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Permalink Reply by Brady on April 12, 2011 at 5:43pm

Well, I'm no Silvia expert, but my first guess would be that you might have a ground fault.

 

There are several internal component failure that can cause this. Unplug and dig in. First place I'd check is for visible water leaks. Next place would be steam condensation - or signs of it (corrosion or buildup). Then check for a ground path at the heater terminals.

 

That's all I have.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on April 12, 2011 at 11:09pm

That is funny.

Brady said:

Well, I'm no Silvia expert, but my first guess would be that you might have a ground fault.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on April 12, 2011 at 11:38pm

The first thing I'd check, apart from Brady's recommendations, is to take a resistance reading on the element.  I don't know how many watts the Silvia puts out but if the element were 1500w then the resistance should read 9.6ohms.  1700w would be 8.5ohms and 1200w would be 12ohms.  You should get a reading somewhere in this ballpark.  If you get 0ohms or something with a "K" or an "M" next to it then you have a blown element that is connected through the water in the tank directly to ground.  A disconnected wire resting on the frame will pop the breaker too.  As Brady implied, you'll just have to look around.  Good luck.

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