I'm installing a hot water heater timer on my hot water heater tank. The orange wire from the house to the timer has 3 wires: two hots and ground. The wire from the timer to the heater has 4 wires: two hots, ground, and neutral. What do I do with the neutral wire? Thank you for your answers.

 

If there is no neutral coming into the timer, then there can be no functional neutral coming out. And unless there is something on the water heater that needs one side of the line, then just tape it off and position it out of the way.

 

what country you are in? what is voltage across those hots?

what is the water heater model? do you have link to manual?

 

Follow the instructions that came with the timer.

 

If there is no neutral coming into the timer, then there can be no functional neutral coming out. And unless there is something on the water heater that needs one side of the line, then just tape it off and position it out of the way.

Thanks for writing this, cause that's what I did. So far, so good.

 

Follow the instructions that came with the timer.

The instructions didn't cover this directly, though there was a reference to "..if you have one" about the outgoing neutral wire. Thanks for the reply, anyway.

 

what country you are in? what is voltage across those hots?

what is the water heater model? do you have link to manual?

I'll get back to you on this, although Ylli may have answered my question. Have a good week.

 

How much current does the heater draw? How much current can the timer switch?

 

The instructions didn't cover this directly, though there was a reference to "..if you have one" about the outgoing neutral wire. Thanks for the reply, anyway.

If you don't have a neutral wire going to the water heater then, obviously, you can't connect one.

If in doubt, contact the manufacturer's help line.

If you're not sure of what you're doing or haven't worked with 220VAC before, be very careful. Make sure the wire connections are tight because water heaters are high wattage (i.e. current) appliances. The wire you run from the timer to the water heater should be #10 for copper (#8 for aluminum). Unless your water heater has two heating elements and they're wired to operate at the same time vs the more normal one-at-a-time.