How to Test Heating Elements on Electric Hot Water Heaters
- 1). Turn off the breaker at the main panel that supplies electricity to your water heater.
- 2). Remove the access panel from the side of the water heater. Remove the insulation from behind it, exposing the thermostat and the element. Some water heaters may have two access panels and two elements, depending on their sizes.
- 3). Verify there is no pwer present by touching the wires with a non-contact voltage tester. Loosen the two screws on the face of the element and remove the yellow and blue wires from beneath them.
- 4). Set the dial on the multimeter to resistance times 1,000 ohms. Touch one prong of the multimeter to one screw on the face of the element and the other prong to the remaining screw. If the element is good, the needle on the multimeter should move all the way to the right. If your water heater has two heating elements, repeat this test on the second element. Replace the heating element if no reading registers on the multimeter.
- 5). Replace the yellow and blue wires underneath the terminal screws on the face element and tighten the screws. Reinstall the insulation over the thermostat and the heating element. Replace the access panel.
- 6). Turn on the breaker at the main panel that supplies electricity to your water heater.
Source...