You’re in the shower but there is no hot water, this is a good indication your heating element has gone out. If you are like me, and have hard water, this is probably a frequent occurrence. After checking the breaker box you see that is not the problem, so you shut off the power to the hot water heater. (If it is a flipped circuit breaker, flip it and you will be fine for about a week, but it is going to break.) The next thing you have to do is shut off the water supply to the hot water heater. There may be a shut-off valve so you can shut it off at the water heater only, if not, you will have to shut off the water to the entire house.
Now that the water and power to the hot water heater are off you need to get a hose or even a partial hose is okay, as long as it hooks to your hot water heater and reaches out the door. You screw it on the faucet at the bottom of your hot water heater, making sure to get it good and tight. You run the hose outside, and you turn on the faucet so the water in your hot water heater drains out.
Once the water stops flowing you turn off the faucet and remove the hose. I roll mine up and store it right there in the cubby with the hot water heater. It is now safe to open the door on the hot water heater and remove the bad heating element. It is usually just a couple of screws to get the door off. Then you have to remove the plastic cover, it just pops off, pull on it. Now you need to be careful with the insulation, removing it or pushing it aside, but making sure it stays as dry as possible.
You will need a screwdriver, I prefer a phillips head but the screws are probably the type that will work with any screwdriver. There may be two or four screws, depending on your hot water heater. Some hot water heaters may have two heating elements. Mine only has one. If you have two, you would have to do this to one and see if it is the broken one or not and if not, reinstall it and do it to the other. You will loosen the screws enough to pull the wires off them and keep them in their positions, just slightly pushed out of the way, but where you will know which one goes where.
Now you unscrew the heating element. If it is too tight you may have to get a heating element wrench. I was able to unscrew mine and purchased the special wrench with the heating element so I could use it to tighten the element on again. The wrench is very useful and worth the small price (Less than $5.00) Once you have the wrench you will want to keep it right there, with your hot water heater. When you pull out the heating element you will know if it is the problem because it will not be a continuous loop. It will be broken and funny shaped, you may have some difficulty getting it out of the hole if it is very bad.
Be cautious when pulling out the old heating element to do so slowly and if water starts gushing out, quickly push it back in place and screw it back in. This would indicate your hot water heater has not drained because the rust/lime has clogged up the hose outlet. If this is the case, it will be very difficult to drain it so you can replace the heating element. We made a makeshift attachment for a wet vac and got about ten pounds of rust and lime out of mine.
Once you have the element you will take it to the hardware store and purchase your new heating element (around $10.00) and your heating element wrench, and possibly a shut-off valve so you won’t have to shut off the water to the entire house next time, (Optional) you are ready to put the new heating element in. Most heating elements have the gasket already on them but if the one you purchased has a separate gasket in the package be sure and put it on the heating element. (My husband did not do this one time and it leaked and destroyed our floor)
It is a good idea to save your old heating element in the package the new one came in and put it there, in the cubby with your water heater. Next time you will not have to drain your hot water heater before you go get the part, while hardware stores all around you are closing early because everyone knows hot water heaters only break on Sunday’s. Next time you will just take this package with the old element to get your new element and the job will be easier as you can do it all at once with no trip to the hardware store in the middle of the job.
Screw in the new heating element. Tighten it with the heating element wrench. If you do not make it tight enough, your hot water heater will leak. Once you have the new element in place and tightened, reconnect the wires to the screws. Do not put the insulation, plastic thing and door back on until you have observed to be sure it does not leak. Do not turn the power back on, only the water supply should be turned back on so it can fill up with water. It is very important that you do not turn the power on, this will be very bad for your heating element to heat up when it is not submerged in water. Wait until the hot water heater is filled up and if it is not leaking, it is safe to put the plastic cover, insulation and cover back on and turn on your breaker again. It will take awhile to heat the water up, but you should hear sounds indicating the water heating is in progress.
