When we are new, we need to be extra careful!
No big thing and we were all new at some point and most of us have never gotten it all figured, so we can all relate to most problems. Been there done that!
One way to be careful is to not assume too much and work a problem in the safe way to avoid causing any more trouble than we have!
On water heaters, it is not good to heat them if we are not certain there is water in them as that can burn out the element, etc.
My process would be to confirm with certainty that water flow in is good, then confirm the fire is working as the less complex method to find if the controls like the thermostat are good, next I would want to make sure that hot water is coming out to the faucets and last test the electrical heating. The electrical heating is harder to see, hear or feel, so I leave it to last!
I might guess getting the valves right for water to move in, through, and out of the heater all the way to faucets, may be the main problem when we are new at getting all of them set.
So how can we help best? Do you have the owners manual to find the various valves and get them set? Or do you need some pointers to help find where they hid them?
Those valves can get changed over the years and not look just the way we expect!
You mention hearing it light but I might back off on that until getting the water to flow correctly as overheating the element is a real hazard!
There are check valves on both incoming and outgoing water and they do need to be checked for flow.
Are you where you have city water pressure?
I suggest going this way, if you have pressure water and a place to dump any that you run!
I would turn off the heating to avoid pain or damage if the water is not going where we want it. Then turn off the pressure to the hose and open a faucet to let the pressure off.
Once pressure is off and heat is down to avoid burns, find the temperature and pressure relief valve on the water heater tank. Normally pulling the lever up is what opens the valve.
A helper is nice for this part to avoid too much water running down the RV side, etc.
With somebody watching the valve, turn the pressure back on somewhat slowly and verify water comes out the open valve as the tank fills. Water getting in the tank and coming out is good, so close the pressure valve! That verifies the incoming check valve is good and the bypass valve is set to let water in.
But if no water comes out the open valve, check the bypass valve setting as it can be a bit weird when we first look at them. They can also get changed over the years and may not match what the picture in the book shows. Sometimes just try changing the valve to the other settings gets water flow out of the tank, so go with the one that works!
While there, make sure the valve that lets you suck antifreeze into the system is set to normal flow!
Go to a few of the faucets and try to get water on the hot side of things. At this point it should not be hot but just verify flow. Note any faucets that seem to be extreme low flow. Maybe some are stopped up with minerals but that is a later issue!
Check you have water coming in, going through the tank and out to the hot side of faucets!
Got that? Light the fire on the heater and let it warm enough to feel it as heated water rather than just cool water. You want to know the heated water is what you are feeling, not just water that might be bypassing the heater!
If you get that far, you know the heater parts like check valves, etc. are all okay and you can let it warm fully and make sure it shuts down!
Water heating okay? So move to questions about any faucets that are not giving the right answers as they do have a habit of getting stopped up while stored.
A hint on this will be easy to spot if you have a single spout and both hot and cold seem bad! Check if there is an aerator on the spout that might unscrew to clear or replace!
A good soak in vinegar may soften the minerals to clear them. But water that sets for a few weeks/months is harder than what we have at home where we run water at least every few days!
Good luck on the search and know that many of us have been there before so just part of the trek!
