Electric Water Heater Not Working - Any Help is Appreciated

Trying to use a multimeter to test why my electric water heater isn't working. It's just not producing any hot water. I think I am either doing something wrong with my multimeter or I need a new multimeter. I took photos of the multimeter and how I have it setup. The black lead in the COM port and the red lead in the V..mA port. The 10ADC port has nothing plugged into it. I have set the dial to 750ACV which I think is what I need to test 240 volts on a household appliance since I only have an option for 200 and 750 in the ACV section as you can see from the photos.

I first put the multimeter into a normal 120 volt electrical outlet to test it and got about 121 volts or something. So I thought the multimeter was working fine. Then I went and tested the water heater using this guide:

http://www.water-heater-repair-guide...hermostat.html

I posted pictures of my thermostats and everything at various points during my testing, but basically the tests on the upper thermostats and elements were fluctuating between -1 and 1 Volts for some reason. The upper thermostat is supposed to read 240 volts, so I was like excited that I thought I found the problem.

Then I tested the lower element and got a fluctuating reading between -1 and 1 Volts again. Then I tested the lower thermostat and got the correct reading of 120 volts for all the tests on the lower thermostats (supposed to read 120 volts according to the guide).

I then wanted to test if maybe I hadn’t set my multimeter up correctly or was doing something wrong, so I went to my dryer outlet that is working at 240 volts I believe, plugged the multimeter in, and could not get a reading really. Sometimes I would get -1 and most of the time it was just stuck at 0 volts. That dryer outlet works though. I re-tested the multimeter again in a normal 120 volt outlet and got the correct 120 volt reading.

What am I doing wrong with the multimeter? Or why am I only getting proper readings on 120 volt things, and getting improper readings on the 240 volt things. I even changed the battery on it. If the multimeter is the issue, then I will go and buy another one. I just assumed it was working fine because it was giving correct readings on 120v outlets. That's kind of weird to me.

Also you will notice my reset button on my water heater is popped out, but I cannot push it in. I have pressed it really hard and it won’t stay in when pressed. It may be normal for this model, but thought I should mention that since I saw photos of water heaters that seemed to have the button flush and not popped out.

Thanks again for any help. Taking cold showers is not the most fun thing to do, hahaha. I can't wait to get my water heater working again

Did you verify that the breaker was not tripped?

Thanks for the responses. Yes, the breaker is not tripped. And I had actually already used the guide that joecaption has linked for element testing. But the results were a bit weird so I moved on to testing everything with the power on.

My questions are more about the reason why I'm not able to get 240 volts to show on my multimeter, but am able to get 120volts to show? Meaning even if I put my multimeter into a 240volt outlet, it won't show 240 volts. It shows like -1 or 0 volts or something. But the multimeter works fine for 120 volt outlets. It will display like 121 volts. The multimeter says it can handle 750ACV so it should work fine on 240 volt outlets. Once I figure that out, I will move on to trying to more accurately diagnose the water heater issue.

So I guess my main question is am I doing something wrong with the mulitimeter that it's not reading working 240 volt outlets, but it is reading 120 volt outlets?

Thanks for any advice

In a single phase system, when you are attempting to read 240V, and are just reading 0v, you are reading the same 120V leg.

The meter appears to be set up correctly, so try reading from the 240V power source, at the water heater, either across them or individually to ground.

The battery has nothing to do with voltage testing and is controlled by the on/off switch in the resistance mode.

Okay thanks for that response, since my last post I ran to the hardware store and bought another multimeter that was similar to mine, just a different color, in case mine was acting up, and it is also doing the same thing.

Your comment about me possibly reading the same leg, and thus, getting the 0V reading is something I did not know. I went back to the a dryer outlet I have in the house, and tried running the tests again, and I am still getting 0V. On the upper left of the multimeter it will say "HV" and sometimes a line will appear under the HV as if to underline it or reference a negative sign for the voltage reading. But it still reads 0v.

I'm not sure what the issue is. I put one lead into one hole in the dryer outlet, I put the other lead into the opposite hole, still get 0v. I then tried using neutral as you said, and same thing happens. And this dryer outlet is working fine, since my dryer works when plugged in.

I don't see an outlet for my water heater to try, but I did try putting in the leads into the screw caps for the wires on the top of the water heater tank, and same thing, 0V.

I'm stumped. Maybe the brand of multimeters I'm buying are not working as advertised? Maybe I need to try a different brand?

On an old 3 prong dryer;

Ok, at your dryer the slanted notches are each leg of the 240V, and the straight or vertical is the ground,so placing the meter leads in the slanted notches should read 240V.

You may need to wiggle the meter leads slightly to make contact.

Do you have an easily accessible electric service and are you familiar working behind a dead front panel?

It is sounding more and more like you may have a bad circuit breaker.

Yeah, I'll even post a pic of it and show you what I am doing. It's so weird. Give me one sec

Okay, I normally use two hands and wiggle each lead around, but for the sake of the photo I was just trying to show what I was doing so I used one hand only and the other hand to take the photo. And I still get 0 v.

