Water Heater Light

[C5Torch1998]

We have a 2013 Solera. When we are dry camping and switch on the hot water heater the LED above the switch illuminates. However, when we are on shore power the LED does not illuminate when the hot water heater is switched on. The heater works fine in either case. Should it be on in either case?

I have hopefully correctly attached a picture of the LED on the Convenience Center.

George

[wmtire]

I have a hunch you have the dual powered water heater, and you have left the 120 volt AC electric heating element on. Look at this thread link below, then check to see if you have the electric heating element switch on the water heater face.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tml#post327988

What's happening is when plugged into shore power, since you have the electric heating element on, it's heating the water. So when you turn your propane dsi switch on (the one in the pic) it's doesn't NEED to come on since the water is already heated from the electric element.

The link above will explain it in detail, if this is your case.

The small light you are showing is usually a DSI Fault light. It stays illuminated if the propane fails to ignite at the water heater burner. This alerts you to a fault in the propane igniting. It also comes on at the very start of the ignition cycle (right when you turn on the switch), but should go off once the propane properly ignites.

Is this light staying on the entire time you have the switch on...or have you noticed?

[Mikegjax]

The light come on letting you know that water is heating with gas. Light will go out when water reaches proscribed temp. Shore power not required for gas heat.

[RSchleder]

Listen to wmtire, he's "spot on" here!

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by Mikegjax

The light come on letting you know that water is heating with gas. Light will go out when water reaches proscribed temp. Shore power not required for gas heat.

Actually the light comes on to indicate the propane heating sequence has started and it will go out if the sequence was normal (burner ignited). It does not stay on till water temp reaches a prescribed temp.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by bubbles

Actually the light comes on to indicate the propane heating sequence has started and it will go out if the sequence was normal (burner ignited). It does not stay on till water temp reaches a prescribed temp.

Correct, as this should be the DSI fault lamp as explained in the link in post #2.

Here is another Forest River Convenience Center pic, where the DSI fault light is labeled as such. It just doesn't appear they labeled it in the OP's, but it still serves the same function.

Of course there is always things that could be different in different models.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Mikegjax

The light come on letting you know that water is heating with gas. Light will go out when water reaches proscribed temp. Shore power not required for gas heat.

Mike, since your sigline shows you have a Solera, and the OP hasn't responded back, can you answer if the Solera's (or your year model) does indeed have the electric heating element with a switch on the face of the water heater as explained in the link from post 2?

Thanks

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Correct, as this should be the DSI fault lamp as explained in the link in post #2.

Here is another Forest River Convenience Center pic, where the DSI fault light is labeled as such. It just doesn't appear they labeled it in the OP's, but it still serves the same function.

Of course there is always things that could be different in different models.

My post was directed at Mikegjax input. His post could be misleading to the OP. Your link posting is the best bet for the OP.

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Mike, since your sigline shows you have a Solera, and the OP hasn't responded back, can you answer if the Solera's (or your year model) does indeed have the electric heating element with a switch on the face of the water heater as explained in the link from post 2?

Thanks

Mine does have the switch on the face of the water heater (2014 Solera) for elec. heat. Gas switch on control panel. I might have been wrong on my comment but will check it out.

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Mike, since your sigline shows you have a Solera, and the OP hasn't responded back, can you answer if the Solera's (or your year model) does indeed have the electric heating element with a switch on the face of the water heater as explained in the link from post 2?

Thanks

My apologies. I was completely wrong. The red lights is the fault light. My panel does not say fault above the switch, but that is what the light means.
Shame on me for having this wrong for some time.

[C5Torch1998]

Thanks for all of the replies. I will be cleaning up the RV for a trip tomorrow and will look at the water heater to see if it is electric as well as propane.

I'll let you know what I find out.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Mikegjax

Shame on me for having this wrong for some time.

No shame in the least. We are all here to learn and figure stuff out as a community. Now I learned in this thread that some Solera's had the Suburban combo gas/electric water heater.... and not all control panels have the DSI fault light labeled.

[C5Torch1998]

I tested the water heater yesterday. As I mentioned initially, the red LED above the Water Heater switch on the Convenience Center lights when the coach is not hooked to shore power (as when dry camping and generator not running). I started the generator and when I switched on the water heater the red LED does not light, nor does it light when we are on shore power.

I found the water heater electrical switch as shown in the attached picture. This switch has been in the ON position for the 2 years we have owned the coach. The instructions say to turn the switch off when the water heater is not in use, but I figured the main DC disconnect switch covered that.

The water heater works fine in all situations, I have always just wondered why the LED does not illuminate in all 3 situations (dry camping with generator off, generator on or shore power).

I have one additional experiment that I will try next week (I feel like a working engineer again). We will be hooked up to shore power, and I will turn off the electrical switch in the heater compartment which will not allow the DSI to work, but we will not be running the water heater on propane. In our previous RV the light above the Water Heater switch lit no matter how we were hooked up. Of course that was a different manufacturer so they may have wired it differently.

Thanks again for all of the responses. I can see these forums are going to be a valuable source of information. The first time I read through the replies I was confused by the abbreviation “OP”. I finally realized that is me the “original poster”.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by C5Torch1998

I tested the water heater yesterday. As I mentioned initially, the red LED above the Water Heater switch on the Convenience Center lights when the coach is not hooked to shore power (as when dry camping and generator not running). I started the generator and when I switched on the water heater the red LED does not light, nor does it light when we are on shore power.

I found the water heater electrical switch as shown in the attached picture. This switch has been in the ON position for the 2 years we have owned the coach. The instructions say to turn the switch off when the water heater is not in use, but I figured the main DC disconnect switch covered that.

