Wires for Water Heater Melted

[HLxDrummer]

Well yesterday my GF ran out of hot water in the shower. Looked into it and saw that the power wires are all melted. My Dad thinks a heating element is bad and was drawing too much current and made them melt. Sounds plausible but I have a feeling that the connections weren't the best (just wire nuts) and that caused increased resistance/heat. The breaker didn't flip.

Would you guys just rewire it and see what happens? I am nervous to do this incase it overheats/starts a fire. At the same time I don't want to tell the owner of the house (my GF's dad) that he should just replace it based on a guess as to what is wrong.

Any tests I can do with a multimeter or something?

Thanks!

[stealthee]

Lou, when I had some issues with my hot water tank I did a quick google to see how to do the proper tests. I was able to replace both the heating element and the thermostat based on what I found.

[sublime_whatigo]

Take resistance readings of the elements, use ohms law to find out current draw.
Sounds like the wiring or breaker is not correctly sized. Typically it should be 10 gauge wire on a 30 amp breaker

[HLxDrummer]

Lou, when I had some issues with my hot water tank I did a quick google to see how to do the proper tests. I was able to replace both the heating element and the thermostat based on what I found.

I did a quick search and didn't find anything too useful but I was focusing on the melted wires. I'll have to take another look. Thanks!

Take resistance readings of the elements, use ohms law to find out current draw.
Sounds like the wiring or breaker is not correctly sized. Typically it should be 10 gauge wire on a 30 amp breaker

I just looked in the box and when I flipped 2 30A breakers (they were linked together) it turned off power to the water heater. Does that mean it is 60A since they are linked or did I just turn off a circuit unrelated to the water heater, too?

Are the elements in series or parallel?

Can I tell by taking the resistance if the elements are dead or will that just help me find the current draw?

Also, do people normally use those plastic wire caps for stuff like this? Is there anything special about them or can I just get new ones if I decide to hook it back up? I am used to soldering everything in my car..

Thanks a lot!

[sublime_whatigo]

Sounds like you got the right breaker, yes its a double pole breaker, still 30 amps as it does not add up.

The elements are parallel but not really since they go through the thermostat, the 2 elements should never be running at the same time.

If you find the resistance of them you can use 240/R = less than 30 amps. Should be about 12 ohms. Make sure to disconnect the wires from the elements and leave water in the tank

Plastic wire nuts are the most common way to hook them up, just make sure they are good and tight.

[HLxDrummer]

Just checked and they are both 11.? (I only have my crappy multimeter here which has the last digit burnt out lol). So that should be under 30A. This was with the wires hooked up and water in the tank. I guess I'll go check again with the wires off. The wires are 10 gauge.

Would you recommend just cleaning up the burnt wires and hooking it up again, making sure the connections are tight?

[sublime_whatigo]

Ya just keep an eye on it, could of been a loose connection like you said. Loose = heat

[HLxDrummer]

Thanks a lot. You have a paypal addy I can send a little holiday cheer to ?

[sublime_whatigo]

Thats not necessary, glad to help.

[mb7050]

I had an issue like this just a few weeks ago. only about 4 months old water heater. it was a loose connector in my case that caused the wires to melt I cut the melted wires and rewired it .