Electric Water Heater intermittant
Also posted this in plumbing since I'm not certain where the problem really is - sorry for the duplication:
I have a 7 year old 86 gallon electric water heater that is driving me nuts. It regularly stops heeting the water. I have recently replaced both the elements (twice now) and the thermostats. At first it seems like the problem is solved, but then the same problem occurs.
I'm starting to suspect a power problem. There is a separate breaker box for the water heater, with 2 breakers (30 amp) and on the right side (for the lower element) there are also 2 fuses. The fuses are fine and the breakers don't trip. It is hard to tell for sure because it takes so long the foe water to heat back up, but it seems like flipping the breakers on and off *may* sometimes help.
Any ideas? Do breakers go bad? If they are bad would they trip? I could try replacing the breakers but I don't see a shut off on this separate box so I'm not sure how to do it safely.