Okay...my electric water heater stopped working this morning. I know
nothing about water heaters, but figured I'd at least take a look at it to
see if there were any obvious problems. I opened up the top panel,
noticed a red "reset" button, and thought "Ah! Maybe my water heater just
needed to be "reset!""

Well, when I pushed the button, all hell broke loose; Sparks all over
the place, smoke boiling out of the insulation like there was a party of
cuban cigar afficionados lounging around inside, even a few flames
shooting out. It was like a miniature 4th of July. I scrambled back to
the breaker box, and shut it all off.

Now, obviously I'm less than happy, but I haven't a clue what just
happened. Is my water heater ruined? What should I do?


-Scratch

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003, Speedy Jim wrote:

Well, when I pushed the button, all hell broke loose; Sparks all over
the place, smoke boiling out of the insulation like there was a party of
cuban cigar afficionados lounging around inside, even a few flames
shooting out. It was like a miniature 4th of July. I scrambled back to
the breaker box, and shut it all off.

Either a failed (shorted to sheath) element or (less likely)
bad thermostat. Or, possibly, water leaked into the insulation,
causing a short.

Ah. Yes, actually, the insulation was a bit damp around the thermo.
Didn't consider the possibility of a leak, since there is absolutely no
water on the floor outside the heater, but I suppose if it is just
dribbling into the insulation...

If the insulation doesn't feel wet, disconnect the wires to
both elements and measure resistance of the element and also
to ground.

The heater itself isn't damaged (unless there is a leak).

Sounds like a job for the professional to me. Hopefully I won't end up
shelling out a fortune. Thanks for your speedy and knowlegable response
in any case.

Jim

-Scratch