water heater only working on propane

[RollingDownTheHighway]

I have a 3200bht and I'm on our first trip of the season and the water heater is only running when I have the switch on for propane. last season I ran it off of electric. any idea what I should check to get it running on electric? (yes I had the switch on for electric)

[Ford Idaho]

Did you winterize it?




Look there.

[Herk7769]

Since your AC switch is on the panel, I think you need to check the AC breaker first.

Next step is outside for the reset button for the high limit switch. They should be something like this.

After that you will need a meter to check for voltage at the bottom of the left thermostat (water heater cold). If no voltage your thermostat could be bad. If voltage, your heater element is likely shot.

[RollingDownTheHighway]

no, I had the dealer do it since they were doing some warranty work

[kenandterry]

If you didn't have any water in the tank when the electricity was applied to the heating element............it most likely "fried" the element faster than it took for you to read this sentence.

[rscconrad]

Check the circuit breaker. It should have been switched off for the winter so it does not run sccidentaly

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

If you didn't have any water in the tank when the electricity was applied to the heating element............it most likely "fried" the element faster than it took for you to read this sentence.

My buddy had his anode out while he was winterizing and had never noticed the AC switch on the outside before. He flipped it on to "see what it did." He found out when sparks flew out of the anode hole.

[RollingDownTheHighway]

the breaker was off i just turned it on but nothing.



I don't see reset buttons

[kenandterry]

I just realized that the OP was having trouble with an Atwood Brand water heater (as shown in his photo)........NOT a Suburban like some of the photos others have included.

Do they operate that differently?

[abjb]

I wouldn’t think it matters, if it was empty and the electricity was on the heating element is toast.

ab&jb

[Herk7769]

Is that water heater gas only?

I only see two red wires going to the gas solenoid and a black going to the DSI.

I am not as familiar with Atwood water heaters, but there should be an element somewhere if it is dual powered.

No element I can see. What is the model number?

[wmtire]

Since you have the Atwood brand name heater, you might start with the owners manual from our library.

Forest River Forums - Downloads - Water Heater - Atwood Water Heaters

Pagr 4 tells about the electric heating element and that there is a switch on the BACK of the heater, as well as a resettable hi-limit switch you can press with a pencil or non-metallic object to try. It has a pic of the location.

You said the dealer winterized it for you. Did you manually verify there was water inside the heater before turning it on by electric, by opening the pressure valve on the front of the heater.

If not, then there may have not been water in the heater, and the element is burnt up.

However you stated it was working on gas, so I am assuming you are getting hot water, thus the bypass valves have been set for summer use, and are not still in winter mode (thus the water bypassing the heater).

If the bypass valve is still in winter mode, you cannot verify there is water in the heater just by turning on the hot water taps inside your trailer........................... since the purpose of the valve(s) is to bypass the heater, thus the cold water line is now merged into the hot water line................so you will always get water from the hot water tap, it'll just be from the cold water line.

[Herk7769]

Sorry to be so ignorant of the Atwood system.

The manual says the electrical side stuff is on the "other" side of the water heater.

"In 2003, Atwood relocated the Switch, Thermostat and ECO that was installed on the back of combination 6 and 10 gallon Gas/Electric Water Heaters. A double switch is now located inside the RV for convenience and a joint ECO and T-Stat is located on the gas side of the water heater. This leaves only the relay and heating element on the backside of the water heater."

If you had that AC power switch on, without water in the tank, then you have fried the element for sure.

Verify you have 120 VAC at the element and if so just replace it with the correct part.

[wmtire]

Here is some more links to great troubleshooting manuals, with lots of diagrams.

Atwood Water Heater Troubleshooting

http://hometips.me/Mar/Atwood-Water-...ice-manual.pdf

[RollingDownTheHighway]

here is the inside

[Herk7769]

The element you need to change is inside that black box, I am thinking.
Not much room to work around those pipes though.

I did some more reading and the high limit is "dual use" and on the outside; so if the gas works fine, that is OK.