Water Heater Repairs

[laphanphon]

yes, the service is weak, and follow repair to defective water heater even worst. 4500 w water heater repaired, and guessing they put a 2500 w heating element in as the water is barely warm now

presently shopping for new now, bought a 8000 w one yesterday, only to realize, you need 30 amp service to use, breaker kept clicking off, back to shopping.

any suggestions welcome, as i guess it's back to a 4500 w. does anyone have anything larger that will work on 15 amp service, non 3 phase electric. think i need to upgrade, but by time they do it, probably cold weather over. them showers definitely wake me up

[douglas]

Hi LAP, A 8000W heater is pulling about 35amps. min. Ohm's law I (current) equals W (Wattage) divided by V (Voltage) therefore 8,000W divided by 240V equals approx. 35Amps.Likewise a 4500W heater is pulling about 20Amps.I've checked my house voltage and it is more like 230V which means i am drawing more current than quoted. I say this not to be nasty but to advise you that if you are using 15A wiring and running 20A on it, over a period of time, the wiring could get hot and a risk of fire. Usually things like water heaters, showers, cookers are wired in seperately, direct to mains input, and not connected to a 3 pin socket. They should also have their own safety trip connected in line.Cheers Doug.

[laphanphon]

the water heater i just bought, has a temp. control, min-max, but informed, only one temp, only to be used with hot and cold combo faucet, to mix. hot not adjustable.............hmm, open, has switch, and relay behind switch, but apparently just for show. this one here you should buy, very good. yea right, give me the one i want, well, you could of told me i need 30amp service, now, new breaker and risk burning house down, or exchange................hmm, lets try burning the house down, maybe, further investigation and wants 8 mm wire, house has 1.5 and 2.5, of course the one i 'll tie into is 1.5, hmm, dilemma dilemma. everything seems to be an adventure here..............more valiums.

35amps

36.7 well, at least i have the individual safety trip for shower.

[jetdoc]

8mm wire .31 inch is a very large wire indeed. The 2.5 should be more than necessary depending on length of run.

[laphanphon]

actually have 10 mm left over from old house, but not sure if the junk switch will be able to handle the heat, might exchange for that 6000, and rewire to 2.5. or, make it real easy, get another mazema 45w. won't even have to drill new holes.

[arjay]

well, that is a good idea, one more off topic, and fell free to move, along with those associated with it. sorry mate, but senseless to start one now without associated comments. didn't know it was going to turn into a discussion on ele/hw.

but for those interested or thinking about installing, here is what is recommended for hot water installation, so don't skimp when initially building, as you'll have to adjust or things won't run, or run as as good as manufactured too

this chart for water heater 220/50 is thailand 3.5-8.0 is 1000's, the rest is self explanatory.

Chart to follow, I hope.

[fussychunk]

Had a few problems with my 9.5 kw water heater the other week, got the local electric chap to take it off and clean the inside of it due to the crap from the water. Would recommend every 18 months - 2 years giving the flow switches a bit of a clean....I'll just give it the kiss of death now...'It works fine'

[laphanphon]

must of typing at same time thought that was already there





and THANKS, arjay

[papaguido]

Nice LA, would have come in handy before I installed our water heater.

Which by the way, I have a Panasonic 3500w and a Toshiba 3500w no issues with heating water with either one. The Panasonic is a newer one that doesn't have the internal copper heating tank and has a slimmer profile.

[arjay]

"Bog" standard water heaters for showers are usually 3.5Kw, well for showers anyway. I previously upgraded one in Phuket to 4.5Kw which seemed to do the job fine in the cooler weather, though agreed the weather there doesn't get as "cool" as it has up here lately!! ....... But 8 Kw sounds mighty powerful, - should be Ok for steaming wallpaper of walls, or making coffee!! I would have thought that 4.5Kw would suffice?!

