I have No hot water....... element or anode rod??

Question

I have well water. For a whole day my water & power was turned off while a friend replaced the pressure switch on my outside water tank. Now I have NO hot water! There is a red reset button on side of water heater-won't push in-after asking different men, of course the first response is---probably your heating element! Could it be by anode rod? How do I know for sure before shopping and buying the wrong thing? It's a 30 gallon electric tank in a manufactured home. Please help, I'm a single woman and will attempt to fix this myself, I know power off first!!

Answer 1

The last two answers are the best in my opinion. For further help on the matter, you can go to www.howellsac.com.

Answer 2

Cycle the circuit breaker to the hot water heater first. (off then on)

Some times it's hard to tell they tripped off.

Then try the red button. ( you should check your manual for a rest info)

I'm guessing the red button will not reset because there is no power.

If the power and water was turned off the element should not have been damaged.  The Anode will not effect the temperature of the water just the smell.

We are assuming you have cold water from your hot water faucet.

If you have no water from the hot water side of any faucet then the inlet valve to the top of the hot water heater was turned off too.

Answer 3

Anode rod. A sacrificial part of the water heater that does nothing but corrode away so that other part of the water heater will not corrode.  

Answer 4

If per chance you used the hot water while all that work was being done and the workman did not turn off the electric supply to the water heater then you burned it up. the thermostat would have turned on the elements when the tank was low or dry.

So first turn of the power and check the heating elements.

This is  just a possible scenario that could have happened,,,I don't really know because I wasn't there.

Answer 5

You can check the element with an ohmmeter. Power off of course. I doubt very much its the anode. Check your breaker.

Answer 6

Remove the element and ohm her out.

Answer 7

Are you sure there is not a breaker turned off the the water heater?  It might be the element since the water may have been drained out during the other repair.  The anode would not cause you not to have hot water.  The element would have be tested with an ohm meter to know for sure.  If the unit has two elements I would guess it would be the top as the upper thermostat must be satisfied before sending power to the bottom element.