[BB_TX]

There have been many different problems reported over the years to cause the WH to not work on electric including bad heating element, bad outside switch, bad/tripped thermostat/hi temp cutout, tripped circuit breaker, bad WH relay, bad or burned wiring in the WH junction box.

If you are comfortable using a voltmeter to check live 120 vac power I suggest the following;

1. Using voltmeter check for 120 vac at the heating element. If voltage there go to 5.
2. If no voltage, check for voltage at both wires on the thermostat/hi temp cutout. If voltage on one wire but not the other then bad or tripped thermostat. Try pressing reset button to see if voltage returns. If not, then bad thermostat/hi temp cutout. Replace.
3. If no voltage on either side of thermostat, then pop out the black switch (with power turned off until you get it out). Then turn power back on and check for voltage on both wires. With switch On, if voltage on one wire but not the other then bad switch. Replace.
4. If no voltage on either wire then power is not getting thru the relay. Could be breaker tripped, bad relay, bad wiring, bad inside switch, loss of 12 vdc to inside switch. (Note that the inside switch uses 12 vdc to energize the WH relay to send 120 vac to the outside switch). Burned wiring at the relay has been reported more than once. Troubleshooting gets a little more involved at this point.
5. When checking for 120 vac at the heating element put one meter lead on heating element AC hot screw and one meter lead on the neutral screw. If voltage there but element not heating then probably bad element. With power off remove element and check for continuity thru the element. Should read something around 10 ohms if I recall.
If no voltage detected then leave the meter lead on the element hot screw and touch the other meter lead to the metal WH housing. If voltage is now detected then there is a bad neutral connection. This is where bad/burned wires in the junction box have been reported. Junction box will have to be opened up.

Best to use a step by step troubleshooting procedure to isolate the problem rather than guessing. Again, only do this if you are comfortable troubleshooting live 120 vac. And use lots of caution even if you are.