A Basic Troubleshooting Guide for Problems With No Hot Water

In Australia, having a constant supply of hot water is crucial, especially during the winter months. What happens, however, if your hot water system fails? Basic understanding of how to troubleshoot a hot water system would be beneficial in this circumstance. Here, we’ll go through some basic steps for dealing with this type of plumbing problem.

1. Restarting the Power Source/Circuit Breaker — to heat water, an electric water heater requires 240 volts of power. Try turning off the water heater circuit breaker in your house and then turning it back on after a few seconds. This will assist in resetting the circuit breaker that powers your electric water heater.
2. Resetting the high temp limit switch – Resetting the high temperature limit switch – if the limit switch fails, there will be no hot water. It’s possible that you’ll need to reset it; it’s on the thermostat’s upper level. Remove the upper heating element cover and turn off the circuit breaker to gain access to the high temperature limit switch. Reset the switch by pressing the red button, then replace the lid. Check to see if the water heater is heating normally after resetting the circuit breaker.
3. Checking the power supply cable – be sure you’ve turned off the relevant circuit breaker for your water heater, because if the electricity is still on while you check the power supply wiring, you could get shocked or possibly die. Remove the cover from the power supply wire junction box. Check for any loose wires and ensure that all of the cables are tight enough to establish secure connections, then reconnect any loose wires and replace the cover. Check that the water heater is heating properly by turning on the circuit breaker.
4. Checking the heating system within the water heater – you’ll need a multimeter for this step to make sure the power is getting to all of the internal components. Detach the wire nodes to access the water supply wires after turning off the circuit breaker and re-accessing the power supply wiring. Set up your multimeter to measure resistance in ohms. Measure the resistance between the black wire and the junction box’s black metal, then repeat the test with the red wire. If you detect a recorded resistance rating during the test, it means that damaged wiring or a broken electric part is in contact with the metal cabinet, resulting in a short circuit.

Note: Do not restore power to the water heater until you find and repair the damaged wire or broken electrical part. A short circuit can shock you if you touch the metal cabinet with the power connected.

Always remember to turn off your water heater’s main circuit breaker before completing any of the troubleshooting actions outlined above to avoid any electrical accidents.