I what to use 2 20a amp breaker with bar across them. I want to creat a 220v curuit connect to a disconnect box. I want to connect a water heater. How do I wire the disconnect lugs. What order do the wires go.

You did not post the make and model of the unit. However you should have three wires on a 120 volt heater. Black is HOT. White is neutral and green or bare copper is ground. Anything that you check with a meter connected to black should show 120. white connected to ground across the meter would show 0.

If you mean turning the power off, go to your breaker box. Most likely, there is a dedicated DUAL breaker (if it's 220v), and - hopefully - marked as water heater. If breakers aren't marked you may have to selectively turn off breakers to find the correct one.

Most water heaters work on 220Vac. When replacing a 220V breaker you MUST make sure the breaker is pushed down into the slot so it catches both 110Vac bus bars. If you install it incorrectly you will only have 110Vac instead of 220Vac and it will not work.

Thermostat is rated 120-208-240-277 volts.
Element will work with any voltage too, no matter rating on label. It will burn at different temperatures at different voltaGES.
Any voltage should run water heater.
Copy following links:
http://waterheatertimer.org/Figure-Volts-Amps-Watts-for-water-heater.html

Push in reset button.
Make sure tank was full of water before turning power ON. Or element will instantly burn out.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-electric-problems-with-water-heater.html#new

Are you testing voltage across top two screws on element.
http://waterheatertimer.org/images/Upper-thermostat-w-wire-a-2.jpg
Or are you testing each leg to ground?
http://waterheatertimer.org/images/Inside-Main-Breaker-Box-12.jpg

Gene
h

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

It is possible that the breaker is bad. It is also possible that your water heater is overloading the breaker. It is probably easier to try a new breaker to start with. Unless you are familiar with changing the breaker, call an electrician. Your life is a very valuable asset to you!

You have electric water heater.
You replaced elements and thermostats but heater still won't work.
And tank was completely full of water, and water was running out of a faucet before turning power ON.
If elements are not fully immersed in water, they will instantly burn out.
If upper element is burned out, then tank will have NO hot water.
If lower element is burned out, and upper element is not burned out, then tank will have some hot water.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-test-water-heater-element.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-it-works.html

If elements did not burn out, then that leaves 1 main suspect: the electricity.

1) Push in ECO red reset button on upper thermostat. If ECO is tripped out, then heater will not work.

2) Click circuit breaker all the way one direction and then back the other direction to make sure breaker is latched.

3) If tank has 2 elements, then it is 240volt.
If 1 leg of 240Volt circuit is not working, then 240V appliance will not work.
240Volt circuit needs both hot wires to complete the circuit:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-wire-EH40-hot-water-heater-timer.html#120-240

Buy cheap multimeter from Home Center and set dial to 240-250-277VAC
Tape tester leads to woods sticks to keep hands away from power.
Power is ON
Test across top 2 screws on upper element should show 220-240 volts.
If you have 240 at top two screws, then skip down to step 6.
If no reading across top two screws, then move to top of tank.

4) Open connection point where wire connects to heater.
Test across both insulated wires should get reading of 220-240 volts.
If no reading, move to circuit breaker box.

5) Mark water heater breaker.
Turn off all breakers except water heater breaker and main breaker. (and breaker to light fixture where box is located)
Do not hold or touch or lean against anything metal.
Stand on dry boards and wear dry clothes.
If main breaker is OFF, the big wires that connect to main breaker are still HOT.

Remove box cover.
240Volt breaker has 2 wires connected with screws.
Test across both screws for 240Volt.
See if wires are loose.
If there is no reading, then breaker is not working on one leg.
To double check, move water heater wires to another same-size 240V breaker and then put ear against water heater to listen for bubbly-fizzing sound.

6) If you are getting 240 to water heater, then wire inside tank could be loose.
Do 30 minute troubleshoot:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-electric-problems-with-water-heater.html

Add a comment for more free help.
Also take advantage of fixya phone service.
For a price, fixya expert speaks with you over phone while you work on timer.

Remove upper and lower access panels
in upper access, use voltage tester to test voltage of on the uppermost terminals above the red reset button. should be ~220V between terminals (110 to ground)
If not: breaker off or bad,
If 220V proceed:
Test the two terminals immediately below this reset button should be 220V
If not: reset tripped or bad
If 220V present, proceed.
Turn off breaker to heater.

