High Ohm Reading on Water Heater Element

Buy multimeter
Install bombardment.
Setting 1: Rotate dial to 240-250Vac to exam for electricity.
Setting 2: Rotate dial to Ohms to test element as shown on this folio.
(upside down horseshoe symbol is ohms)
ane) Apply multimeter to test element
2) Do not bleed water heater
3) Power is OFF during this exam.

Buy:
Analog multimeter
Multimeters at Amazon
Klein multimeter
Electric testers at Amazon
Clampmeter for testing amp flow on line

Resource:
How to troubleshoot electric water heater

Come across cold resistance ohm chart Test for ohm ... Ohms is resistance
​Volts squared divided past watts = ohms
Watts and volts are printed on end of each element.
240 volt h2o heater, 4500 watt elements: 57600 divided past 4500 = 12.8 ohms
​However, at that place are a wide range of results and element can still exist good. ​Applies to common cold element, and not hot.
Cold resistance: measuring ohms beyond both screw when no wires are attached to element and element is not heated.
Hot water in tank raises resistance on chemical element.
Permit chemical element cool before doing ohm examination so you are measuring cold resistance.
Plow off circuit billow
Turn off thirty amp double billow to 240Volt heater
Plow off 20 Amp single billow to 110 Volt heater

Examination for voltage using non-contact voltage tester.
Advantage of non-contact voltage tester: ease and safety since wire nuts are not removed.
Never assume power is OFF.
Touch stop of tester to each blackness, white, and cherry wire. Press button. If tester flashes repeatedly similar alert, then voltage is present. if tester flashes once, then that says no voltage is present.

Purchase:
Non-contact voltage tester

Larger image Test for voltage using voltage tester.
Remove wire nuts.
Applies to120V and 240V.
Exam Blackness to Ground, test Black to White, exam White to Footing. If tester light comes on with whatsoever test, electricity is present.

See basic water heater excursion

Open up panels on side of water heater
Do not drain water heater to test elements.
Remove insulation

Older water heaters have fiberglass insulation covering element and thermostat.
Newer water heaters take tight-fitting cream insulation.
Newest tanks have thicker foam insulation.
Foam insulation is non like shooting fish in a barrel to work around. Y'all may need to cut back the foam to work on parts. Remove every bit much foam as needed to access parts.

Insulation must be put back when finished.
When finished, thermostats and elements must be covered by insulation again or thermostats become exposed to cool air and will misread tank temperature.
E'er best to put safety cover back into place when finished. Remove plastic safety covers that sits over chemical element.
Pull off tab at top then pull off or unhook sides
Supersede covers when finished.

Buy:
Upper element concluding protector
Lower element final protector

Larger epitome Which element do you exam?
If water heater makes some hot water, and so lower element is suspect.
If upper element is burned out, water heater will have no hot water. Test both elements.
If h2o heater is tripping excursion breaker, and so test both elements and look for burned and melted wire.

Resource:
What to do if melted/burned wire is constitute
Water heater is tripping breaker
Troubleshoot electric water heater
How water heater works
How to wire thermostats
Test electricity to water heater

Tank must be full of water or elements burn out ...; called Dry Burn.
If yous replaced either element and water heater is still not working ... test upper element Have wires off chemical element

Employ nose and optics to inspect for burned/ melted parts and wires.
If wires are burned/ melted then replace part and test wire for continuity.

Resource:
Test water heater wires

Buy:
Shop Amazon Tools - DEWALT
Shop Amazon Tools - Blackness and Decker
Shop Amazon Tools - Stanley

Bolt-in and screw-type elements

H2o heater come up standard with high density elements.
Foldback elements, or low density elements spread the rut across more foursquare inches of surface infinite, and perform meliorate in circumstances of very hard water, and another water conditions.
If elements burn out frequently, use low density, or substitute lower wattage. Lower wattage ways slower heating and slightly less first hr delivery.
Buy:
Water heater elements
Low density chemical element
Resources
Calculate first hr

Test element
Set multimeter to read ohms

Good element passes 3 tests:
Examination i: Element shows correct ohm reading
Test 2: No reading on multimeter
Test 3: No reading on multimeter

Rotate dial to Ohms to test element
Ohms is upside downwardly horseshoe symbol

Purchase:
Multimeters

Larger image Watt and Volt rating printed on stop of each chemical element
Of import: Ohm test varies past watt and volt rating of each element.

