Patent ID: 8867906

Claim:
A dry fire protection system for a water heater, the water heater including a body having an elongated hollow for holding water to be heated, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in communication with the hollow for flowing water therethrough, and a heating element coupled to the body for heating the water within the hollow, the dry fire protection system comprising: a sensing element disposed in the hollow of the body and configured for detecting the presence of water in the hollow, the sensing element being spaced apart and separately located from the heating element, the sensing element being configured to generate a voltage in response to a temperature of the sensing element; a first electrical power supply providing electrical power to the sensing element; a second electrical power supply providing electrical power to the heating element; and a controller operably connected to the sensing element for monitoring the generated voltage across the sensing element, wherein the controller is configured to prevent a supply of electrical power from the second electrical power supply to the heating element when the generated voltage is above a threshold voltage to prevent a dry fire condition.