Then read each leg to ground and not just the ground notch, but also to a screw on the cover.

The HV is just the meter telling you that the voltage present is above a factory preset level.

In you 1st series of photos, #5 shows the flex for the HW/H either disappearing behind or into a box.

Is this so?

Okay, I just did that and no matter what I do it still gives me 0v. And that dryer outlet works too, I'm actually drying some laundry right now after I just did the tests you mentioned. I've attached pictures to show you what I did, and all of them showed 0v.

When you say that the HV indicator on the multimeter means that the voltage present is above a factory preset level, do you mean that the voltage setting of 750VAC (that I have it set to in the pictures) goes a bit above what the meter can actually read? Like the meter may only be able to read 700 volts even though it's set to a max voltage of 750? It will say HV even if I don't have the leads touching anything also.

Do you think I need a better multimeter to get a correct reading of 240 volts? Or do you possibly know why I keep getting 0 volts for 240 volt measurements on a working dryer outlet? It's weird since it properly reads 120 volts for normal outlets, etc.

To answer your question, yes, the flex disappears behind into the drywall in that photo you mention. I will post some more pictures of it for you to see.

Thanks for your help so far, not sure what is going on with both the water heater and both of my multimeters.

Ok. It's uncommon but may be a configuration of the meter, so change the setting back to the 200V range, trying the individual legs and then the 240V.

You won't burn the meter out, just over range limit it.

The meter will have a preset LV range and when the voltage present is above that the HV will indicate.

In photo #5 of the most recent shows a cover with 2 screws, which is the "J" box for the heater. The 240V will distribute from there, so before you venture in, turn the breaker off.

No neutral on a 240v circuit.
Test at the breaker. Between hits and hits to neutral or ground.
Should get 240,120,120.
If not you have a bad breaker. Not uncommon on a water heater circuit.

Okay, I finally got somewhere, thanks for the replies guys. The reason I could not get the 240v reading from the dryer outlet is because those leads are just not long enough because those plastic handles prevent them from going deepn enough into the outlet. This multimeter is pretty cheap, so I just pulled the leads a bit and they separated from the plastic handles so they were just wires with metal prongs on the ends. I could then stick those in and I could get readings around 240 volts finally. So the multimeter setup is correct, it was just those leads were not long enough.

If you look at my original post, the very first one that started this entire thread, I'm assuming my upper thermostat is just bad based on those test results I reported. I could get 120 volt readings on the lower thermostat, but could not get any voltage readings for the upper thermostat. So I think I just need a new upper thermostat. I'm assuming the breaker is okay since I am able to get 120 volt readings from the lower thermostat, that means the water heater is receiving power I would think.

I think the upper thermostat just needs to be replaced. I'll pull it off and see the model number of that thermostat and order one then. Actually, I think I am going to just go to Menard's tomorrow and try to see if this one will work:

http://www.menards.com/main/plumbin...4452245333-c-8689.htm?tid=-116731187154853498

Does my assessment of the problem sound correct? That it looks to be an issue with the upper thermostat?

Interesting, the insulators on my meters retract.

The thermostat may also be available locally, from a supplier or even ACE Hdw.

Have you checked both elements for continuity?

Depending on the setup, some electric hot water heaters have a hard fuse manual disconnect between the main breaker and the heater. You will read 220VAC at the main but nothing at the heater because the fuse has failed in between. Look for this service disconnect, turn off breakers at main and the disconnect, remove old fuse with plastic pliers, replace new fuse, turn on disconnect first then main breakers.

You can test for 220VAC at the top of the disconnect before removing the fuse. Turn off the disconnect first then test where leads from the main come in the box. If you get good current it is the fuse!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-General...111016?hash=item3f67b8e868:g:g2cAAOSwXeJXfY0W

You need to check if you actually have 240 volts to the heater. You'll have two 120v legs but if you're getting 120 volts to only one stat it may be the power and not the stat.
Did you check if you have 240v in? Either check at the top of the heater where power comes into it or check the load side of the breaker at the panel and make sure both breakers are each supplying 120v.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlyStHM9Nr0[/ame]

Okay, I did replace the upper thermostat today and unfortunately, that did not fix the problem. I'm a bit confused by this. I am able to get 120 volts on the lower thermostat, which would mean I would think that my water heater is getting power and there is no need to mess with testing anything at the breaker. I am not able to get 240 volt readings at the upper thermostat so I would assume that would mean my upper thermostat is bad. I had done ohms readings on both the upper and lower elements and got 17.3 ohms so I would assume the elements are fine. What is going on?

I opened up the J-box and noticed a lot of rust in there around the wires. I did try to test the wires in there for 240 volts and could not get a reading. Maybe something is messed up in there? But still, if something is messed up in there, I would think the lower thermostat would not read 120 volts, correct? Or as beachguy mentioned above, maybe only one wire is working? Not really sure since I don't understand electrical stuff at all. But at least we're getting somewhere now since I am not able to get 240 volts at the two wire nuts in the J box on top of the water heater.

So what do you guys think I should test or do next?