Today, a storage water heater can be found in most houses and apartments. Like any other type of equipment, electric heating tanks occasionally fail due to wear of spare parts or improper operation. Do-it-yourself boiler repair is not difficult if you identify the malfunction in time and fix it correctly. Next, we will tell you how to repair the water heater yourself, and what breakdowns are most common! We immediately draw your attention to the fact that this instruction is suitable for most models of such well-known companies as Ariston, Burning, Termex, Electrolux, etc.
Reasons for failure
The main cause of boiler failure is considered to be poor water quality. Because of this, scale forms on the surface of the heating element, the inner walls of the tank are susceptible to corrosion, which in the future entails more serious consequences and costly repairs in the service center. In addition, the water heater may stop working due to improper connection to the mains and hot/cold water circuits.
As for the latter, when it is necessary to install a safety valve between the pipe coming out of the tank and the cold water supply pipe, which will protect the tank from rupture during a water hammer. You should also connect according to the instructions and, no less important, do not confuse where something is connected. Sometimes situations arise that, if the installation is incorrect, the water heater does not draw water. Please note that in this case you should not panic. It’s better to look again at how to properly connect the equipment to the pipes and, most likely, you will understand why your water is not getting.
So that you understand how to repair a storage water heater in different conditions, then we will separately consider ways to repair all possible breakdowns with our own hands.
We remove the scale
If the boiler does not heat the water to the desired temperature, but still makes noise when turned on, it means that scale has formed on the heating element, which you need to clean yourself. This is not difficult to do, you just need to disconnect the equipment from the network, drain the water from the tank and disassemble the case to remove the heating element. You will not have any difficulties with disconnecting the plug from the outlet, but draining the water can make repairs a little difficult. We immediately recommend watching a video tutorial that shows a simple method for solving this difficulty:
Master class on draining water
After you empty the tank, you will need to disassemble the boiler with your own hands. To do this, carefully disconnect all fastons connected to the thermostat and unscrew the bolts, which are usually 6 pieces.
During the extraction of the heating element, some more water will pour out, which remained in the tank. The heating element itself is recommended to be cleaned immediately, while it is wet and the scale deposits have not hardened. For cleaning, we recommend using special products that can be sprayed onto the heater. After some time, deposits are effortlessly removed with a wooden spatula or even a dull knife. Also, for repair, you can boil the heater in a bucket with the addition of a special acid to the water, which will effectively solve the problem. In order to get rid of scale for sure, we advise you to clean the tubes with fine-grained sandpaper (“sandpaper”) to a metallic color.
Simultaneously with the repair of the boiler, which heats water for a long time or weakly, it is recommended to replace the magnesium anode, which protects the tank from corrosion. To do this, dismantle the worn rod and purchase exactly the same one to do the replacement yourself!
Descaling at home
After that, you need to assemble the boiler in the reverse order and check whether it was possible to repair the weak heating of the water. Do not forget that the first thing you must do is fill the tank completely with water, then connect the plug to the mains and start it up.
We draw your attention to the fact that there is a situation when the boiler does not heat water, because the heater is broken. In this case, self-repair consists in the fact that you need to ring it with a multimeter by setting the resistance measurement mode. We will talk about this below!
Checking the circuit with a tester
If the light on the boiler is on, but the water is not heating up, then it is likely that the heater, which we talked about above, is not working. Checking it at home is quite simple, you need to install the tester probes on the contacts of the heating element and look at the resistance on the scoreboard. For a working heater, the resistance can vary between 0.4-0.7, as shown in the photo below. If you see “1” on the display, it means that a break has occurred and you need to replace the part with a new one, because. it is almost impossible to repair it.
By the way, if the boiler is energized or when it is turned on by itself, then the cause of the breakdown, again, is in the heater from which the leak occurs. You can check the malfunction by connecting one probe to the contact of the heating element, and the second to the tube itself. You will see “1” on the display, the part is in good condition and there is no need for repair, a minus value or too large - a replacement is required. In more detail about that, we told in a separate article.
Another reason why the boiler does not heat water, or vice versa, heats up a lot, is the failure of the thermostat. You can check it in two ways - with a tester or a lighter. Everything is clear with the tester, you need to act according to a similar methodology, but as for the lighter, everything is more interesting here. First, dismantle the thermostat and press the button on it (it is circled in the photo below). After that, the copper contact of the thermostat must be heated. If after some time the button returns to its original position (it will be knocked out), the thermostat is working. If the thermostat does not work, you can repair a boiler that does not turn off or turn on by replacing this part with a new one. I would also like to note here that there is no need to drain the water to replace the thermostat on the water heater. It is enough just to disconnect the equipment from the network and disconnect all the wires.
How to independently check the performance of a water heater with a multimeter
Also, sometimes there is a breakdown - the temperature is not shown on the display of the water heater or the display does not work at all. In this case, check all the elements of the circuit and if you do not find a break, most likely the control unit has broken. You will not succeed in repairing electronics with your own hands in the absence of experience and knowledge, so you will have to take the electric water heater for repair to a service center.
Getting rid of leaks
If you notice that water is dripping from the boiler, it is not always possible to repair it yourself. Well, if the cause of the leak is the wear of the seal on the flange. In this case, the gasket must be replaced with the same size, which will allow you to repair the breakdown. Things are much worse if the water heater is leaking due to wear on the tank itself. Some advise to glue or solder the holes, but, as practice shows, after a short period of time you still have to say goodbye to the boiler, because. such methods of repairing leaks are extremely short-lived.