Electric water heater leaking

Water heater repair is a vital issue to date. Hot water or rather the lack thereof is a cause discomfort in our house. Most often it is associated with a heater malfunction. If you want to repair the water heater yourself, then this article is written specifically for you.

There are many different water heaters, but here we consider the repair of standard water heater. This heater has a rather simple construction, that’s why the repair won’t be difficult. Yet one needs some specific tools, such as a gas key for a self-repair.

The main fault is the burnout of the heating element. And malfunction of its inseparable friend thermostat. Very often the failure of the heating element is accompanied by leakage of hot water from the bottom of the power box. Many people mistakenly think that if water runs, then there’s sure a crack in a storage tank. They buy a new water heater without calling master. But this is a mistake! Sure, the tank may have a crack, but it occurs less frequently than breakage of the heating element.

Water heater consists of:

1. The inner tank. It’s made from special corrosion-resistant stainless steel.

2. Outer shell made of steel and covered with special powder enamel, which retains shining look for many years.

3. GREEN INSULATION (CFC FREE). Insulation layer of basalt fiber prevents heat loss, reducing the maximum power consumption. It has more benefits than foamed polyurethane insulation.

4. COLD AND HOT WATER PIPES that are made of stainless steel.

5. THERMOSTAT WITH DUAL PROTECTION designed to control the temperature of hot water and provide an automatic shutdown in case of overheating.

6. THERMOMETER for visual inspection of water heating.

Disassembly of the heater

If the hot water started to run, then, first of all, you need to turn heater off and wait until the temperature goes down. Reduce the temperature by turning on a faucet. Next, remove the white cap at the lowest point (there are only four screws) and here the power of the heater appears in front of you. The heating element is screwed in filler and thermostat with connecting wires is inserted into it. That's the whole design. With small key to seven connect wire that is usually yellow-green to ground. Then, insert a flat screwdriver into the gap between tan and the thermostat and take out the thermostat with wires. Carefully inspect the thermostat, and if there’re some spots or water droplets, it is the first sign of necessity to change tan and thermostat.

Next, you need to drain the water. If the water heater is located directly above the bathtub, then this is the easiest option because drain is not difficult to do. If the water heater is located in another place, then you will need a long hose, such as a drain hose from the washing machine. The hose should last to the nearest sink, bathtub and so on. Turn cold and hot water off. Take off the cold water pipe with safety valve and put the hose on. You can tighten the hose clamp to make construction safe. Turn off the hot water pipe and water begins to merge. Warning, if you will not give hot water pipe, the cold one doesn’t pour. Once all of the water is merged, grab the cap and unscrew the heating element. Now disassembling of the heater is over. Just remove the tan from the wall and wash it from accumulated dirt and rust.

So you can find out the cause of hot water running and go through all the details to understand what should be replaced or repaired.