I purchased a GE 40gallon water heater model: GE40M06AAG. What type of circuit breaker do I need and it says that its a 240/208 volts AC only. Can I use it and what do I need if I can use it?

Residential type 240 Volt electric water heaters require a 2 Pole / 30 Amp circuit breaker and must be supplied by a conductors not smaller than # 10 gauge copper wire.

1) Copy following links for detailed resources:
http://waterheatertimer.org/Review-GE-Heat-Pump-water-heater.html#error
http://waterheatertimer.org/GE-heat-pump-manuals-by-date.html

2) T2 is tank temperature sensor failure located just above upper element.
Call for service/ warranty.
Call GE 888-433-4394

3) Was water heater completely full of water before applying power.
Do you have 10 gauge wire and 30 amp breaker.
Is unit receiving 208-240 Volt power. Click breaker fully on-off.
Move wire to another same size circuit breaker.

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

Are you asking about tankless gas or tankless electric?

You posted under Tankless gas water heater: gas type tankless plugs into standard 120Volt household outlet to power circuit board. You need larger gas line than used for tank-type gas water heater.

If you are asking about volt and amp draw of Tankless electric, then that depends on specific model number.
For example, if each tankless element draws 3500Watts, and unit has 3 elements, you will need 3 additional 20 amp 240Volt circuit breakers. Volts x amps = watts. 3500 watts divided by 240Volts = 14.58 amps. At full blast, this unit would draw 43.75 amps and will cost more to operate yearly than tank-type electric water heater. If unit has 4500 watts elements, then it will draw 56 amps at full blast, and use a good percentage of household power.

Tankless water heaters have no hot water in power outage. This is true for gas and electric models.

Additional resources:
http://waterheatertimer.org/images/Compare-water-heater-parts-650.jpg
http://waterheatertimer.org/pro-n-con.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/pdf/Bradford-White-on-demand-tankless-service-manual.pdf

Bad reset mechanism.

The water heater has two 4500 watt elements.
However both elements are not turned-ON at same time
So the water heater is 4500 Watts

Volts x Amps = watts
Amps =watts divided by volts
Amps = 4500 Watts divided by 240 Volts
Amps= 18.75

So that says a 20 amp breaker ... except for the 80% rule
80% rules says for safety, your Amp rating should be multiplied by 80%

20 amp breaker X 80% = 16 amps
20 amp breaker is actually safe for just 16 amps, and your water heater draws 18.75 amps.

The calculation shows you need a 30 Amp breaker.
30 Amp breaker requires 10 gauge wire.

http://waterheatertimer.org/Figure-Volts-Amps-Watts-for-water-heater.html

did you turn the power on BEFORE you filled it with water???

this is a pretty common mistake. you will need to check the upper element to make sure its working.
most water heaters have an upper and lower themostat. the upper thermostat is the one we need to check.

use your volt meter...

turn the power off, test with your volt meter to make sure! remove one wire from the element, not the thermostat, and check resistance on the element. if no resistance, you burned the element, and will need to replace it.
replace with same wattage, usually 4500watts. it will be written on the element.
also, I like to push the reset button on the thermostat to make sure it wasn't tripped.

Normally no, but for a circuit breaker to activate, there has to be excessive current draw somewhere. Is the circuit breaker exclusive to the water heater? If it is then the heating element may have shoirted internaly. Fit a new element and restest. Don't forget to check the condition of your sacrifical annode too.

Hello, I just noticed this question, which provides more info than your other one did. I thought you had an existing (older) water heater and provided info for checking a potentially faulty, (failed) heating element.

After seeing and reading this question, it sounds as if you have a problem with the 220V-AC electric supply going to the water heater. I would start by checking the circuit breaker to verify that the breaker is operating properly, since it might be that you're only getting one side of the breaker to pass electricity to the water heater, meaning that the heater isn't going to be able to operate at 120 volts properly.

There could also be a bad connection at the water heater when it was installed, or a break in the wiring from the electric panel to the water heater. Check at the circuit breaker panel first, being careful to test the breaker with a multi-meter to verify that the breaker is passing the voltage from panel thru to the screws that the wiring is connected to.

You will need to follow the circuit from the panel all the way to the water heater, taking care to check any connection points, such as a possible junction box. However, the wiring from the panel to the water heater, should be one continuous run without any other junctions or splices, so if the wiring is faulty, you will need to replace the wiring to be in code compliance.

I hope you find this Very Helpful and best regards!

There should be a faucet on the side . you hook up a garden hose and drain it.