Resource:
See ohm chart

Test one: Test across both screws
Test across both element screws and resistance should read nigh 12.8 Ohms for 240-Volt 4500-Watt element. For xxx gallon tank with 3500-Watt elements, reading is about sixteen Ohms.
Open reading means chemical element is bad. No reading means chemical element is bad. Cheque watt and volt rating printed on each element
Applies to Cold element. Water heater with warm water will change reading.
Element wattage      volts                     ohms
3500 watt                 240                       16
4500 watt                 240                       12-13
5500 watt                 240                       10-xi
Ranges can vary widely, fifty-fifty with good multimeter.

'Volts squared' divided by watts = ohms Volts x volts is 'volts squared' 240 volts x 240 volts = 57,600 volts squared 57,600 volts squared divided by 4500 watt = 12.8 ohms
Resource:
See ohm chart

Test 2: Test screws to metal shell
Test each screw to bare metallic part of water heater.
Exam both screws.
If multimeter reads whatsoever Ohms at all, or if needle moves even tiny scrap, then element is shorted and needs replacement see how Test iii: Test screw to element
Test each screw to metallic base of element.
If multimeter reads any Ohms at all, or if needle moves even tiny fleck, and so element is shorted and needs replacement - Results - If element passes all 3 tests
Elements are good and passes all 3 tests
Double-check results before putting wires back on elements.
If elements fire out frequently, then install lower wattage element.

Elements passes all iii test merely water heater still not working
Push breaker fully off and and then fully on
Tank heats 21-twoscore gallons per hr
Resource:
Troubleshoot walk-thru

Element has burned wire

Resource:
Supersede element
Test wire for continuity

Element is bad
How to replace element
Full efficiency can be restored to electric heater

Water heater must be full to loosen element, only must be empty before element is removed
Buy:
H2o heater elements
Low density element

Chemical element wrench
Leave water heater total of water to loosen element
Then bleed water heater and remove element
Buy:
Water heater element socket i-1/2"
Camco heavy duty element socket
Marathon elements are i-seven/8"

Chemical element will non come up out
How to remove rusted element
Drill, tap and use bolts and wrench to remove.
Drain water heater before drilling into element

Forestall rusted water heater.
Anode rod is necessary and so tank will not rust.
Anode rod depletes and should be inspected 1-3 years with water softener, and 2-5 years otherwise.

Loosen anode rod before draining tank so weight of h2o helps concur tank steady
How to supercede anode rod

Water heater will not drain
Practise not drain water heater to test element.
Water heater is drained only when replacing element

Water heater will non drain
Apply household water pressure and washing-automobile hose to flush open h2o heater for five-10 seconds

Larger prototype Re-install insulation over thermostat and chemical element
Circumspection: Insulation and comprehend must be re-installed or thermostat is exposed to cooler air and will misread tank temperature.How to replace water heater thermostat
Larger paradigm ECO reset button keeps tripping
or excursion billow keeps tripping: element shorted to ground across steel tank
What happens:
- Illustration shows why element-test requires testing between element screws and steel tank
- 240Volt water heaters take 2 Hot wires. Each hot wire is called a leg. Each leg is 120Volts with 240Volt potential when both legs are continued together. Departure betwixt 120Volts and 240V
- Thermostats turn off 1 leg in the 240Volt excursion.
- When thermostat turns ON, that event connects the second leg to the first leg, and element turns ON.

- In some cases, the element can crack or brusk. In most cases, the curt will trip excursion breaker.
- If the crack or brusk is far plenty along in the element, the resistance volition non crusade billow to trip. The short travels beyond steel tank hull to the footing wire at meridian of tank.
- The ground wire volition complete 120Volt circuit. Elements will heat upward using 240Volts or 120Volts. Element continues heating, and will not plow off. This causes runaway heating, and TP valve will release water or ECO reset will trip.
How to convert water heater to 120volts

Breaker keeps tripping
Read more:
Circuit breaker keeps tripping
New water heater not working

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Source: http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-test-water-heater-element.html