Water Heater Upper Thermostat Melted

Joan az hi my hot water heater is not working.

Water heater upper thermostat melted. The lower thermostat compartment had water soaking the insulation piece that i had to remove to see the thermostat. Many modern homes come with dual element water heaters. The upper thermostat controls both the upper and lower element. They even do not work at the same time.

If the electrical contacts on the thermostat mounted outside the water heater are overheating the plastic parts around the switch may overheat and burn. Electric water heaters have one or two elements and each is controlled by a thermostat. Water heater smells like. The thermostat on top acts as the primary one while having a high limit switch.

The high limit switch is found on the location as the upper thermostat. Burning rubber or plastic if you smell burning rubber or burning plastic turn off the power source at the breaker first before trying to pinpoint the smell. Both thermostats on the same water heater do not have the same features. If the hot water heater is not working one of the thermostats may be bad.

This article deals with thermostats on electric water heaters. But the lower one detects any change in the temperature of the water. A dual element water heater uses two heating elements controlled. These water heaters often have a non simultaneous design which means that only 1 heating element is on at any given time.

How to set the upper and lower thermostats on dual element water heaters. Testing water heater thermostats is important in locating water heater problems. When it goes bad you don t have any hot water at all. You can test them with the power off using an ohmmeter to measure resistance or with the power on using a voltmeter to measure voltage.

This type of thermostat is for use in 2 element water heaters.