electric water heater questions

[thager]

hey i have a electric water heater out on the farm , right now its wired on 110v and i run out of hot water in about 5 mins showering , would wiring it to 220v get me more hot water (its a 40 gal) ,heres a pic of the breaker panel , the one with he white line is what it is currently wired to
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q138/thager94/IMG_0537-1.jpg
what kind of breaker is this ?
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q138/thager94/IMG_0540.jpg
heres the main breaker, does this mean i have 200A service ?
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q138/thager94/IMG_0541.jpg

[black_shadow_18]

its a cutler hammer panel, yes 200 amp service, and if you wire it to 220 you will burn it out because they are probably 110 volt elements and controls. you could check the nameplate on the heater to see though. you probably need to change the water heater out to a new one

[drtoohotty1]

How old is the water heater?

[thager]

got it wired over to 220V and its working great now

[JudasJimmy]

Originally posted by thager
got it wired over to 220V and its working great now
this doesn't make any sense. unless it was susposed to be a 220v water hearter in the first place. It's weird that you would think plugging a 110v water heater into 220v would give you more hot water.

[revelations]

uh, did you set the thermostat properly first before modifying the system voltage?

[Cos]

.

[thager]

yes it is rated for 220v, the t-stat is set at 60

[StreetRacerX]

There should be a rating plate on the tank that would give you the info you need to know.