Test Water Heater Element Thermostat

Testing water heater thermostats is important in locating water heater problems.

Test water heater element thermostat.

Both thermostats control two different heating elements for the heater to function. Common residential dual element water heaters are 240 volts. Before you proceed further with the process of testing the heater thermostat take a screwdriver and the multimeter. Pull away any insulation that is.

Remove the upper and the lower access panels with a phillips screwdriver. This is when the upper thermostat has a problem. When it goes bad you don t have any hot water at all. If the water is cold the multimeter will point near zero.

To look for faults you will need to use a screwdriver. How to test an electric hot water heater thermostat step 1. If you want to test a thermostat on an electric water heater you will also need to check the heating element. If the opposite thing happens that means your thermostat has defected.

To look at the faults in the upper thermostat you need to turn off the lower one. Test the water heater thermostat testing the water heater thermostat involves the checking of the heating element also. This article deals with thermostats on electric water heaters. The upper thermostat controls both the upper and lower element.

If you get the reading of 240v on terminal 1 and terminal 3 then the power is on but if you get no readings then the power is off. When shopping for a water heater thermostat you need to know how many elements the water heater has and the voltage. Check the power supply of the thermostat. If the data tag is missing you can identify single element vs dual element by the number of access panels on the water heater.

The access panels are on the side of. This is important especially as open and grounded heating elements result in inaccurate tests. Turn the water heater circuit breaker off inside the main service panel. Start by checking the thermostat terminals for the supply of power.

You can find this information on the data tag on the side of the water heater. You will also need to check the water heater thermostat with digital multimeter tools. In this case also check the current at the high limit switch. Connect the multimeter pin ends on point 1 2 as shown in the picture below.