Re: Heat element & shore gfci

Yep. That is THE classic cause of a ground fault. Turning on the electric element in the water heater without water in the tank almost instantly ruins the heating element. The heating element then makes contact with ground. That NEUTRAL/GROUND contact trips the GFCI every time. Your solution is to replace the heating element in the water heater. The breaker being on or off doesn't matter. The short is between NEUTRAL and GROUND, and neither one is disconnected by a breaker.