By Victoria Ries
Overview
Burned-out heating elements may be the reason for your lack of hot water. Replacing old heating elements isn't as hard as it sounds and is well within the handyman capabilities of a novice. Hard water may cause hot water heating elements to twist, break and crumble due to the high calcium deposits in the water supply. When this happens, hot water heating elements should be replaced approximately every 6 months and the calcium deposits removed from inside the bottom of the water heater.
Step 1
Turn off the main power supply and shut off the water supply to the hot water heater.
Step 2
Turn on all the hot water faucets in the house to drain the tank of the hot water. When the water coming out of the faucets becomes a mere trickle, attach a drain hose to the bottom of the hot water heater to drain the remaining hot water.
Step 3
Grasp the wrench and unscrew the bolts holding the thermostat bracket and heating element. Place the bolts somewhere safe, such as an empty yogurt carton.
Step 4
Carefully remove the old heating element and set aside. Note if the heating element has crumbled or is twisted. If this has happened, you need to retrieve as many calcium deposits as possible through the small opening before you replace the new hot water heating element. Hot water heaters often contain two heating elements---if you live in an area of hard water, you will find the bottom element is in worse shape than the top element.
Step 5
Take your new hot water heater element along with its brand-new gasket and replace it carefully the right side up, ensuring all the bolts you removed are snugly seated and will not leak.
Step 6
If you have two heating elements in your water heater, remove the bolts from the top element and set aside, remove and discard the old heating element and replace the brand-new gasket and heating element, snugly seating the bolts.
Step 7
Turn the water back on to fill the tank. Check for leaks. Tighten the bolts if you notice water coming from around them.
Step 8
Only when the water heater's tank is absolutely full, turn the power back on--failing to do so will burn out both the heating elements again, and you will still be without hot water. You should hear the hot water heating up by the low hissing sound it makes while in use.
Replacing Hot Water Heater Elements by waterheatersplusinc.com