[laphanphon]

even turned down completely, it was hot. sales guy said i could make coffee with it on high returned it today, impractical to upgrade rental for a hw heater. might just pick up another 4.5. then when chilly like now, run one to the other, if electric can take it.

they wanted to exchange, Home Pro, then of course simply suggested i change breaker. if the wiring was better and not a wood upstairs, i'd think about it. no thanks, refund, thank you. even stepping down to a 6 w would mean change breaker and wiring, 1.5 mm to shower room. something would burn up or melt. oh well, informative outing anyway. as the chart shows, not many houses are compliant. excuse my reading comprehension without glasses on, 36.4 amp, 6 mm wire,

house has 16/1.5.

[bluejets]

Perhaps some should try a donkey water heater(chip heater). Even with a fire inside it, in some cases there would be less chance of burning the house down. Play with electricity without knowing what you are doing and you really are playing with fire. Safety switch won't help you in this situation either (overloading)

[laphanphon]

i'll agree with that, 'a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

use to be a chimney sweep, since on the subject of fire/heating, and it amazed me some of the things i've seen, and lack of respect for dangerous situation. goes with most things, natural and handyman lack of respect. waves, temperature, wind, all dangerous if not respected. same with playing handyman, especially electric, shock and fire risk. luckily most things here are concrete. though since a water heater, and used only when in house, would probably get away with not burning house down, half wood, though one less thing to worry about. glad i'm just too lazy to rewire someone else's house, or check all the electrical contact points to wood in house after every shower to make sure nothing is smoldering, not to say it couldn't flair up after departure, and any fireman will tell you, it's not out until it's out.

[jetdoc]

Another way to go is a point of service gas water heater. Recently when I hiked up Pukaduang (sp) they had gas water heaters installed in there cabins and they will out preform any electric heater I have seen.

[laphanphon]

saw those at Home Pro, would be the way to go, but a rental, so not for me. i actually like the practicality of these on demand hot water heater, just since 'repaired', a far stretch of the word, not up to par. wish they had them available in states, like here, as not just those under the counter, overpriced things available in states. but then the oil/gas company couldn't be having you waste that electric and gas keeping that 55 gal water heater going all day long, profits lost. use it 2 hours a day, run it 24................man have they got people brainwashed.

[arjay]

Before we all rush out to upgrade to new 6Kw shower heaters, or 8 Mil Gigawatt heaters and re-wire our houses to support the same, maybe we should consider how long the current "exceptional" cold weather will last, not to mention how many years before it will likely recur.

If it will be hot again within the next week, it surely won't be worth the cost, time or trouble.

[watchoutsnakeman]

this mornig bought new waterheaters (1 hasn't been working for ..... and 2 works a few sek at the time)
HOME PRO, went for same size as before 3,5w. tryed it in homepro and the water was 'warm'

Went home, but the water in your home is alot colder then the water they test with, so showering with that one wouldn't be an 20min shower.

So went back for 5,5w and that was HOT in the shop.
Still at home the water press is ot fast and the water is to cold to make it 100%, but if turn down the water press it is warn/hot.

So IF you dont has the power in the house for a bigger and your old ones still are "new". wait at week or so..

[bluejets]

Still at home the water press is ot fast and the water is to cold to make it 100%, but if turn down the water press it is warn/hot.

Good point.
Just wondering if any thinking about going to a larger kW systems had considered restricting water flow through the unit to allow water to absorb more heat.

[laphanphon]

for those like myself, who may never be happy with water heaters here, either temp or pressure...............used a gas fired one at hotel recently, quite nice. will have to investigate further on return and before cool season hits again, as knowing i can't do another season with what i have, no matter how short a season it is.

so any experiences or help for these would be greatly appreciated. not even sure what kind of gas it uses. know one thing, can turn that sucker up high enough to make coffee, add that to a regular mix faucet, shower head with h/c water, and we got pressure

worth every baht to me, and can take it with me when moving

[Juan Kosoff]

Laphanphon, would be interested to see how you get on with that, I prefer gas myself. My only concerns would be with installation and of course the flu/fumes issue.