Lukewarm 'Hot' water ??

For20hunter said:

We had the same thing happen on our Bighorn and it was the outside shower valves that were on allowing the water to mix. As soon as we turned the valves to the off position we had hot water again.

Rod

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"Hi-Viz" Bill said:

A couple weeks ago, while at the AL Heartland Rally, the 'Hot' water wasn't!! Without investigating further at the time, I figured the element was bad. We were due to be home in Michigan in a week / 10 days, so I just switched over to gas, all was well, I'd replace the element at home. So, today I remove the element out of the heater and it looks, not new but ok ( it's 3 yrs old ). When I checked it with my ohm meter, I get +- 11 ohms of resistance. I thought I would get a much higher reading, maybe 75 ohms or higher!!

Question: Should I replace the element with a new one?? Or, is the 11 ohm reading about normal, and I have other issues that I need to figure out?? TIA !!

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danemayer said:

Usually, luke warm water is caused by hot and cold mixing somewhere - outside shower, possibly a check valve problem on the hot out from the water heater, or water heater bypass set incorrectly.

But if it worked ok on propane, it's probably something in the electrical circuit.

Assuming this is a Suburban water heater, where the thermostats for propane and electric are separate, it might be the thermostat on the electric side.

I believe the normal resistance on a Suburban electric element is 14.5 - 17 ohms. So at 11 ohms, maybe it would produce lukewarm water.

If you want to test it, you could put it back together and give it an hour to heat the water. If still lukewarm, check for 120V AC with 1 meter lead on the heating element, and the other lead on a known good ground. Test both of the terminals on the element, again with the other lead on a known good ground.

If after an hour, you have lukewarm water and the voltage is 120V at the heating element, that would tell you the thermostat is still calling for heat, as it should. The element is the problem. If voltage is 0V at the heating element, the thermostat is shutting off at too low a temperature.

If you see values other than 0 or 120V, you could have a problem with the secondary power switch; a black rocker switch in the lower left corner of the water heater. If the switch is causing reduced power to the thermostat and element, you might get lukewarm water.

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"Hi-Viz" Bill said:

Hey Dan !! I did put it back together .. After about 1-1/2 hrs, still had lukewarm water !! So, then I tested the voltage on the element terminals .. one terminal had 115.2 V to ground .. the other terminal had 1.0 V to ground !! .. I'm assuming the element is bad, even though the resistance ( 11.0 ohms) 'seems' to be in an acceptable range. Would you concur?? Thanks

Bill C.

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danemayer said:

Usually, luke warm water is caused by hot and cold mixing somewhere - outside shower, possibly a check valve problem on the hot out from the water heater, or water heater bypass set incorrectly.

But if it worked ok on propane, it's probably something in the electrical circuit.

Assuming this is a Suburban water heater, where the thermostats for propane and electric are separate, it might be the thermostat on the electric side.

I believe the normal resistance on a Suburban electric element is 14.5 - 17 ohms. So at 11 ohms, maybe it would produce lukewarm water.

If you want to test it, you could put it back together and give it an hour to heat the water. If still lukewarm, check for 120V AC with 1 meter lead on the heating element, and the other lead on a known good ground. Test both of the terminals on the element, again with the other lead on a known good ground.

If after an hour, you have lukewarm water and the voltage is 120V at the heating element, that would tell you the thermostat is still calling for heat, as it should. The element is the problem. If voltage is 0V at the heating element, the thermostat is shutting off at too low a temperature.

If you see values other than 0 or 120V, you could have a problem with the secondary power switch; a black rocker switch in the lower left corner of the water heater. If the switch is causing reduced power to the thermostat and element, you might get lukewarm water.

Click to expand...

Fox said:

In 1970 I was first taught V=IR, and we were mostly using electron tubes.
Later on (in 1990) I was told E=IR, and semiconductors were being integraded in large scale.

Now its all just a pleasant memory.

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Aprilc19 said:

We are only getting lukewarm water with electric & LP gas . Any suggestions on what to do? I'm tired of taking almost cold showers!

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