Problematic hot water heater?

I have a whirlpool electric hot water heater. It has an energy smart electronic module on the top of the tank that has lights that light up when there is a fault. Whenever we use the dishwasher, take a shower, or use hot water for long periods of time, the water heater will display on the module "check lower heating element" and will flash this fault the whole time until you press the reset fault on. If you don't press the reset on the hot water will not restore and you're just left with cold water once all the hot is gone. If you do press the reset on, the tank resets and works fine until you use a large supply of hot water again. It's tiring always pressing the on everytime you use hot water, but it does work fine if you do. Any suggestions on what could be the problem? If it's the element, I would think it wouldn't work at all. The electronic module appears to be fine with no burned electronic parts in it. And there is sediment if drained, but little drains