Did I dodge a bullet?

beemerphile1 wrote:

Boxerslave wrote:
Kids slept in tt over Xmas. Winterized of course. Turned on water heater instead of lights by accident and I caught it today when I got the bedding. Removed access cover to check the element and the tank was hot, no water in it. Do I consider myself extremely lucky or do I change element anyway?

If the tank was hot it proves the heating element is not burned out so yes, you dodged the bullet.

Bet the element burnt out within minutes of dry firing and tank was hot due to propane on also.....until t-stat shut it down

Electric elements NEED to be submerged in water to survive the high current flow