THE OLD HOUSE DOCTOR 2-9-04

ELECTRIC WATER HEATER REPAIR II

            In our last episode, we discussed why the lime in your water burns out water heater elements. Now I’m going to tell you what to do about it.

            Find the breaker for the water heater and turn it OFF to keep you from dying. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

 Turn the cold water to the heater off. Connect a hose to the drain valve at the bottom of the tank and open it, then SLOWLY lift the lever to open the pressure relief valve (it’s near the top of the tank). Don’t scald yourself. This will drain the thing. If you can’t find these things, you are either incompetent or unlucky, and should call a plumber. Or a psychic.

            You should already have picked up an element wrench (six bucks at the plumbing supply). Remove the element cover at the bottom of the tank and disconnect the two wires. You already threw the breaker, RIGHT? The tank has drained, HASN’T IT? Place the element wrench over the nut and turn it left (lefty loosey / righty tighty). Once it is loose, try to pull it out of the hole (oh my!). If it’s stuck, it is probably because the element has a lot of scale, or is shaped like a doubled-up U. Use a large screwdriver to knock off the scale and to compress the ends of the element together. Do this by using the edge of the hole as a fulcrum. This may take some work, but keep at it, using a flashlight to see what your doing. Do the same thing to remove the upper element.

            Once the element is out, take it to the plumbing supply and get another; make sure to get the same type, as they have two different thread sizes.

            Then do the whole thing in reverse order. Close the drain but not the pressure relief valve, and turn on the cold water. Once full, water will try to come out the P.R.valve; close it and go to your upstairs sink, turning on the hot water to drain the air out of the system. If you don’t, the trapped air will burn out your new elements.

            Next time: Removing the Remaining Lime! A trade secret.