DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

just installed water softner and having hot water issues.

14K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  acoers 
#1 · (Edited)
I installed a water softner last night and ran the water so it get out all the air. Well today i went to go and take and shower and now the water wont heat up. I got a electric water heater and its like a year old. I got all the valves open so i dont understand since its had water in it all night long why it wouldnt be hot yet. any help would be great. Also its a Richmond model 6E50-2.
 
#4 ·
was the power on to the water heater while all the air was going through the system? did you open any hot faucets when you were bleeding the air out of the softener? electric water heater elements will burn right out if they are not submerged in water. did you check the breaker for the water heater? you drained the water heater completely? did you turn the power off first?
 
#5 ·
When I drain the water heater I didn't turn it off cuz I didn't know I had to. I did turn on the hot water after I install the water softener to let the air bleed out. also I check the breaker and it did not get trip so I end up resetting it just to see if it would make a difference
 
#10 ·
You might get to reset the small breaker by one of the heating elements, but I would go along with the others that say .... Element replacement time.
NEVER LEAVE AN ELECTRIC WATER HEATER ON IF DRAINING OUT THE WATER.
ALWAYS FILL ELECTRIC WATER HEATER WITH WATER TILL WATER IS COMING OUT THE OUT LINE BEFORE TURNING ON ELECT.
 
#11 ·
And the shame is you did not even need to drain the heater in the first place.
Do you have hot water at all the taps or just the shower?
If it's just the shower then it's just trash in the anti scald valve in the shower.
 
#12 ·
Igot hot water where. I had to drain the water heater because it was the only low spot for me todrain thewater lines. Unless I cut the line and let it drain there. Theplumber who plumb my house guess he didn't think of a goo way to drain it. I got a walk out basement so all my line run on the ceiling of basement. And the lowest spot was the water softner. Im at work now but getoff at 11 so ill have to check it out when I get home.
 
#13 ·
alright got home turn the power off and tested the elements. the bottom one read 12 ohms and the top one read like 1 or 2 ohms. o i figured it was good. i hit the reset button but it didnt click or anything. ill wait to see if the water heats up now. hope it works.
 
#14 ·
Buy two new ones and be done with it.
Find out what the watts for the upper and lower ones are, some times they are different.
Sounds like the top one has a dead short and the bottom one, well.... that one might not be right depending on the watts.
But if one does not believe me follow the link.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7503537_test-electric-water-heater-element.html

Elect is one thing that I have a great deal of respect for.
 
#15 ·
Well end up getting two to 240v/4500w stainless steel elements. Now I installed them and put the wires on. I looked at the wire screws and there both the same color, so does it matter which wire goes on either screw? And also how long will it take toheat the water now?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top