Electric heating not working

Unless you are using a tankless hot water heater, there is a limited amount of hot water available in the tank. Electric and gas water tanks need time to recover after use, and if you are using heavily, it can exhaust the available supply. That said, there are a couple reasons why you may have less hot water than seems normal. In both electric and gas water heaters, silt can form in the bottom of the tank. This will build up over time and displace water. It also reduces the heating efficiency of gas units. There is a drain valve on the bottom of water heater tanks to allow for purging of this silt periodically, but few ever do it. You could also have, in the case of an electric hot water heater, a bad element or thermostat. Most electric heaters have an upper and lower element and thermostat. If one fails the other will still work, but the water takes longer to get hot and will deplete faster.

electric or gas?

Check switch and timer working ok also pencil Thermostat in side heating elemnt is ok and is turned up enough to call 4 heat

1) For gas: Turn off gas to heater:
http://waterheatertimer.org/images/Gas-water-heater-89-valve-2.jpg

2) For electric: Turn off circuit breaker.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-electric-problems-with-water-heater.html#veryhot

3) For gas: Copy following link to identify gas control valve thermostat, and troubleshoot by type of gas control.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-gas-water-heater.html#intellivent

4) For gas: Gas control valve thermostat has probably gone bad.

5) Add comment and give clear description of water heater.

6) Call plumber.

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

10-22-12
Copy following links to help identify product and download possible troubleshoot resources:

Tank-type gas
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-gas-water-heater.html

Tank-type electric:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-electric-problems-with-water-heater.html

Rheem tankless:
http://waterheatertimer.org/Troubleshoot-Rheem-Tankless-water-heater.html

Other types of water heaters include boiler, tankless electric, indirect, solar-assisted, solar, hybrid electric, heat pump, wood-burning, gas hybrid, 3-phase commercial electric.

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

Thermocouple has 2 ends. One end attaches to gas control valve, other end sits inside the pilot flame.
Flame heats thermocouple, causing tiny electrical current that is detected inside the gas control valve and keeps the gas valve open so water heater can turn on when thermostat calls for heating.
If pilot goes out, then no electric current reaches gas control, and all gas to burner and pilot is shut off.

If pex line burst, that implies very high pressure, caused by closed system with check valve that stops expansion, or possible clog in the water line, or high local water pressure, or clogged factory-installed heat traps.
Put pressure gauge like BTG100 on the drain valve to check pressure, should not exceed 80psi, install pressure reducing valve on cold water line, install expansion tank on cold water line. Remove heat traps and install ordinary pex-lined di-electric nipples from hardware store.

If the water was super hot, then overheating could have caused the pipe explosion.
However the gas control thermostat is ECO protected, and if ECO (energy cut off) trips because of high heat detected inside the tank or combustion chamber, the gas control will trip off and no longer work, gas control needs to be replaced. Some newer electronic gas controls can be reset, but that type heater uses a thermopile instead of thermocouple.
Thermopile is basically a group of thermocouples, that product more electric current that is used to power electronics inside the gas control valve, which issues an error code on the gas control, and some day will send a text message each time out-of-range event occurs.

Copy following links for troubleshoot resources, including troubleshoot by type of gas control valve:
http://weaterheatertimer.org/How-to-troubleshoot-gas-water-heater.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/Low-hot-water-pressure.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/pdf/How-to-replace-water-heater-gas-valve.pdf

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

large water heater, turn p the themo stat to a higher setting ( watch for burns with young childern and older folks)

or the best install a tempering valve. this valve mixs hot water with cold water before it goes into the building.

Again if you have young ones or old people they can burn faster than any other group.the best is a larger heater for the DIY person.

Thanks Tom

The thermocouple has gone bad or in this case is going bad to the point that it is useless.

The thermocouple is the pilot's, well, co-pilot! It is the electronic device that senses if the pilot flame is hot enough to ignite natural gas or propane fuel to the burner. If the thermocouple thinks it's safe, then it keeps open the main gas valve located in the pilot assembly. If the thermocouple does not sense enough heat from the pilot flame (such as when the pilot is out), then the thermocouple shuts off the gas valve to the burners.
How the Thermocouple Works
So what is this thing and how does it work? Well the thermocouple (technically called a thermocouple junction) is a device that contains two metal wires welded at the ends and placed inside a protective metal case. The thermocouple sensor is found at the business end of the pilot flame and is designed to be placed in the hottest part of the flame. The other end is connected to the pilot valve body. As the thermocouple heats up, it produces a small amount of electricity and when it gets hot enough from the pilot, send a signal to open the gas valve by using a solenoid operated by a 24 volt transformer. The thermocouple calls the shots, and by converting heat to an electrical signal, it allows the gas valve to open or close. Once the gas valve is open, gas is then constantly supplied to the pilot and as required for the gas burners (as called for by the thermostat). If the pilot goes out, then the thermocouple gets cold and produces no electric signal to open the gas valve's solenoid and the gas valve shuts off the gas supply to the pilot and burners. Neat huh?

Make sure switch on water heater at back where electrical wire is attached is in the on position, as well as any breaker marked for water heater. Some RV's also share a connection at a switch by counter in kitchen that only allows either microwave, or water heater, not both at same time. Possible that ECO, Thermostat assy in behind black cover on outside may be faulty, but not very likely. If you verify that there is hydro to connection at back of tank, I would suspect element is faulty. Not uncommon to burn element out if it was on, before tank was full of water, or when tank was emptied for some reason.

there is a big diffrence between a gas and an electric water heaters,, what you have on here is a 6 gallon water heater, it will take longer for electric to keep up hot water then it would for a gas water heater,,