Service Manual

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Heating Element Testing
1. STOP, DANGER! Turn power “OFF” to water heater.
2. Open control panel access door.
3. Disconnect wires from heating element.
4. Set multi-meter to “ohms” setting.
5. Touch probes of multi-meter to screw
terminals of heating element (see Figure 1).
6. Reading should be 12.8 ohms (±6%) for a 240
volt, 4500 watt element, see table below for other elements.
Ohms = Volts
2
Watts
A reading outside the range using the formula above (±6%),
indicates a bad element and the element must be replaced.
Ohms of Electrical Resistance for Commonly Used Elements
Voltage Rating of Elements
Element Wattage 208 240 480 600
2000 21.6 28.8 115.2 180
3000 14.4 19.2 76.8 120
4000 10.8 14.4 57.6 90
4500 9.6 12.8 51.2 80
5000 8.7 11.5 46.1 72
6000 7.2 9.6 38.4 60
9000 4.8 6.4 25.6 40
Test For Grounded Heating Element
(Damaged Heating Element With Short Circuit To
Ground)
1. STOP, DANGER! Turn power “OFF” to water heater.
2. Open control panel access door.
3. Disconnect wires from heating element.
4. Set multi-meter to “ohms” setting.
5. Touch one probe of multi-meter to either screw terminal of
heating element and the other on the element flange (see
Figure 2). There should be no reading on the ohm meter.
Any reading indicates a grounded element and the
element must be replaced. Repeat this step for the other
screw terminal
.
Figure 1
Figure 2
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