Water heater damage

Stan in Oly, WA · Jul 19, 2017

If an electric water heater is emptied without the power being turned off, is there more damage than just burning out the elements? My friend already replaced his water heater, so it's too late anyway, but I think he might only have had to replace the elements, not the whole thing.

Stan

gmccool · Jul 19, 2017

Both elements are the only thing he hurt. We have a Vacation home in Alaska & a couple years ago the wife & I showed up & I went down stairs & flipped all the breakers ON & we did a few things as we hadn't been there for a year & I went to turn on the water & realized I had just burnt out the elements. I thought oh well its nothing money can't fix. A trip to the hardware store & about 15 minutes work & we had a working water heater again.

Geo-TH,In · Jul 19, 2017

Stan,
There is a chance only the top element is burned out because power is sent to top element first. When top thermostat sees water is up to temp, it sends power to lower element. No water in tank, no way top thermostat got any heat.
Let us know what you find.

If no water softener was used, I would remove bottom element and suck out the lime. Then replace both elements.

IA Roy · Jul 19, 2017

Don't some of the newer ones have plastic tanks. I would be leery of them if they do.

Stan in Oly, WA · Jul 19, 2017

Thanks for the information, George. I didn't find out about the event until a day or two after it happened. By then he had already bought and installed a new water heater. I doubt that I'll even tell him that he didn't need to replace the whole thing. It's bad enough to make a careless mistake that costs you a few hundred dollars without having someone tell you afterwards that you didn't need to. If he's still got the old one, I might suggest that he could fix it and hold on to it against future events.

Stan

Stan in Oly, WA · Jul 19, 2017

Thanks, that's more or less what I thought.

kevinthefixer · Jul 19, 2017

Depending on how bad the water is, and how much use it gets, if it's older than 10 or 15 years there is no reason to throw good money at it. If it's just a few years old, yes install new elements and either sell it or keep it for backup.

Gambles · Jul 19, 2017

Those "plastic tank" water heaters are made in one factory and a bunch of companies just put their sticker on it. Those "plastic tank" water heaters also have a lifetime warranty on the tank, at least the ones that I've seen. Perhaps not all of the re-stickered brands have it, but I know a few of them do.

jeffcat · Jul 19, 2017

Get it and put hot water in your shop or some such. Here is a crazy thing you can do. Repair it, see what the TP valve is set for, turn 5he thermostat to about ten degrees below that. Now take a metal wash tub and fill it with 1/2 dirt. Fill the tub with that super hot water, "180?" or hotter and stirr it thoughly. You now have sterile dirt for potting etc. Commercial is done with live steam at several hundred dregrees but this is good enough for the home gardener. The mushroom growers do that when ever they lay down new growing beds. Kills all of the seeds and germs, and anything else in the horses poop. Throwing the soil in your oven at 350? works just dandy too but the water way lets you make a whole raised beds worth in a couple of days. Give it a try.

Water heater damage

Stan in Oly, WA

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gmccool

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Geo-TH,In

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IA Roy

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Stan in Oly, WA

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Stan in Oly, WA

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kevinthefixer

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Gambles

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jeffcat

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