Plumbing

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A place for Plumbers and those interested in Plumbing to ask questions and discuss the trade.

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Water heater breaker shut off and when I flipped it back on a wire burnt (imgur.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Why would this happen? Should I try replacing the wire nut and turning it back on or is there something deeper going on? Thanks for any tips!

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thanks all who replied. I ended up investigating some more and noted that the wires inside the nut that melted were barely connected. I checked the elements resistance in the water heater and visually checked the electrical wire going to the breaker box. Everything looks clean with no indication of an issue besides that wire nut. I'm concluding it was a loose connection and hoping that is right. I redid the connection and installed a fire alarm right above the water heater. I then let the water completely warm up and checked the wires (after turning off power) to make sure they were not hot. So far it is all working as expected.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Great work. Now just keep an eye on it to see what was causing the moisture or water to get inside the electrical connection to cause it to rust inside. May be a leaking connection or valve. Happy new year.