Electric water heater running out of hot water in shower.

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KrabbyPatties

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Have a GE Electric Water that's about 5 1/2 years old.

Recently while taking showers, the hot water would run out in about 5 or so minutes and now have to crank the dial to the hottest setting to squeeze out every last remaining bit of hot water.

The shower is nice and hot for the first 5 minutes and then every minute that passes it gets colder and colder until there is no more warm water left.

It was never like this before.

Used a multimeter and going through with GE support determined that there was an issue with the upper and lower thermostat. The upper and lower heating elements are okay and producing a good reading on the multimeter.

I swapped out both the upper and lower thermostat and the hot water in the shower is still running out after 5 minutes.

I'm not sure what else could be the problem.

I'm afraid now i'll have to shell out considerable money for someone to come take a look at it. :(
 

Dj2

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"I'm afraid now i'll have to shell out considerable money for someone to come take a look at it. :("

What is "considerable money" ?
At what point getting a new WH makes more sense?

Try replacing the elements. That won't break the bank.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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You probably just have a grounded out element. which can trick you with a bad reading

.. If you simply change both elements even if you
think that they are still good... this problem will go away.

Lowes sells a kit with upper and lower elements and both upper and lower
thermostats in it for about 40 bucks..... The elements are not the Stainless Steel super good ones
but will work fine..... If you change it all out you will probably win......

the only other thing it can be is the dip tube in the heater...........
 

Dana

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A dip-tube that is corroding away and getting shorter (putting the cold water into the tank at the mid level or higher rather than at the bottom of the tank where it belongs) would have this sort of symptom.
 

Jadnashua

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Do your water lines run through a slab? There could be a leak. Double-check the water meter when nobody is using water to see if it's moving. Other than that and the actual WH itself, a single-handle valve that is failing can allow the hot and cold to mix, cooling things off fairly fast.
 

hj

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quote; At what point getting a new WH makes more sense?

At the point where the water heater is leaking. Until then TESTING the heater properly, will tell you what the problem is, without willy nilly replacing everything you can think of. is that the way you would repair your car? Just start replacing things until you hit the right one.
 

Terry

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Do your water lines run through a slab? There could be a leak. Double-check the water meter when nobody is using water to see if it's moving.

I would check the meter first. I had a job once that was baffling me. It was a leak under the slab. I wound up repiping the hot lines.
 

MACPLUMB

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If you have any Moen faucet the cold water is crossing over though the valve, turn off the angle stops under the sink and see if that fix's the problem, if it is bathtub/shower replace the cartridge
 

Dj2

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From HJ: "is that the way you would repair your car? Just start replacing things until you hit the right one."

You know what, that's how 90% of the mechanics do it. Including the dealers and including on cars under warranties. They can't pinpoint a problem, so they start replacing parts...they figure that sooner or later they would hit the right part, and hand the car owner a giant bill.

A friend of mine drove his Dodge cross country. His car died on the Interstate. 30 minutes later, it started. 2 hours later it died again, then started again. Off and on again and again...he finally found a dealer and stopped for a repair. The dealer told him it was the speedometer (???). Charged him $500...the car started and my friend drove away. The next day, it stalled again. He found his way to a small repair shop...this time the mechanic found the problem - it was a $5 relay in the fuel pump. Charged him $300.

But a WH is not like a car. Your car breaks down, you can rent a car. Your WH breaks down - you have no hot water. I know, HJ can start replacing parts till he hits the right one. But the OP just said he would have to call a plumber and he is already worried about the cost. Meantime, he has no hot water. Could take one day, could take more. No hot water in January in the State of Maine and not very pleasant.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the WH is 5.5 years old, so my question "At what point getting a new WH makes more sense?" was absolutely appropriate in this case.

To the OP: If you worry about high repair bills on a 5.5 year old electric WH, have a hard time getting a plumber over, get stuck with no hot water in January in the State of Maine for who knows how long...consider replacing the WH.

And BTW, new electric WHs are much less expensive than natural gas, making this option much more sensible.
 

Jadnashua

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By the time you add in all of the fees, New England has some of the highest electric rates in the US, so, no, an electric WH is not necessarily a great item. Unfortunately, not all areas have access to NG, and propane can be also quite expensive.
 

