Test Upper Thermostat Electric Water Heater

You will also need to check the water heater thermostat with digital multimeter tools.

Test upper thermostat electric water heater.

Check the power supply of the thermostat. Testing the water heater thermostat involves the checking of the heating element also. Use the screwdriver to set the lower thermostat to the highest setting. One should be sitting on the top of unit 1.

This is important especially as open and grounded heating elements result in inaccurate tests. If the water is hot enough at appointed temperature the meter won t show reading. Test the water heater thermostat. Leave the upper thermostat in the lowest setting and test the lower thermostat.

While the other is found right on the bottom. 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. To look at the faults in the upper thermostat you need to turn off the lower one. Before handling anything on the thermostat use a multimeter to confirm the power is off to the water heater.

If you have a voltage stick you can use that as well. The structure of an electric water heater is pretty simple. Connect the multimeter pin ends on point 1 2 as shown in the picture below. If you want to test a thermostat on an electric water heater you will also need to check the heating element.

However they do go bad and testing water heater thermostats is still required. Start by checking the thermostat terminals for the supply of power. The reading on the multimeter should be zero. The lower thermostat has only two terminals.

If the opposite thing happens that means your thermostat has defected. If the water is cold the multimeter will point near zero. The upper thermostat has two functions. Using the multimeter connections touch the top to legs at the same time.

To look for faults you will need to use a screwdriver. Your water heater usually has two elements and two thermostats. And when it comes to thermostats the device uses two of them generally. When this water is hot enough it shuts the upper element off.

The meter should read 0. Before you proceed further with the process of testing the heater thermostat take a screwdriver and the multimeter.