the terminal 1 and red wire of the lower heating element. Head to the circuit breaker and turn off the power to the thermostat.

Touch one meter lead to the top screw and the other lead to the metal body of the water heater. If the button is lit up it means the switch tripped and needs to be reset. The lower thermostat switch will turns on the lower heating element and that in turn heats water in the bottom of the water heater until that water reaches the temperature setting on the lower thermostat. You want to use the water heater tester to check terminals 1 and 2 on the upper element this will be the lower set of 1 and 2 terminals.

How to fix the thermostat on a hot water heater. Under the cover lies. Place the leads from your multi meter across the terminals at the top of the thermostat pictured above. Of course life is more complicated.

This insures that the thermostat will call for heat. Your meter should read 240 volts. If not check your electrical panel. 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.

The meter should read somewhere between 220 and 240 volts. 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. Look on top of the water heater for a small electric access panel. Turn off the breaker for the electric water heater inside the breaker panel.