I have a question for everyone.....I Left Water Heater on for a while after draining it into the bilge.... I know...Doohhh ! .(.I just drained it ....never blew it out with compressed air or anything)....It might have been left on a few hours...I don't know....I couldn't smell anything burning..... But I'm curious....do you all think I permanently damaged it?.. Is there some sort of internal mechanism that protects the (6 Gallon - Seward) Water Heater in these cases. Has anybody any experience in this area?
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Chris Gonzales
well...
Is this a 110V or gas WH? If gas what would burn would be the tank itself. Without water in it, there could be tank damage but that would take some time. Before installing the plug and retrying I would check the tank for damage. If the WH is 110V what would "burn" would be the element. In that case if you didn't smell burning and the breaker did not close, I would go ahead and re-insert the plug and fill the tank with water and see what happens. If you have hot water you are ok. If not, the element is gone or you may have other un-noticed electrical problems. Were you nearby during the entire process? I am wondering why you didn't smell a burning odor at all. It would be present if the WH was on with no water. Chris
Is this a 110V or gas WH? If gas what would burn would be the tank itself. Without water in it, there could be tank damage but that would take some time. Before installing the plug and retrying I would check the tank for damage. If the WH is 110V what would "burn" would be the element. In that case if you didn't smell burning and the breaker did not close, I would go ahead and re-insert the plug and fill the tank with water and see what happens. If you have hot water you are ok. If not, the element is gone or you may have other un-noticed electrical problems. Were you nearby during the entire process? I am wondering why you didn't smell a burning odor at all. It would be present if the WH was on with no water. Chris
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress
Worst case, you may have
Burned out the heating element, which is inexpensive to replace. In fact, heating elements are interchangeable, brand to brand...just be sure the new one is the same wattage as the old. If the water heater still works, everything is fine.
Burned out the heating element, which is inexpensive to replace. In fact, heating elements are interchangeable, brand to brand...just be sure the new one is the same wattage as the old. If the water heater still works, everything is fine.
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Dave
circuit breaker
Most water heater elements have a circuit breaker feature to protect against over heating. Open the panel and see if there is a reset button. I had this happen and resetting the heater breaker button did the trick. Dave
Most water heater elements have a circuit breaker feature to protect against over heating. Open the panel and see if there is a reset button. I had this happen and resetting the heater breaker button did the trick. Dave
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Jim Rushing
Factory Mistake
When I received my 35.5 back in 1995, I noticed that I had no a/c on the port side of the boat. Starboard side was ok and could be switched off at the breaker. Then discovered that the hot water breaker controlled the a/c on the port side of the boat. Guess how my water heater was wired up. Long story short, there is a thermal breaker on the hot water heater and it will kick at if there isn't any water in the heater system. It is a failsafe for when everything else fails.
When I received my 35.5 back in 1995, I noticed that I had no a/c on the port side of the boat. Starboard side was ok and could be switched off at the breaker. Then discovered that the hot water breaker controlled the a/c on the port side of the boat. Guess how my water heater was wired up. Long story short, there is a thermal breaker on the hot water heater and it will kick at if there isn't any water in the heater system. It is a failsafe for when everything else fails.
Doubt that it burnt up.
Tom: When you recommission the boat in the spring, try it out. If it does not heat water, you will find a cover over the electrical controls. There is usually insulation over this stuff. You should find a reset button under there. Just push it in and wait about 20-30 minutes, if it works you know that the overtemp circut worked if not you may need to find out if the element is burnt out. This is not really uncommon with electric water heaters like Jim mentioned.
Tom: When you recommission the boat in the spring, try it out. If it does not heat water, you will find a cover over the electrical controls. There is usually insulation over this stuff. You should find a reset button under there. Just push it in and wait about 20-30 minutes, if it works you know that the overtemp circut worked if not you may need to find out if the element is burnt out. This is not really uncommon with electric water heaters like Jim mentioned.
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Tom
Thanks everyone
yes, I left the 110V on....the panel breaker did not trigger...I was there the whole time...didn't notice any burning smell?!!?...think I'll have to wait until spring.....I'll try it then...hopefully it was nothing.....I hope at worst it just a circuit breaker on the HW heater and I don't have to repolace the elemnet...but thanks for the advise in case I did.."Blow" it..
yes, I left the 110V on....the panel breaker did not trigger...I was there the whole time...didn't notice any burning smell?!!?...think I'll have to wait until spring.....I'll try it then...hopefully it was nothing.....I hope at worst it just a circuit breaker on the HW heater and I don't have to repolace the elemnet...but thanks for the advise in case I did.."Blow" it..
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