Hot Water Failure Christmas Morning

Much to our surprise we were out of hot water Christmas morning 2012. Interestingly enough we purchased this Sears Dual 28 Electric Water Heater in December of 1974. Hot water worked fine until September of 1996.

At that time a thermostat or heating coil went bad . While installing different used hardware I reconfigured the wiring so just one element is on at a time which is more standard. 

This Christmas morning I observed 240 volts at the upper element so I open the circuit breaker and removed one lead from the element and measured 40 ohms across the upper element which indicated the element is good.  I did notice the wire to the element was slightly discolored due to being warm. I loosened the screw and shortened the wire half an inch and reconnected with everything cleaned.  Now with power on the upper element is working fine and we have hot water.

With power on I measured 3/10 amps going to the lower element.  With power off I measured infinity across the heating coil which means it is bad. I then remove both leads, and installed wire nuts to protect the wire ends.

This hot water tank is double glass lined, has very little rust on the outside and has lasted so many years I hate to replace it. New tanks seem to only last 10 years at times. So now the question is should I operate with only one element which seems to work just fine. Seems we have enough hot water. This was the biggest tank Sears sold in 1974. It had by far the fastest heat recovery or gallons of hot water per minute due to the fact it had both elements on at the same time. It drew 28 amps which is rather close to the 30 amp circuit breaker. Power was cheap back then and since we had the cheaper all electric rate it seemed smart get the biggest and the best tank for just a few dollars extra. I see it came in 3 sizes 52, 66 and 82 gallons. It might be the biggest. We have never to my knowledge run out of hot water except for the 2 failures.

Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to all. What a busy and great time of year. So much is happening these days with well used trails through the woods to both boys’ families. We have so much to be grateful for. We are healthy but aging some. 

In April a big event was Linda retiring from the Office Manager/Bookkeeper position for Gamble Bay Timber. It was a nice career for her having flexibility all those years and especially to work with Jeremy and Nate. Now we are able to spend about two days a week watching our granddaughters. What a blessing for us. 

We traveled to the National Parks of Utah and Arizona in April car camping in our van. We met Bob and Marlene and spent a week camping with them and had a great time. So much to see and do. It was wonderful!

Our May special event was Hannah’s birth making our fourth delightful granddaughter. What a treat to be so close to our granddaughters (and their parents) as our granddaughters are growing up. All of them are doing well and so full of love, joy and energy. {Ages ½, 2, 3 &4.}

In July we camped at Lake Roosevelt with the extended family. We had a great time enjoying the sunshine, the heat, the water and everyone who came. Good mealtimes were had by all. Then in August we camped at Takhlak Lake overlooking Mount Adams with Betty and Alain, Bob and Marlene and Mark and Anne. What a beautiful spot. We so enjoyed our adventurous day hike which crossed a raging river and snow patches on a hot summer day. We basked in the luxury of our new very little camping trailer. (After 46 years of tents and vans.)

Our oldest granddaughter fell in our creek this year. The first person ever to do so. She was crossing the log bridge across the creek and momentarily looked back to see what Gramie was doing and off the side she went. She got wet to her ankles and was really surprised for sure. I reached down and pulled her back up on the log but noticed my strength has diminished some. She learned a valuable lesson.

In September we experienced another special event as Nate, Deann and girls moved into the home across the street from us. Wahoo!  Deann has two horses in our pasture these days which keeps us entertained. Now that they live so close she pretty much takes complete care which makes it especially nice for us. Horses are enjoyable to watch out our dining room window. We notice they watch us a lot also.

We are also grateful for the routine things in life - including volunteering and helping family and friends when the opportunities come.  All in all it has been a grand year.

                                   Blessings to you as we celebrate Jesus‘ birth, and enter 2013,

                                   Jim & Linda