Water heater questions

[Boar]

Replaced the element in the water heater, A.O. Smith brand. What would cause it to tea kettle out the pressure valve? thermostate set to high. the element is the same 4500 wat, had a plumming supply store give me the right one based on numbers. Any ideas. Thanks boar

[CAMAN]

Did the valve pop or was it more of a gradual thing?

Could it be stuck open? Did you bump the thermostat? Is it wired correctly?

[Whoaru99]

Dunno if you should even be able to set it that high. Defective/stuck thermostat maybe?

Have you checked the temp of the water?

If it is actually overheating it's a potentially very dangerous situation.

Check this out:

[Boar]

Heres the whole story, I replaced the element, things seemed fine took shower an ran outa hot water just fisgued it hadent heated enough. washed clothes ect. hour later wifes getting ready for work. no hot water, quite cold. so i check things out an pushed the reset buitton on top element, dont know why that poped, wired wrong? so things heated up an went to bed an this morning its a sauna in the laundry room an the heater is teakettleing, water all over floor moister dripping from ceiling an water an steam coming out is extreamly dangerous. shut of water supply fliped circuit an disconected power supply to heater. Alls safe. Themostate go funky wired wrong. Wires to new element are tan an black, black should be live right an tan is nuetral? help please. thanks for earlier replies. Boar

[CAMAN]

Not sure how it is actually supposed to be wired up or the colors of wire, but to me it sounds like you are bypassing the thermostat and giving the element power all the time. I would try and find the wiring diagram and see if anything is out of place.

That Mythbusters clip is after they removed all the safety devices, I wouldn't be too concerned doing that unless you had alot of corrosion and the blowoff valve wasn't working properly.

[Whoaru99]

Yes, of course, but the point remains it's a potentially dangerous situation and an example of worst case. The implication is get it fixed NOW, it's not something to dilly-dally with.

[Whoaru99]

I'm not a water heater technician but last one I replaced had only two connections and the supply is AC so it would seem that even mixing up the wires shouldn't cause any real problems, although certainly the right way is always the best way.

[Boar]

The two wire are coming from the thermostat so i'm not bypassing the thermostat, an i think there is only one way to wire wire the element, i looked at the old one an there is no negative or positive indicators to determine wireing. I think things are pushing towards thermostat. I completely disconected all power source an had to take lop lid off so i can vacumme up all the water standing or being absorbed into insulation. Dosent take long just very safty conscience.

[BobT]

I would assume that because you only replaced the heater element the only wires you disconnected were the ones on the old element. You can't hook them back up wrong when you install the new element. If you've connected any other wires then yes, you can hook them up wrong.

By your description it sounds like your heater is possibly over-heating. I also suspect you've already checked the setting on the thermostat(s). If you have a meat thermometer you can check the temperature of the hot water at one of the faucets in your house. If the thermostat(s) only have a dial indicating "Hot" I would expect at the "Hot" setting it should be between 120 and 140 degrees. If the thermostat(s) indicate actual temperature settings then it should be relatively close to what you're set at. They aren't real accurate but it should be close. If it's much hotter than that or anywhere near 200 then I'd suspect a defective thermostat(s).

[Surface Tension]

Your water heater is overheating. High temp limit switch being tripped and the steam coming out the pressure relieve valve says it all.

You can trouble shoot to see which (upper or lower control) is the culprit or just replace them both. While your at it check the other heating element to see if its good.

Instead of a lot of typing I'll going to provide a link that should help you out with testing and to check your wiring.

Here is a pretty good guide for you to follow.