I have a 40 gallon electric water heater with two 4.8KW elements.

I've had to reset the upper reset switch on the water heater twice so far. What can be causing the reset switch to trip? The water heater is a new unit installed professionally less than three years ago.

Separate question. Can I wire each element/thermostat separately (add another wire run and breaker) to achieve faster recovery? This would mean each element would have a separate breaker. Or I could replace the existing wiring with a new breaker of double the capacity and appropriate wire size. (The current panel breakers are 25 Amp and I'm assuming #10 2-wire plus ground.)

Before I did anything else I'd replace the upper thermostat. You don't complain about excessive heat so my guesss would be a faulty thernostat. Replace wire for wire, (see image) and don't attempt to modify the wiring. Good luck, Tom

Hi Walthy...

Don't go trying to get creative with this stuff... not necessary! The elements never fire at the same time!

As Tom mentioned above, replace the upper thermostat... easiest place to start!

The breaker should be a 30 AMP double pole breaker... so I would swap out that 25 A breaker for a 30 A... ;) Do NOT attempt this yourself unless very familiar with electricity in a panel. It might be a good idea to post this in the electrical forum to confirm the importance of this.

Confirm the wire is a #10 wire... compare to #12 and #14 wires if there is no writing on the sheath covering the wire.

Change the thermostat and consider changing the breaker as mentioned.

Any questions just let us know...

Mark