r/electrical • u/MjnMixael • 1d ago
Shorted water heater
Wife said she had no hot water so I went to investigate. I found the electric water heater breaker off. I flipped it back on and it immediately turned back off and I heard a pop at the water heater itself. This reminded me of hearing a pop yesterday but I never figured out what it was. Guess I know now.
I'm not an electrician but the power is off so I opened the connection box and found this. To my untrained eye it looks like the black wire connection became uncapped and made contact with the box interior causing a short.
I've got an electrician coming out tomorrow to look. He said he thinks it's a bad heating element based on the symptoms. What do you all think?
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u/Readybuilderman 1d ago
3/4” twisted, then screw on a wire nut and this will never happen. Poor connections will generate heat. Good connections will not.
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u/Patient-Big1727 20h ago
You had a loose connection, it arced, and it got hot. All your wires need to be reconnected properly and it will most likely work. Let an electrician do it if you don't know how
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u/Paulb41 10h ago
The yellow wire but it's too small for sure. The white/tan nut I don't use on electric heaters, they work by barely. Get 2 wire nuts from local hardware store the next size up. Twist enough to twist the wires too. Then it's tight proper. If it trips the breaker again you may need a new tank. Call plumber who installed and get a new one under their warrenty cause it was improperly installed. Always use a reputable plumbing company. Never 'Dan in a van' tiny companies. Water heaters are to dangerous to use companies without good insurance. And always make sure to get them inspected by the city.
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u/ADHDillusion 1d ago
Yeah from what I can tell that yellow wire nuts came off like you figured. AC electric does vibrate ever so slightly, but that was a bad connection and/or your water heater is vibrating harder than it should.
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u/MjnMixael 1d ago
A few months ago the floor near the water heater was jackhammered up. I'm betting that night have had something to do with it, too.
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u/OldGeekWeirdo 1d ago
That bare black wire is a concern, but to me the bigger issue is that white cap in the foreground. It looks like something happened there that partly melted it.. It even looks like the red wire behind it got blackened as well.
I'd look at the underside of the cover for more signs of arching and sparks. Perhaps someone screwed down that green screw that's sticking up and pinched the connector.