Use ohm meter or continuity tester.
test resistance across upper element terminals -should be 10 to15 ohms
check between each terminal and ground -should be open circuit .
If not replace element
Repeat for lower element.

test across lower element thermostat should be no resistance when stat turned up so it clicks on.
(To test that lower stat turns off, allow tank to heat up completely before conducting this test) Turn sta temp down so it clicks off then test across stat terminals -should be open circuit

The upper thermostat is a 3 way switch
The simplest way to test it is to turn the power back on turn the upper stat all the way up so it clicks on and use voltage tester across the UPPER element terminals, should be ~220V
Now turn the upper stat down so it clicks off- check upper element should be 0 V between upper element terminals -(Caution ! terminals will still be live 110V to ground)
The upper stat has now sent power to lower stat.
Turn lower stat up so it clicks on, check Voltage across lower element -should be ~220V turn lower stat down so clicks off, should be 0 V across lower element terminals.

NOTE If tank is completely cold the upper stat will not switch off and wont send power to lower stat.
If lower tank is cold lower stat may not click off even when turned down.
normal stat setting is 125 to 130
The hotter you you set the stat, the faster your tank corrodes.

I assume this is a 240 volt water heater that runs on a 30 amp circuit. Read the instructions that came with the new water heater to be sure. If the wires are connected correctly then you have a defective water heater. Let's first make sure it is wired correctly. Turn the breaker off and take a look at it. It must be a 30 Amp breaker and the wires going to the water heater must be 10/2 with ground. This is an orange wire. If you cannot see the water heater from the service panel it must be wired to a disconnect box. Look at the breaker and make sure the red & black wires are tightly connected to the double pole breaker and the copper wire is connected to the ground bar. At the disconnect box (if applicable) the red/black wires from the service panel must be connect to LINE and ground to ground bar. The wire going to the water heater from the disconnect box is connected to LOAD. It is easy to get these mixed up because they are not always in the same location and are hard to read on some disconnect boxes. Look carefully and make sure they are correct. At the water heater you connect Black to Black and Red to Red. Make sure the ground is connected tightly and none of the wires are touching each other. Use wire nuts and then tape the connections with electrical tape. You should not have applied power to the water heater until it was full of water. If you did then your burnt out the electrodes. I would suspect you have a short somewhere or the water heater is defective.

How to explain this? your new drop in unit will require a 220v circuit capable of a specified amount of amps. Typically 40, 50 or 60. Should be noted in the manual and on the unit itself. If your original oven and cooktop were electric, then each one was probably hooked up to a 220v circuit. The problem is figuring out how many amps were supplied for each. The simplest way is the go to the panel and find the breaker for the old oven and cooktop and read the numbers (or amps) on the on/off switch. If either breaker has a number the same or greater then the drop in unit says it requires, then your all set. If the drop in unit says it requires 52amps and one of the breakers says 60 on it, your fine. If the drop in unit says it requires 44amps and the breakers are 30 or 40, then you got a problem. Usually a breaker is installed that is the maximum amps allowed for the size (thickness) of the wire connected to it. You CANNOT connected a 50a breaker to wire only rated for 40a. Note the size difference of wire connected to a 20a breaker with wire connected to 40a breaker. If the drop in unit requires more amps then the original units used, then a larger wire will need to be ran from the panel to the drop in unit (Not cheap). Now if the original oven used a 30a and the original cooktop used a 30a, then its possible ( 80% of electricians wouldn't do it because of liability problems) to use both wires together to create 60amps, but both wires (actually a total of 6 wires, 2-120v wires and 1 ground wire from each outlet) would need to be in the same outlet box for the drop in unit connection.. I could (and probably should) try to explain more, but I'de probably just confuse you more. GOOD LUCK!

get acceess or rent an amp clamp meter with a "max hold" and clamp it on each line wire coming into the box (if you're not experienced in this hire an electrician being tht it can kill you if not done correctly and safely) when it blows check amps to each "leg" and see if it is over 200 amps. if it is under, the main breaker should be replaced . If it is over, clamp it on the "hot" side of each
circuit that you suspect may be pulling too much. If this all comes out ok, have the main service connections to the main breaker checked for being tight. This is a last resort, but I'
ve seen them heat up from being loose and then throw the main. The over all amps could be pulling too much, but it takes alot of things running at the same time to throw a 200 amp main.

Goodd luck!
.