Electric Water Heaters Have Heating Elements That Can Fail: Here's How To Deal With Them Quickly

Description of What an Element Is

Most electrical heaters, though not all, have two elements.
 One on the upper half of the tank and one on the lower
half of the tank.  These elements can be either high-watt
or low-watt elements.  Heaters are made so that the lower
element works most of the time.  The upper element comes on
only when a large amount of water is used inside the tank.
Elements rarely come on at the same time.  Compartments on
the side of the tank are where you can find the location of
the elements.  These compartments have thermostats although
the upper element usually doesn't have a thermostat.  The
upper element is preset to be 120 degrees.  It shuts off at
190 degrees if it ever reaches that high.  There is a red
reset button at the compartment which can turn the element
back on if it overheats the circuit.  If you only have one
element it will be at the bottom of the tank and act like
the upper element I just described.  Thermostats work for
many years on water heaters with usually no problems.

Sediment

Sediment build-up occurs very slowly, usually over several
years.  In an electric water heater, this can be detected
by a bad sulphur odor or by lower electrical element
burnout.  The lower element is in the lower half of the
water heater and is the apparatus that heats the water
inside.  Sediment inside the tank can pile up so high that
the lower element is buried in it like an avalanche of hard
snow.  This causes it to overheat and burnout.  Your
showers and hot water will run out in half the time they
used to if this happens.

There are two types of heating elements; a high-watt and a
low-watt heating element.  Which one you have inside the
tank can cause sediment to produce faster or slower.  The
low-watt heating element is far superior.  It has twice as
much surface area and is not nearly as hot as a high-watt
element.  The lower heat still heats the water just as fast
but produces far less sediment.  If you ever replace a bad
element, install a low-watt element in its place.

Elements are either bolted or screwed in to the water
heater.  They both come with a rubber or plastic
water-tight gasket as well.  If you remove the element for
cleaning, install a new gasket as well, especially if the
old one is hardened.  If you have screw in heating
elements, wrap the threads in teflon tape.  Remember to
turn off the power before working on elements.  Immersion
of the element in sediment can cause it to fail.  Also,
sediment can itself encrust around an element.  Galvanic
corrosion can cause an element to fail as well.  It's rare
that enough sediment would encrust itself around an element
to cause it to burn up.  Sediment usually flakes off an
element naturally, but then the lower element can be
buried.  High-watt elements almost never encrust with
sediment and make most sediment slough off to the bottom of
the heater.  A low-watt element may become encrusted with
sediment though.  I still recommend the low-watt density
element for all its other benefits.  If you have problems
with elements burning out often, they may be cleaned.  A
toothbrush and some vinegar is all that is needed to clean
elements.  Galvanic corrosion can also occur between the
copper sheath of the electrical element and its steel tank
surroundings.  This causes the joint to rust.  The anode
rod inside should protect against this problem.  If you
replace elements and they only last a few months, then the
anode rod may be at fault and not the element.


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