Electric Water Heater Problems

None of us would like it that, when we go for a bath there is no hot water! With one drop of cold water a chill runs through your spine and you are absolutely disgusted. Well, there is a way to make the situation a bit bearable - by getting to know a bit about possible solutions to the reasons your water heater has gone kaput. This can save you a lot of pain. Let us see how to deal with electric water heater problems.

Troubleshooting Electric Water Heater Problems

Problem 1
The first and most common amongst water heater problems is absence of proper heating. That can be attributed to various factors. From a faulty pilot control valve to thermostat to other heating elements. If the heating elements are not in proper shape, the electricity would not reach them, resulting in no water heating. If you find the pilot control valve to be faulty, it would need replacement. Then the thermostat also has to be checked for a fault. If you need to do that, it should be done by taking all the safety measures and removing the wires leading to the heating element. For checking the current, there would be 2 exposed screws which have to be checked using the leads on a ohm or voltameter. A broken or faulty element would be confirmed by no current.

Problem 2
The next of the water heater problems is that the water is rust in color. The apparent reason could be that there is corrosion in the inner side of the glass lined tank. In other cases, there is a possibility that the anode rod in your water heater is not in a very good shape. That rod will need to be taken care of. Smelly water, another water heater problem, is also caused by this decayed anode.

Problem 3
A strange whining and sound from the heater is a common problem when it comes to electric water heaters. The culprit is again the heating elements. What happens is that there is a build up of scale material on the electrical heating elements.

Problem 4
Well, if you think all these things are fine, then perhaps you would need to check out the fuses and the whole electrical set up. Who knows, it just might be an issue with the circuit breaker which is leading to problems with the electric water heater. If the current is passing through properly to the appliance, then for making sure everything is fine, just switch off the heater and then turn it on.

Normally, these are the problems with the usual water heaters which have a storage tank. Now let's take a look at what is the case with tankless electric water heaters. Read more on tank vs tankless water heater.

Tankless Electric Water Heater Problems

Before we move on to tankless water heater problems, it is important to note that such a water heater is very different from a conventional electric water heaters. In short, you need to be prepared to be ready to encounter a little difficulty in maintaining and repairing a tankless water heater. Such a water heater has a mechanism of heating the water directly as it goes through the pipeline. That is, without relying on the storage facility. One of the major ordeals with regards to a tankless water heating system is that the whole unit has to be flushed periodically for getting rid of mineral deposits which accumulate in the boilers. As there is no storage, there is no problem of the water getting rusty or smelly due to a degenerating anode.

All in all, conventional electrical water heater problems are significantly more than the tankless water heater problems. So, these days many people are opting for the latter.