IS IT BETTER TO REPLACE BOTH ELEMENTS OR JUST THE ONE THAT IS OUT
2007-12-29 16:52:13 · 4 answers · asked by simon_ramirez84 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO GAVE ME ANSWERS TO MY QUESTION
I REPLACED THE BOTTOM ELEMENT AND CLEANED OUT THE TANK THE BEST I COULD
I STARTED TO WORRY WHEN MY WATER STILL DID THE SAME THING
NOT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY WHEN IT STATED WORKING FINE I DONT RUN OUT OF WATER ANYMORE AND MY WATER IS MORE THAN HOT NOT BAD FOR A FIRST TIMER DOING THIS KIND OF WORK
FOR A $13.00 BEST ELEMENT AND $6.00 ELEMENT REMOVAL TOOL AND A COUPLE OF HOURS WORK
THANK YOU ALL
2007-12-31 15:39:56 · update #1
If your talking about a electric hot water heater it depends on the age. If it is just a few years old I would just replace the one. Now if you had alot of junk that came out of it when you drained it I would replace both. If old unit change out both. Good luck.
2007-12-29 17:03:30 · answer #1 · answered by David B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm assuming we are discussing an electric water heater.
I had one of those things for 5 years in Phoenix AZ. The water is so full of lime that about every 6 months I pulled both elements out and cleaned all the scale off of them with CLR. The bottom one would scale up terribly bad while the top was less of a problem. In spite of all my effort the lower one had to be replaced twice in the 5 years. The top was still working fine when I sold the house.
Every time I pulled them I used a piece of garden hose cobbled to the hose on a shop vacuum. I stuck the hose in the tank and sucked out all the sediment I possibly could.
In my experience there is absolutely no reason to change something that isn't broke. There is no wear on the element and it is either working or not. I think the scale that builds up on the (in my experience) the lower element insulates it. The insulating properties prevent the heat from being transferred to the water so the element actually overheats and burns out. Much like the filament in a light bulb.
So if I were you, I would change the bad one, clean the good one up the best you could and suck the sediment out of the tank. Then get on a preventive maintenance schedule so you clean it out every year or more often if needed.
Good luck. I hope that helps...
2007-12-30 01:28:45 · answer #2 · answered by gimpalomg 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi, Adding my 2 cents & experience, The bottom elemet in most houses does 90 percent of the work. So you probably won't need to replace both. Just be sure to TOTALLY refill the water heater with water before you turn the electricity back on!! It will burn out the top elemet in about 2 minutes if you don't. Good luck.
2007-12-30 08:34:05 · answer #3 · answered by Brother Darrell 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your going to take the time do all of it both ellements and controls plus make sure you buy the best ellements so they last the longest.
2007-12-30 03:43:55 · answer #4 · answered by johnboy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