WH Regen issue?

[arnoldra]

Hey all, would love some other thoughts on this issue I'm having.

I just installed a brand new 55gal State electric water heater in my shop (using it in radiant floor project). Wired it up, did the plumbing, tested circulating pump, all good.

Turn on the power and...
It won't regenerate though with the main supply on.

Here's how I narrowed it down. I shut off the hot water out, and shut off the cold supply. The tank is full of cold water from well. It is not heating. I open the drain valve at the bottom of the tank and bleed off an inch or so in a 5 gal bucket and I hear the elements kick on and it will heat the whole tank up, no problem.

But if I open the cold supply up and let it back into the tank, as soon as I do and the tank fill up I hear the elements kick off.

Why would it only heat when tank is not full? Am I missing something obvious here?

Please help!

~Rick

 

[Harold Pomeroy]

Rick,
Did you pressurize the system?
A plumber told me that in order to set up a system like yours, I need to either pressurize it to supply water, or have a reserve tank above the water tank if the system is open, and not pressurized.
I don't know if this will help you or not. I'm trying to set up the same system with a State 40 gallon tank inherited from a departed neighbor.
Harold Pomeroy

 

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[arnoldra]

Harold,

Yup, pressurized the system before throwing power to the WH. I did manage to get a tank heated and started the pump. Right away my temp gauge on the supply side if the manifold went to 130 (where I set it). I'm flowing about 1 gallon per minute through both circuits. I checked it an or so later and my temp there was 85-80. Haven't it checked it since (cold out there), going to let it run overnight and see how it looks in the morning before work.....good luck with your setup Harold, let me know if I can help out at all!

-Rick

 

[Jadnashua]

It might just be that while pumping the water, the slab is just so big of a thermal heat sink that it may take a couple of days for the WH to actually be able to supply enough heat to allow it to turn off after warming the slab up. IOW, it might just be normal. If you turn the pump off, does the WH raise the water temp then shut off? If so, it's doing its job.

Be VERY careful about turning on an electric WH if it isn't full. You will fry any element that comes on that is not fully submerged in water. What may have happened is that you fried the upper one when you drained a bit of water, and if the tank is cold, that is the one the thermostat tries to run.

 

[arnoldra]

Jim,

You are right, it is just normal. When I checked it tonight when I came home my input water temp into the manifold is up to 86 degrees, and better yet my return water temp was up from 60 to 70 degrees. I also used my wife's infrared thermometer (the point and pull the trigger kind) and I checked my slab versus the slab in the other side of my building (not heated). It is 51-51 degrees and at varying spots on the heated floor it was 62-66 degrees. So I'm going to call it a win (yay) and just let it keep going. Thanks for the input!