Lately our hot water has been running out very quickly, a lot quicker than it used to. I have an Whirlpool electric water heater with 2 elements with the top element has a reset switch.
I followed this guide to troubleshoot.
I checked the resistance of each element by removing a wire from each and measuring across the connectors for the element and I got 13 ohms on each one. I restored power to the unit and tested the voltage across the top element by turning the bottom thermostat to the lowest temp and the top one to the highest temp and got no voltage across the top element. I reversed the thermostats and tested the bottom element and got ~240 Volts on the bottom element so I figured the top controls were bad as the article indicated.
I replaced the top thermostat, making sure to label all the wires and reconnect them in the right place, but I'm still getting the same behavior, no voltage across the top element.
Is it possible that the top element is bad? I'm not sure what else to do at this point other than call a plumber.
UPDATE: Apparently it is still not working. I did drain the tank, but the water looked pretty clear and it didn't seem to help any. Here is the extra info on the water heater:
The year is 2002. The hot water runs out about 20-30 minutes. It used to last probably an hour at least. It's a 40-gallon tank.