Water Heater Issues

[ron16]

My mom has a 7-8 year single element water heater. Water was only luke warm. Replaced the element twice (in case we got a bad one) and the thermostat (set it at 140 degrees). No change in water temp. Drained tank again to check for corrosion inside but appears to be fairly clean inside. So we have replaced every electrical piece on the water heater and still only have slightly warm water. Can someone shed some light on this? By the way, there is 240v at the element. So I know its not low power.

 

[RS]

Wow, that's a tough one! You need to do some troubleshooting, see what is preventing it from heating. Make sure the water isn't circulating somewhere. Check the breaker, make sure it isn't hot because of a loose connection. It would be good to take a load reading on the unit, if it's using power, the heat has to be going someplace. It sounds like a bad thermostat. Are you sure it's wired correctly? They aren't wired like some would expect.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Check temp of water coming out of the drain valve.

You are saying water is only lukewarm.

Is this being felt at all fixtures, or just one bath or shower?

Is there a tempering valve on the water heater?

 

[sarg]

The video clarifies how a thermostat works.
I would turn the turn the temp setting screw up and down to see if the disc "clicks" and the stat is actually functioning mechanically. And as RS suggests .... check the wiring. You say it reads at 240 .... but sounds like it's on 120.

 

[TomFOhio]

Check your dip tube and make sure its ok.

 

[Twowaxhack]

It’s best to have an amp meter when working on electric water heaters.

It allows you to see how much work the element is doing.

As one plumber said, check your dip tube.

Another thing to check is to make sure you don’t have a hot water leak or a cross connection.

a water heater that has lost its entire dip tube is basically a cross connection. The water heater gets bypassed.