Can I Test A Water Heater?

[abrogard]

We have an 80Litre water heater given to us some time ago by an old fellow who said he'd used it in his cow bails some time ago and it was alright, but since then it hasn't been used in about five years.

Standing on the slab in our shed right now.

Can I somehow hook it up to test if it works without running the risk of blowing people up or something?

Or is it a technical job beset with dangers?

I stress: I only want to test it. Not interested in using it, got no use for it, thought we might have but our advice is 80Ltr insufficient for our menage.

So just want to test it and then sell it either as junk or as a goer.

 

[johnjh2o]

My first thought is sell it by the pound.

John

 

[IFIXH20]

If you do not have any technical skills and know your way around electrical using a volt,ohm,amp meter, then junk it is the way to go.

 

[abrogard]

well i can use a multimeter, sure.

But seems to me there's only a power cord and an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe.

I just don't know which is which. I assume the inlet will be the pipe at the bottom as a safety feature, so's the thing can't run dry with the heater working.

All I'm proposing to do is hook up the pipes the right way round - which means just hook up the inlet pipe and push the outlet one into a larger diameter hose just for the time of the test - and plug it in.

Nothing more.

I don't mean to troubleshoot it if it doesn't work.

 

[Chris]

I say go for it. At least i would. Curiosity will get you sometimes.

 

[IFIXH20]

Just fill it up with water and plug it in for 10 min. to see if the water starts to get warm/hot . You don't need to connect the water lines , just make sure the heating elements are submerge in water.

 

[abrogard]

Yep. Fill it up from the bottom line?

Test by pouring more in so's it comes out the other end? The mains pressure from the garden hose would push it out if it works that way.

Or have I got it all wrong and the outlet is the bottom one and it can drain dry with the heater going?

In which case I'd need to fit a hose to the bottom one so's I could take it up above the heater so's the water didn't run out.

Making it all too hard am I? I should just b****y well try?

 

[beernbombs]

Bottom is inlet. Heat rises.

 

[IFIXH20]

Post a photo of how you are trying to fill it.