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Old 07-12-2018, 06:18 AM   #1
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Propane water heater comparisons

Suburban versus Atwood water heaters....

The tanks are made out of different materials, therefore Suburban have their “sacrificial “ anode and Atwood’s do not.

They both have proprietary “motherboards” to be the brains of the operation for heating, monitoring, etc.

Both have proprietary igniters and flame sensor units for gas operated units.

Atwood heaters have an adjustment slider on the front of the burner tube to fine tune the actual propane flame, Suburban units are factory set, and not adjustable.

Are these statements correct?
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Old 07-12-2018, 06:35 AM   #2
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I believe you are correct except some Atwoods also have an adjustable temperature setting. I don't recall seeing that on a Suburban for quite some time.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:29 AM   #3
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And your point is?
Either brand seems to work adequately for years, soooo.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:39 AM   #4
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:43 AM   #5
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I have had both each requires min maintenance to operate correctly to me the only really big difference is the anode and cost to replace.
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Old 07-12-2018, 03:31 PM   #6
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Plastic?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SeaDog View Post
I have had both each requires min maintenance to operate correctly to me the only really big difference is the anode and cost to replace.
Doesn't Atwood use a plastic drain plug which can have a limited number of cycles before the head rounds off?

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Old 07-12-2018, 03:49 PM   #7
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Never had an Atwood plug round off and be unusable. Use a socket wench that fits and no problems. On our third RV with Atwood, never had a Suburban, over 13 years with no rounding off.


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Old 07-12-2018, 03:51 PM   #8
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X2 what FrankMor said about the socket
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Old 07-12-2018, 06:30 PM   #9
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Thanks for the inputs.

There’s YouTube videos about setting the flame correctly for efficiency.....nice blue, not too much yellow, no soot, and how the slider makes those changes. Always shown on Atwood units.

I’ve never had anything but Suburban, and being that they don’t have an adjustment mechanism, it means the flame they produce is set for life, and the user can’t adjust it.

I just wonder why Atwood seems to feel there needs to be a way to adjust the flame for best case scenario.....but could be set incorrectly if the user sets the adjustment incorrectly.
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Old 07-13-2018, 08:09 AM   #10
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No expert here, but I wonder if it has anything to do with altitude?
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Old 09-27-2018, 12:57 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nailz View Post
No expert here, but I wonder if it has anything to do with altitude?

That would be my guess.


My question: I have an Atwood heater, which the owners manual states does not need an anode, and use of an anode voids the warranty. However, you can buy anodes specifically for my Atwood WH...


Why?
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Old 09-28-2018, 11:27 PM   #12
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First thing I do to a new camper is remove the drain plug and install a twist drain.

Easy to do for both major brands of hot water heaters. In fact, my current HW heater has a hollow sacrificial anode and a petcock drain on it. Takes me 2 seconds to drain the hot water heater without having to find the socket to remove the drain plug.

HW heaters with adjustable venture airflow seem to have better ignitor start reliability then those that don't when camping at 8000 feet or higher.
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