Test Upper Thermostat Electric Water Heater

Test the water heater thermostat.

Test upper thermostat electric water heater.

The structure of an electric water heater is pretty simple. If the opposite thing happens that means your thermostat has defected. Before handling anything on the thermostat use a multimeter to confirm the power is off to the water heater. Testing the water heater thermostat involves the checking of the heating element also.

When this water is hot enough it shuts the upper element off. Use the screwdriver to set the lower thermostat to the highest setting. Leave the upper thermostat in the lowest setting and test the lower thermostat. 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.

And when it comes to thermostats the device uses two of them generally. While the other is found right on the bottom. This is important especially as open and grounded heating elements result in inaccurate tests. Using the multimeter connections touch the top to legs at the same time.

Check the power supply of the thermostat. If you have a voltage stick you can use that as well. If the water is cold the multimeter will point near zero. Before you proceed further with the process of testing the heater thermostat take a screwdriver and the multimeter.

The meter should read 0. To look at the faults in the upper thermostat you need to turn off the lower one. One should be sitting on the top of unit 1. The lower thermostat has only two terminals.

Your water heater usually has two elements and two thermostats. First it allows the upper element to heat the water in the top of the tank. To look for faults you will need to use a screwdriver. Start by checking the thermostat terminals for the supply of power.

However they do go bad and testing water heater thermostats is still required. Touch one probe of the multimeter to each terminal on the lower thermostat. 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.

The reading on the multimeter should be zero. If the water is hot enough at appointed temperature the meter won t show reading.