Yesterday the power kept going out, and it somehow turned my

>>1159329
>kept going out
something is short or drawing huge power

>cold water tank
maybe it is the cause

>>1159331
It was a full outage for the area, so unless my water heater supplies power to my area, that isn't it.

>>1159335
So what is the point of this thread? You want us to call your power company for you and tell them to turn it on again?

>>1159340
Obviously the power is back, seeing as in my original post I said I verified power from the fusebox and load control.

>>1159342
You are a fucking jackass, maybe you should fix that too

>>1159368
new poster here: i dont think you understand the OP

>>1159368
>wow I'm completely wrong, let me act like a retard, I'll definitely win then!

Wow, I may have over-estimated the intelligence of this place when I assumed someone would know if repeated power loss could damage water heaters.

>>1159371
I mean, from my highly limited knowledge of all that electrical business, could you not just find a way to test the circuit of the water heater? The power outages probably just fucked some sort of the electronics and you have a melted fuse or something that makes the water heater a heater and not just a water.

>>1159372
Of course, I suppose you already know that something about the water heater is broken since you're obviously getting power TO the heater, right? Maybe there's some sort of access panel? Take it off and look for broken things. I'm sure that's what a professional would tell you.

>>1159372
It gets power through the internal breaker to both thermostats, and that's all I can get to without ripping the shell open.

>>1159368
Wow, even the balls to call him a jackass after your idiotic posts.

OP, electric?
Confirm incoming power. Confirm power through tstat is making it to controlling relay or contactor. Confirm power is making it out of relay/contactor.

When you know you have power going to the elements, check continuity of elements. If continuity, check resistance and see if it's correct with a calculator online.

If all this is working, see if you have additional safety devices like a high limit or LWP

Gas?
Gas turned on? Smell gas? After valve?
See if igniting, if lights then goes out clean flame sense.
If not lighting, clean pilot/orifice.
If gas but no light, check ignition module, pilot or HSI.
If light and stays lit, but no heat, check venting.
If venting is good, check pressure.

>>1159376
Also, underpowered coils of valves can go bad. Relays, boards, transformers, contactors, etc

>>1159329
I've seen it happen to electronic stuff. Even tho you say the things are running right have you measured it? Start with (if you dont know how to do it without dying, call someone):
Measure L1-L2, L1-L3, L2-L3
Asuming the termostat starts the element measure voltagedrop over it (or measure from N - 14).

Work your way to the element and make sure you measure all the points on the way.

Best if you supply some pictures or drawing.

>>1159379
All the power to it is fine, I haven't moved beyond the power to the second thermostat, because I am nowhere near familiar with things like water heaters. I'm all small electronics.

>>1159329
>Can the power going out actually damage a water heater?

I've not seen it happen. Most of the time it's the water supply going out causing the failure.
(water gets used but none gets back into tank allows water level to get below heating element causing it to burn out)

The upper element is the primary element. It operates first to heat water at the top of the tank and make it available for use. Starting with a tank of cold water, the primary thermostat at the top turns on the upper element and keeps it on until the water temperature reaches the setting on the thermostat.

The primary thermostat turns off the upper element and sends power to the lower, secondary thermostat which turns on the lower element. The lower element heats the water at the bottom of the tank until it reaches the control setting temperature. All the water in the tank is now hot and both elements are off.

If the upper heating element is bad the water never heats up enough to cause the upper thermostat to shut the upper element power off and switch the circuit to the lower thermostat.

With the power OFF at the breaker you can test the elements with an Ohm meter. The resistance varies depending on the wattage of the element but is in tens of ohms. (~15Ω - 25Ω)

tldr: if the upper element is bad - no hot water
if the lower element is bad - hot water doesn't last long

>>1159382
>I've not seen it happen. Most of the time it's the water supply going out causing the failure.

I didn't even think of that. We have a well, so no power means no water. If anyone here used the hot water while the power was out, would the short time before the pump kicked in and filled the tank burn the element?

>>1159388
What he doesn't tell you is that there are high limits or LWP to stop that from happening. On top of that, if your water turns off, you lose pressure through the unit. In other words, water will always be in the tank unless the tank physically leaks WHILE the water stops. Both unlikely. More likely, a standard electrical failure.

Think about it, how does the water get to the top of the tank to go to your shower? Your well pressure. Again, the water heater cannot be empty unless you're leaking severely or boiling it out the PRV, both of which you would notice.

>>1159388

Most of the time water won't come out of the tank because everything is sealed and opening a tap just gets a trickle for a moment until the tank pressure is depleted.

I 'some' situations if two taps are opened the water may siphon back through the cold water line.
cold tap opened (think sill-cock) relieves pressure, person leaves tap open because wtf? no water??
hot tap is opened (in bath or kitchen) allowing the siphon of the water to occur back through the open cold tap
tank empties out on the ground outside before anyone notices

>>1159401
Well we have a pressure tank before the filter, so there still is some water for a bit if the well goes off. Plus, the kitchen piping is ideal for a siphon effect because it runs down from the ceiling.

We're looking into replacements now. Gotta figure out a new breaker configuration to support a tankless heater.

>>1159409
If you have well water it's a good idea to have a NEW spare hot water heater element on-hand at all times. You can use it as a standard by testing its resistance with a multimeter, then comparing that value to the elements on your hot water heater.

I had to replace the hot water heater in my garage because even though I had a whole house water filter, that unit had been run for an unknown amount of time WITHOUT a filter of any kind and the bottom of the unit was full of sediment and calcium. This build-up eventually would cause the lower element to burn out at intervals between one week to 4 months with no predictable sequence.

Even after I had drained it there was still a good 30 pounds of shit in the bottom of that unit and it had to be tossed.