A dual element water heater is a two thermostat system an upper and lower that heats water in its tank one element at a time.
Dual element water heater thermostat settings.
Press the button then wait about 10 minutes for the water to warm.
Electric water heater thermostats are a fairly simple devices that can fail from time to time.
The standard residential electric water heater control circuit consists of a manual reset high limit switch an upper thermostat lower thermostat two heating elements and wires.
When power is initially turned on to the unit the upper element is energized and heats the water in the upper third of the tank see figure 1.
When you turn on the faucet neither element will turn on because the cold water is going into the bottom of the tank.
If you have already set the temperature and are saying to yourself i have no hot water or not enough of it there are a few factors that may be affecting the heat.
Having them used evenly will spread out the minimum time to replacement.
A rheem water heater leaves the factory with the temperature preset at 120 degrees fahrenheit but you can adjust the temperature on the thermostat anywhere from 90 degrees fahrenheit up to 150.
Test the thermostat with a voltmeter and replace it if you don t detect any voltage.
The upper thermostat doesn t detect the cold water and the lower thermostat won t turn on until it cools from 140 degrees to 130 degrees.
How to set the upper and lower thermostats on dual element water heaters.
See testing electric water heater elements for more information.
If the problem continues the heater likely has a defective thermostat or heating element.
The upper thermostat takes first priority heating the water to a preset temperature before powering up the lower thermostat to heat the water to its final temperature.
Many modern homes come with dual element water heaters.
If all else fails the heating element may be failing and needs to be replaced.
If the heater produces a small quantity of hot water check the lower thermostat and heating element.
Lemonplumber fl unless you draw in cold water then the lower wants to kick in just before the circ sends tempered water back to the heater from the loop during day time timer use we have moved away from thermal clips on the circ and aqua stats and are using the 1 4 hour timers.
Again you lose some time to pre heat the water.
Thermostat setting on dual element heater.
If the thermostats are okay you need to test the water heater elements.
A dual element water heater uses two heating elements controlled.
Whenever your elements do go or whenever you.
Testing is the only option if you want to determine whether or not one or both of them has failed.
