What causes burned wires on electric water heater thermostat.
Water heater thermostat burnt.
The water heater is running 240 volt on 10 awg wire with a 30 amp breaker at the box which never tripped.
Water came from somewhere possibly upper head weld caused corrosion and arcing of contacts inside thermostat.
If the electrical contacts on the thermostat mounted outside the water heater are overheating the plastic parts around the switch may overheat and burn.
Water heater smells like.
Burning rubber or plastic if you smell burning rubber or burning plastic turn off the power source at the breaker first before trying to pinpoint the smell.
Using a continuity tester available from electrical supply houses place one test probe on each of the element terminals.
Strip back the insulation the correct amount for an appropriate crimp connector.
I need to go and buy a volt ohm meter to test the element.
By the second day it was getting stronger and smelt like a burning smell coming from the water heater area.
After opening it up we discovered the red wire on the bottom element was burning.
The pilot light will ignite your water heater s burner and if it goes out there is nothing to heat the water.
To test for a burned out element first turn off all electrical power to the water heater.
It had bared the red off the wire about 6in along it and also burnt the plastic cover.
You can see if the pilot light is out by removing the cover of the water heater and inspecting the light.
The heating element could be grounding out which will result in the heating element staying on.
Remove the cover panel s from the front of the heater and then disconnect the wires from the heating element terminals.
The lower thermostat melted i am not sure why just yet.
Hj az a shorted element depending on where it is shorted would either cause the water to overheat and trip the eco or trip the circuit breaker but not overload the thermostat or its connections.
Keeping the hatch covers on tightly is good as it likely prevents much oxygen from getting to the fire snuffing it out.
When this happens the heating element will burn out prematurely after heating the water to excessive temperatures.
Thermostat burned up etcetera.
Finding the source of the leak will tell you where fault lies.
I have a 3 year old kenmore electric water heater.
Cut out the overheated wire.
Your water heater will usually have directions on how to relight it.
