Ticking sound top 1/3 of AOSmith Electric Water Heater

SOURCE: I have an AO Smith Model EES 52 917 hot water

You have electric water heater.

Inside the upper panel on water heater is a thermostat with red reset button.
1) Click the reset.
2) Put insulation back over thermostat so it is not exposed to cooler air, so it reads correct temperature.

After resetting thermostat, you will have hot water.
The reset automatically clicks off when thermostat detects temperatures in excess of 150 degrees.
The re-set is a safety device, and it keeps everything safe.
If reset will not 're-set' with cold water in the tank, then thermostat is bad, replace thermostat.
You can repair electric water heater yourself following steps on links below

http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-replace-thermostat-on-electric-water-heater.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-electric-water-heater.html

If the reset clicks off again, just reset it
This is not a dangerous situation
Reset thermostat as many times as necessary until you can fix the problem

If you have trouble fixing the problem, add a comment at bottom of this page and it sends me an e-mail and I will help further


Thermostats with ECO red reset

George Hels

• 528 Answers
• Posted on Nov 05, 2010

SOURCE: MY HOT WATER COMES OUT

A new water heater may not solve the problem - do you have colored water coming out of the cold side, at all faucets and in your commode too? If so then your pipes may be corroded inside ( typical from well water systems) and will need replacement too. Initially I would suggest hooking up a garden hose to the drain on the heater and, after running the other end of the hose outside, open that valve to see if the water is colored. If so, then I would strongly suspect your water heater needs replacing. Also, look under the water heater to see if there's any leakage, indicated by brown stains either on the floor under the heater or running down the side.

Testimonial: "THANKS!!!"

SOURCE: want to replace 17 years

If I understand the wording on the max rebate you will need to go with one of the high effiency on demand heaters such as bosch or whirpool .There are several more manufactures that will qualify for up to 1600.00 on taxes and some dealers offer there own incentive programs. Most of these heaters are going to cost in excess of 2000.00 plus installation but they will save operating expenses. Hope this helps. Thank you

SOURCE: I have a hot water

AO Smith is biggest manufacturer and ships about 140,000 units per month sold under different brands. Look at rating on tank. Is it a 9 year tank? Or 6 year? Or lifetime?
http://waterheatertimer.org/Water-heater-manufacturers.html

Number of factors can cause rust around element:

1) Element is seeping moisture: check and replace element.
Elements can start leaking any time
http://waterheatertimer.org/Water-heater-is-leaking.html

2) Anode rod can be depleted from variety of factors including water softener or calcification over anode so it will not work: Check and replace anode rod every 1-2 years with water softener, every 3-5 without water softener. New anode rod will STOP the rust, but will not repair tank that is rusted.
Tanks with longer warranties have 2 anode rods, one on hot water nipple, the other on top of tank.
http://waterheatertimer.org/Replace-anode-rod.html

3) Stray current corrosion: add a jumper wire between hot and cold pipes, and make sure tank is grounded. If there is stray current, it will deplete steel in tank if tank is not grounded.
For example one fellow had a tank that rusted out every few years until he discovered his big radio antenna was grounded back to hot water pipe and the tank was not grounded, so the interference depleted his tank.
http://waterheatertimer.org/9-ways-to-save-with-water-heater.html#Ground-tank

Add a comment for more free help.
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Fixya is always less expensive than a service call.

SOURCE: I have an AO Smith

The water that is leaking, more than likely, has gotten into where the electrical hook up is, Yes, that is the electrcal hook up. There also should be a ground under or attached to that flap. Be very careful, this is 220v. I would make sure the breaker, fuse is out before you go poking around more wires. You should have a panel(s) on the front of the heater help on by screws, take them off and see if it is wet in that area. With water in the pan also, the water could be leaking down inside the metal tank, which could short out the whole heater. The haeter is grounded so that in the event that water and electric make contact with the metal housing, it should pop the breaker. You, among other things may not have a good ground which is dangerous. Anyway if all seems dry around the elements and thermostats, you may have a bad element or, if you have two elements, you may have to reset the thermostat by pushing the little round red button. You need to take care of the leak but, if you know how, check the heater out and, if its all rusty, etc., you might ought to repalce it.