Electrical smell from water heater
Getting a weird smell of hot electrical. This first happened months ago so i stopped using the 120v element. On propane it works great. Finally tested the heating element and it had the same resis...
Forum Discussion
wopachop wrote:
Thanks everyone. How much power runs through that exterior 120v switch? While researching a month ago i remember someone saying its a relay and does not carry much current. Im just curious.
The jumper is pretty solid. Its your regular male/female spade connectors. The connectors make good contact and the wires feel crimped nice and tight.
I will poke around and look for loose connections. Thanks for all the advice.
What about a clamping meter on the heating element wires? Would that help diagnose the problem? Actually for fun im gonna check that now. Will test the element and the switch wires.
The clamp on meter will show the same current no matter where you check. The issue is resistance where it shouldn’t be. That extra resistance is creating another “heating element” outside the tank. Overall, the current will be lower than in a working system since more total resistance means less total current. If you’re competent, you can check the voltage at the various connections when powered up. It should be the same everywhere from input to element. If there’s a change from one point to another there is resistance between them.