The water heater works fine in all situations, I have always just wondered why the LED does not illuminate in all 3 situations (dry camping with generator off, generator on or shore power).

I have one additional experiment that I will try next week (I feel like a working engineer again). We will be hooked up to shore power, and I will turn off the electrical switch in the heater compartment which will not allow the DSI to work, but we will not be running the water heater on propane. In our previous RV the light above the Water Heater switch lit no matter how we were hooked up. Of course that was a different manufacturer so they may have wired it differently.

Thanks again for all of the responses. I can see these forums are going to be a valuable source of information. The first time I read through the replies I was confused by the abbreviation “OP”. I finally realized that is me the “original poster”.

I hate to add any confusion to this thread but I fear you may still not know exactly how this light is to operate.

Your water heater has two sources of heat, the electric element (controlled in your case by the switch in the water heater outside compartment, and the propane flame. (controlled by the switch in the control panel)

You can use either source independently or both together for faster recovery.

Connecting to shore power does not 'lock-out' the propane source from working and your statement of "will not allow the DSI to work" is not correct. The ONLY time the DSI light wouldn't come on when connected to shore power, (when using the control panel switch) would be if the electric heating element had already heated the water hot enough there would be no reason for the propane burner to light.

If you turn off the outside switch... AND... the water in the tank is cold... AND... you are connected to shore power... AND... you turn on the control panel switch... the DSI light should illuminate (and verify ignition) and then go out once the burner begins to burn.

I sure hope I didn't muddy the waters further for you.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by C5Torch1998

I tested the water heater yesterday. As I mentioned initially, the red LED above the Water Heater switch on the Convenience Center lights when the coach is not hooked to shore power (as when dry camping and generator not running). I started the generator and when I switched on the water heater the red LED does not light, nor does it light when we are on shore power.

I found the water heater electrical switch as shown in the attached picture. This switch has been in the ON position for the 2 years we have owned the coach. The instructions say to turn the switch off when the water heater is not in use, but I figured the main DC disconnect switch covered that.

The water heater works fine in all situations, I have always just wondered why the LED does not illuminate in all 3 situations (dry camping with generator off, generator on or shore power).

I have one additional experiment that I will try next week (I feel like a working engineer again). We will be hooked up to shore power, and I will turn off the electrical switch in the heater compartment which will not allow the DSI to work, but we will not be running the water heater on propane. In our previous RV the light above the Water Heater switch lit no matter how we were hooked up. Of course that was a different manufacturer so they may have wired it differently.

Thanks again for all of the responses. I can see these forums are going to be a valuable source of information. The first time I read through the replies I was confused by the abbreviation “OP”. I finally realized that is me the “original poster”.

Please note the part i emboldened in red above, as you are not figuring exactly how this water heater operates.

Please reread the previous link I provided. When you plug into 120 volt AC shore power (or a generator), with the electrical switch being on that is located on the front of the water heater.....then it IMMEDIATELY starts heating the water.

The switch inside your RV has no effect on this electrical heating element. By the time you go inside and perhaps turn on the DSI/Propane switch inside your RV, the electric element has already heated your water...so the thermostat for the propane doesn't sense the water is cold enough for the propane to need to fire up...thus no red DSI fault light. The electric heating element and propane side each have their own independent thermostat...which make sit where you can run one side independent of the other.

If the electric heating element keeps the water heated, then your propane will never fire up, as it doesn't need to. However if you used a lot of hot water fast (like long or multiple showers)...and the electric heating element couldn't keep up...then the propane would fire up it's burner to help in the recovery, provided you have your inside DSI/propane switch turned on.

There is nothing automatic between the sides, and you manually turn on which switch for which mode of heat source you want. One has zero effect on the other.

If you are boondocking, with no generator or shore power to provide 120 volt AC power to the electric heating element, then it will never heat the water. It's as dead as your microwave or outlets. But you can still use the propane side, and use the switch inside your RV, where you will notice the red DSI fault light initially come on at the start of the propane ignition cycle.

It's sounds like I was supposing, you had the electric switch on all the time. I'm actually surprised you haven't burned out the electric element in two years.

I know it's confusing, but the detailed link provided earlier may help, if you reread it. You are still really not fully understanding the operation of this water heater...and it's two sources of heat.

[DaveJordan]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I know it's confusing, but the detailed link provided earlier may help, if you reread it. You are still really not fully understanding the operation of this water heater...and it's two sources of heat.

OK. So here's the thing. Everyone has been speculating on exactly what's going on with this water heater. But, as far as I can tell, the original poster hasn't told us what make & model water heater he has. Without that info, it seems like the rest of the discussion is just...excuse the expression...hot water!

I think it would help greatly if the OP would locate that info and let us know.

Dave

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by DaveJordan

OK. So here's the thing. Everyone has been speculating on exactly what's going on with this water heater. But, as far as I can tell, the original poster hasn't told us what make & model water heater he has. Without that info, it seems like the rest of the discussion is just...excuse the expression...hot water!

I think it would help greatly if the OP would locate that info and let us know.

Dave

Dave, he has an outside electrical heating element switch. Only Suburbans have that. He has stated he has only ONE inside switch to the water heater (pic in post #1), which makes it a Suburban SWDE model.

His pic in post #13 shows everything we need to know to see it's a Suburban.

Actually I kinda hang out in the water heater threads, since the Suburbans are confusing to many with the operation of. I've done so many of these, it gets easy to immediately know what brand and/or model from a partial pic as provided.