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Old 03-23-2012, 08:20 PM   #1
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Water heater problem

We are in our maiden voyage in our new Salem TT and having a water heater issue. The water heater will light when I turn on the dsi switch but it will only stay on for a minute or two. Not nearly long enough to heat the tank. I tried the electric switch outside with moe results either. Any suggestions?
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:26 PM   #2
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gas tube may be dirty or have cob webs in it .
propane full ?
air in lines not purged yet ?

how do you know electric isn't working ?
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:28 PM   #3
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hopefully you had water in the tank when you turned on the electric - I always verify this by lifting on the pressure relief valve to make sure water comes out.

when you click the button inside to turn the gas on - you should hear the heater make a faint clicking sound and then hear the flame kick on.

Did you purge the air out of the gas system before turning this on - I purge the air out of the lines by starting up my burners on the stove for a brief minute or two to make sure no air is in the line before starting the fridge.

you could have the bypass on causing no water to go into the trailer.
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:35 PM   #4
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Ok. I lifted the pressure valve and no water comes out. Would the bypass be engaged on a brand new unit? Gas Lines were purged by the way. If there's no water in there them I surely burnt out the electric heat element when I turned it on for an hour.

Next question is where the heck is the bypass valve on this trailer? I've taken off two panels to no avail.
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:40 PM   #5
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If there's no water then most likely you have a bad element now but hopefully not the case - never the less it will work off of the propane until you get a new element.

Yes the bypass could be engaged in a new unit probably was delivered in winter or stored while cold - just a guess though.

Hopefully some one with a Salem can answer your question on the Bypass by if you have the panels off you will see a RED and Blue Water line look for the RED line and it will have a valve turned - not sure how to explain without a picture - hopefully this helps

most likely the valves will be near the water filter - hopefully you know where that is
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:43 PM   #6
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should be right behind your hw heater

also when you do find it open the pressure relief valve till the hw heater is full


ANOTHER dealer pdi fail!
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:48 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by f1100turbo View Post
should be right behind your hw heater

also when you do find it open the pressure relief valve till the hw heater is full


ANOTHER dealer pdi fail!
Agreed on the PDI - Fail

they should have had this tested before delivery.

I was looking at some pictures of where his hot water heater is and it is just behind the front door on the lower left side not sure how he would get behind it unless he has an access panel from either under neither or inside the stair well
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:51 PM   #8
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The bypass valve is usually loacated at the back of the hot water tank, so maybe you can find a way to access that area.

You should see a blue line (cold water) going into the lower part of the tank, a red line (hot water) coming out the top and another line (maybe blue) connecting the two. All three will have a valve with the short connecting line having the bypass valve.

The cold and hot water valves should be opened (handles parallel with the line) and the bypass valve should be closed (perpendicular to the line).

You probably have damaged the gas and electric side to the tank. It only takes a few seconds when there is no water in the tank. Your not the first to do this and you won't be the last. I believe the repairs are relatively simple and inexpensive as far as RV repairs go.

Hope this helps.
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Old 03-23-2012, 08:53 PM   #9
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could be interesting !

I hope someone with a like unit can help !
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Old 03-23-2012, 09:26 PM   #10
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It should be under warranty and the dealer should fix it free of cost. I would make sure they showed me where & how to use the system.
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Old 03-23-2012, 09:31 PM   #11
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Found it! And yes, the bypass was engaged. You have to pull out the drawers in the kitchen area to access the valve. For the life of me, I can't understand why the dealer wouldn't tell me this during the inspection. But i should have checked to make sure the tank had water FIRST!! Rookie mistake on my part I guess. Just hope I didn't burn out the electric element trying to heat a dry tank.
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Old 03-23-2012, 09:34 PM   #12
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It should be under warranty and the dealer should fix it free of cost. I would make sure they showed me where & how to use the system.
I can agree with what you are saying here

but say the parts cost $20 to repair and you are two hours away from your dealer.
I have a few things I could have taken back for repair but since my dealer is two hours away - I chose to do the repairs myself - Minor to me but major to someone else.

4 hour trip plus the cost of gas would exceed the cost of the repair IMO - provided the owner is a handy person and can read a manual - my choice would be be to do the repair myself. Not everyone is in the same boat as I am in though.
just putting a diffrent spin on things
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Old 03-23-2012, 09:35 PM   #13
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you may be ok you'll just have to try it !
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Old 03-23-2012, 09:36 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bearcat55 View Post
Found it! And yes, the bypass was engaged. You have to pull out the drawers in the kitchen area to access the valve. For the life of me, I can't understand why the dealer wouldn't tell me this during the inspection. But i should have checked to make sure the tank had water FIRST!! Rookie mistake on my part I guess. Just hope I didn't burn out the electric element trying to heat a dry tank.
Glad to hear you got it.

it is a rookie mistake - we all have made them -
some of us just dont tell

Test the water heater and let us know how you made out
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Old 03-23-2012, 09:54 PM   #15
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I had a walk through with my Puma when I bought it, still didn't remember everything because it was new to me. I went over it from one end to the other when I got home. It was a used one when I bought it from a dealer and had been winterized. When I de-winterized it, I pulled the anode out on the hot water heater and flushed the system. I found out I had a badly corroded anode. Cleaned that area out real good. When I was at the dealer I can remember the serviceman showing me where the bypass valves were, I still had to pull the panel off again to look at it when I de-winterized it. I wanted to check for leaks. I found the AC switch outside and turned it on. I had flipped the breaker to the off position on the walk through just to be sure I didn't make a mistake and not put water in it. After I found out how everything worked, I fired it up for a check up. I still had to be refreshed on things, even though the serviceman told me about it because everything was new to me.
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Old 03-24-2012, 03:23 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bearcat55 View Post
Ok. I lifted the pressure valve and no water comes out. Would the bypass be engaged on a brand new unit? Gas Lines were purged by the way. If there's no water in there them I surely burnt out the electric heat element when I turned it on for an hour.

Next question is where the heck is the bypass valve on this trailer? I've taken off two panels to no avail.
Bearcat - On our 2012 29rk water heater, the switch that turns the electric element on and off has a pin though it (similar to a cotter key or hair pin) that has to be removed before the electric element can be turned on if the pin is installed.There is no warning placard next to switch, but it should serve as a warning that the switch should not be turned on without checking something else first. I always make certain that the pin is reinstalled after we use the electric side of the heater.

It sounds like your heater is perhaps different in this aspect, but our dealer warned us many times not to turn the electric element on without making sure the tank has water in it. The FR rep I spoke to also repeated this warning.
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Old 03-26-2012, 11:21 AM   #17
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Update: Luckily, the heating element is not burnt out and everything is fine. I had an issue with the the hot water temp for a while but figured out that I needed to close the bypass valve that mixed the hot and cold water. Duh!!! I dropped the TT off at the dealer yesterday to have a water leak fixed(kitchen sink drain) and they checked everything out and made sure it was fully operational. And to my surprise, they also made a small modification for me as well. My 20amp in-line fuse that controls the electric awning, jacks and slide kept blowing(3 times in 4 weeks), so they removed the in-line fuse and replaced it with a self resetting 20amp breaker. This is one of those times that I am glad I bought from a local dealer rather than someone hundreds of miles away!!
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Old 03-26-2012, 10:32 PM   #18
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Glad to hear you got great service from your dealer
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