MACPLUMB

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From HJ: "is that the way you would repair your car? Just start replacing things until you hit the right one."

You know what, that's how 90% of the mechanics do it. Including the dealers and including on cars under warranties. They can't pinpoint a problem, so they start replacing parts...they figure that sooner or later they would hit the right part, and hand the car owner a giant bill.

A friend of mine drove his Dodge cross country. His car died on the Interstate. 30 minutes later, it started. 2 hours later it died again, then started again. Off and on again and again...he finally found a dealer and stopped for a repair. The dealer told him it was the speedometer (???). Charged him $500...the car started and my friend drove away. The next day, it stalled again. He found his way to a small repair shop...this time the mechanic found the problem - it was a $5 relay in the fuel pump. Charged him $300.

But a WH is not like a car. Your car breaks down, you can rent a car. Your WH breaks down - you have no hot water. I know, HJ can start replacing parts till he hits the right one. But the OP just said he would have to call a plumber and he is already worried about the cost. Meantime, he has no hot water. Could take one day, could take more. No hot water in January in the State of Maine and not very pleasant.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the WH is 5.5 years old, so my question "At what point getting a new WH makes more sense?" was absolutely appropriate in this case.

To the OP: If you worry about high repair bills on a 5.5 year old electric WH, have a hard time getting a plumber over, get stuck with no hot water in January in the State of Maine for who knows how long...consider replacing the WH.

And BTW, new electric WHs are much less expensive than natural gas, making this option much more sensible.

You need to read the part where I said if he has a Moen faucet, for someone in the trades you do not know plumbing !
where I have over 43 yrs experience with over 30 yrs as a Master plumber, with a PHD in water heaterolgy,
It is not a matter of changing parts but knowing which ones and when to change, that is what makes a "PLUMBER"
 

Dj2

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You need to read the part where I said if he has a Moen faucet, for someone in the trades you do not know plumbing !
where I have over 43 yrs experience with over 30 yrs as a Master plumber, with a PHD in water heaterolgy,
It is not a matter of changing parts but knowing which ones and when to change, that is what makes a "PLUMBER"

Mr. Mac,

I have read your posts.

Let's wait for the OP to tell us if he has a Moen faucet or not.

The OP wrote "The shower is nice and hot for the first 5 minutes and then every minute that passes it gets colder and colder until there is no more warm water left.

It was never like this before."
 

Reach4

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For troubleshooting, I am a little surprised that measuring the currents is not often suggested. A clamp around ammeter could maybe be used. For roughly measuring the current through the bottom element, I am thinking that measuring the millivolts dropped across a wire from the top thermostat to the bottom could be useful. I don't know how to integrate that into a procedure. I have never worked with an electric water heater.
 

Jadnashua

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If you understand that normally, only one element is ever energized on a WH at the same time, with a clamp-on ammeter, it's fairly easy to determine if one is working or not. The top one comes on first, then, when the top of the WH reaches the thermostat setting, it switches to the bottom one to finish things off. The specs should be on the WH to tell you how much current it should be drawing.

If you have a loose connection somewhere, you may not be getting the full voltage and therefore current into the WH, so sometimes, just measuring voltage will mislead you.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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If you understand that normally, only one element is ever energized on a WH at the same time, with a clamp-on ammeter, it's fairly easy to determine if one is working or not. The top one comes on first, then, when the top of the WH reaches the thermostat setting, it switches to the bottom one to finish things off. The specs should be on the WH to tell you how much current it should be drawing.

If you have a loose connection somewhere, you may not be getting the full voltage and therefore current into the WH, so sometimes, just measuring voltage will mislead you.


Yes, the elements could still be showing power going to them
and everything could appear to be working properly ...
and one or the other element could be grounded out and be
misleading you..... or a high limit on the thermostat could be
defective and you could fool with that heater for days and
days chasing ghosts in the system....

It is just best to change it all out and then win for sure...
Lowes has the whole repair kit with upper and lower t stats and 2 elements for 35 bucks


or you can go ahead and beat your brains out if you must.....:D:D:):p
 
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