hot water heater

[Sachiko Moriyama]

I have a60 gal. DURON water heater in my cottage. It was installed in 1991. The cottage sees moderate use by the family in the summer and infrequent use through the winter. the water heater is always left on. Recently, the water temperature has appeared to be unusually hot. It was set by the plumber at 140 degrees F. even though the manufacturer recomended 120. Last week it shut down. On advice from a friend, I restarted it using the restart device on the tank. Some time later it shut down again. Following the manufacturers instructions I reset the thermostat to 120 and restarted. After several hours I noticed that the water temperature had climbed to what I considered to be excessive. At that point I shut the system down by throwing the breakers. Does anyone have any advice? Does the thermostat need replacement? Does the entire tank need replacement? Since it is now 8 years old, perhaps investing in parts and service would not be a good investment. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks.

[john howeParticipant]

Your heater probably has the original plastic head elements in it. These were prone to leak and subsequent short outs which can either pop the circuit breakers or over heat the water. If this is the case, replace them with State stainless steel head elements, not generic ones which will rust and turn the hot water brown. : I have a60 gal. DURON water heater in my cottage. It was installed in 1991. The cottage sees moderate use by the family in the summer and infrequent use through the winter. the water heater is always left on. : Recently, the water temperature has appeared to be unusually hot. It was set by the plumber at 140 degrees F. even though the manufacturer recomended 120. Last week it shut down. On advice from a friend, I restarted it using the restart device on the tank. Some time later it shut down again. : Following the manufacturers instructions I reset the thermostat to 120 and restarted. After several hours I noticed that the water temperature had climbed to what I considered to be excessive. At that point I shut the system down by throwing the breakers. : Does anyone have any advice? Does the thermostat need replacement? Does the entire tank need replacement? Since it is now 8 years old, perhaps investing in parts and service would not be a good investment. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks.

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