Breaker trips on electric water heater

[nhsuga]

I have a 100 electric hot water tank and lately if I am running the washing machine and the dishwasher at the same time , I will trip the breaker on the HOT WATER TANK.


Any insight would be appreciated greatly.


Jen

[Greg]

Jen, Hi & welcome. It could have gone in the general repair section, but we can work with it here.
Are both the water heater & dishwasher on the same circuit? If that is the case, the water heater should be on it's own circuit.
If just the water heater is tripping and the dishwasher is still running, I would check the heater elements, it could be one is bad (usually the bottom one). Greg

[nhsuga]

Thanks for replying

first off I want to make clear that it it the hot water tank breaker that trips , not the home circuit breaker, and yes the hot water tank does have its on circuit on the home circuit .



I don`t know the hot water tank has tripped until I go to use hot water but the dishwasher has finished cycles and the washing machine has finished all cycles , so it kinda sounds like they don`t stop running???


Also this might be my imagination, but I thought it happened more when I used hot in the dishwasher (of course)
but also cold in the washing machine that particular day???

[nhsuga]

I need to use spell check Sorry

did I mention that if I use the dishwasher and washing machine at different times then nothing happens to the hot water tank?


Oh Gosh , I should1ve stayed married!!!!

[Greg]

It sounds like the breaker may be going bad, but I think I would change the elements also just to be safe. It could be that between the two using hot water it just can't keep up if one element is bad or on the way out. Greg

[nhsuga]

Thanks, now today it tripped with ONLY dishwasher RUNNING, I reset the breaker on the hot water tank and lowered the temp. So far hasn`t tripped. Could that be possible? Also my electric bill has been 50-60 dollars higher over the past 3 months and i have no idea why? I am not running anything different, I am now wondering if it the electric bill has something to do with my hot water heater??


PS: neighbors electric bills have not jumped

[Greg]

with that little bit of information, I would bet that the bottom element is burned out. What is most likely happening is that you are running with only 1 element and it is on almost all of the time trying to heat all of the water.
Depending on it's age a new heater may pay for it's self with energy savings. Greg

[Dean2]

I might be wayyyy off the mark here but if it is a newer dishwasher that heats water too do Ya even need to feed it hot water? Maybe a cold feed would suffice and save heating water twice. This would be something to think about *after* the real fix of course.

Dean

[nhsuga]

Is changing the elements a hard to do job?

Water Heater is 5 yrs old.

[SpongeBob]

Hi, I agree with Greg. Definately sounds like the bottom element is shot. However, if you can afford it change them both while doing this job. It is not difficult for a DIY er. First and most important shut all breakers that feed you tank. There should be one breaker, most likely a double pole breaker 30Amp. It should be labeled. If not label it. Shut the water supply to your tank. Drain your tank. Did you save your instruction booklet for the tank? It will show you how to remove the elements. Pretty straight forward. Take one with you to the Big Box store and match it up. Reinstall. Fill your tank. Open some faucets to make sure your tank is full. Check for leaks at the new elements. After tank is full, and no leaks, then and only then, turn your breaker back on. NEVER turn the breaker on with an empty tank. If you are not totally secure in doing this on your own, use somebody who is qualified. Hope this helps.
-Bob

[Greg]

There are 2 basic styles of elements. one is bolted in with 4 bolts, the other style screws in. shut the power off, take the covers off and remove the insulation. you should be able to see the element and determine the style. there should also be a wattage printed on it. you should be able to pick up new ones before you remove the old ones. Greg