Cedar creek suburban hot water heater not working on electric

spawnman · 06-20-2017, 10:53 AM

Hot water heater decided to stop working on this trip. Always ran on electric before. Seems to work fine on propane. I checked the 15amp fuse and its good. What else can i check to confirm electric is working??

Thanks
Greg

**wmtire** · 06-20-2017, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spawnman

Hot water heater decided to stop working on this trip. Always ran on electric before. Seems to work fine on propane. I checked the 15amp fuse and its good. What else can i check to confirm electric is working??

Thanks
Greg

Greg, I am assuming you meant to say Circuit breaker (for 120 volt AC things) and not fuse (for 12 volt DC things) in your RV's electrical distribution panel. I'm also assuming there is for sure water in the heater tank.

If the circuit breaker is not tripped (and you are for sure connected to a form of 120 volt AC shore power), then there are few more things to check on the easy side.

On the face of the water heater near the top, you will see TWO round rubber covers that probably have the word "RESET" on them. This is to your Emergency Cut Off hi-limit thermostats. Press in the left one to see if it is tripped as that goes to your electric heating element.

OldCoot · 06-20-2017, 11:15 AM

One the back of the water heater (outside) there are two reset buttons, one is 12v for propane and one is for 110v. You can try pushing both of them to make sure the 110v is not tripped. If the 110v is not tripped, it may be burnt out and need replacing. To get to them, just take the black plastic cover off and look. MAKE SURE YOU ARE UNPLUGGED FROM SHORE POWER.

JohnVtx · 06-20-2017, 12:03 PM

The 15 amp is for the electric start on propane

spawnman · 06-20-2017, 12:24 PM

Thanks for all the replies. Am away from the trailer right now. I did check the resets before and didn't get any movement like it was resetting anything but will look again when back at trailer

Greg

OldCoot · 06-20-2017, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spawnman

Thanks for all the replies. Am away from the trailer right now. I did check the resets before and didn't get any movement like it was resetting anything but will look again when back at trailer

Greg

Pull the cover, one may be blown or burnt.

RickyD929 · 06-21-2017, 12:23 PM

I'm sort of having the same issues on my SW6DE. I replaced the heating element, still didn't work. Reset buttons checked, didn't work. Took cover off reset buttons, nothing burnt. Circuit breakers are fine. Works fine on gas and has always worked on electric before the old heating element got fried, my fault

BobHanke · 06-21-2017, 12:36 PM

Check the rocker switch on the heater. My ac was dead when purchased used. Had to replace element and switch. YouTube videos can walk you through these fixes.

**wmtire** · 06-21-2017, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Pull the cover, one may be blown or burnt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickyD929

I'm sort of having the same issues on my SW6DE. I replaced the heating element, still didn't work. Reset buttons checked, didn't work. Took cover off reset buttons, nothing burnt. Circuit breakers are fine. Works fine on gas and has always worked on electric before the old heating element got fried, my fault

As OC suggested, the fusible link could have burned out between the hi-limit and the thermostat. This is that thin strip that you can see in the pic has burned out between the top and bottom terminals on the left 120 volt AC side.

You will notice it is intact on the right hand side 12 volt DC hi-limit and thermostat.

This commonly happens when you do indeed burn out an electric element from not having water in the tank. You have to replace the element and hi-limit/thermostat.

JoeNanMinn · 06-21-2017, 01:11 PM

Hi there. We had the exact same issue with ours. In a 2014 Sabre. Same water heater. Our problem was a relay switch located on the back side of the water heater that has to be accessed from INSIDE the camper. Had to pull the couch out away from the wall to get access to the cover plate for this relay. We actually didn't have to replace the relay, after checking-wiggling the connections to that our water heater worked on electrical again.
Our dealer told us that this is pretty common with these relays. We checked all the other things mentioned by others on here also. This was the last thing we learned about and of course it fixed the problem for us. Hopefully it will fix yours? So I would look inside along the wall where your water heater would be and look for an access cover to it. It could be behind a piece of furniture, in a drawer or cabinet compartment, depending on your units set up-arrangement inside. Our access cover was black plastic and even says water heater on it. Hope this helps?

RickyD929 · 06-21-2017, 01:24 PM

I'll look for that. It would have to be under the sink, and off in the corner. That's where the back of the water heater and all valves are located. Have to feel for everything. Really picked a nice place to hide it

Iwannacamp · 06-21-2017, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnVtx

The 15 amp is for the electric start on propane

Hmmmm. That makes me think?? My WH is giving a DSI fault. Never dawned on me to check the fuses. Thanks.

JoeNanMinn · 06-22-2017, 02:05 PM

ya, that stinks that you don't have easy access to it. Hopefully you can get at it. If not the only other way is to actually pull the whole water heater out from the outside. I don't remember if you said or not but is your unit under warranty yet? Either the unit itself or the water heater itself?

RickyD929 · 06-22-2017, 02:36 PM

Not under warranty. It's a 2012. I'll check it out tomorrow when we get to campground

rockfordroo · 06-22-2017, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeNanMinn

Hi there. We had the exact same issue with ours. In a 2014 Sabre. Same water heater. Our problem was a relay switch located on the back side of the water heater that has to be accessed from INSIDE the camper. Had to pull the couch out away from the wall to get access to the cover plate for this relay. We actually didn't have to replace the relay, after checking-wiggling the connections to that our water heater worked on electrical again.
Our dealer told us that this is pretty common with these relays. We checked all the other things mentioned by others on here also. This was the last thing we learned about and of course it fixed the problem for us. Hopefully it will fix yours? So I would look inside along the wall where your water heater would be and look for an access cover to it. It could be behind a piece of furniture, in a drawer or cabinet compartment, depending on your units set up-arrangement inside. Our access cover was black plastic and even says water heater on it. Hope this helps?

This sounds like you have an inside switch on your control panel for the electric heater. This switch is actually 12VDC and switches the 12VDC relay you mention. The relay closes/opens 110VAC contacts to turn on/off the 110VAC to the water heater. If he doesn't have an inside electric water heater switch, he won't have that relay.

RickyD929 · 06-22-2017, 03:46 PM

No switch on the control panel for electric, only for the gas DSI

**wmtire** · 06-22-2017, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

This sounds like you have an inside switch on your control panel for the electric heater. This switch is actually 12VDC and switches the 12VDC relay you mention. The relay closes/opens 110VAC contacts to turn on/off the 110VAC to the water heater. If he doesn't have an inside electric water heater switch, he won't have that relay.

Correct, For Suburban tank type water heaters, if there is only one switch inside, it's to the DSI and there is no relay applicable for the electric heating element. This is a SWDE model.

If there is a second switch to the water heater inside the RV, then it controls a relay to the electric heating element. This is a SWDEL model.

We have wiring schematics for both models in this FAQ.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ore-36197.html

RickyD929 · 06-22-2017, 05:27 PM

Mine is the SW6DE, so I guess I shouldn't have the inside switch. It used to work just fine on electric.

cfiowa · 07-03-2017, 08:48 PM

Mine work on electric then one day it quit working found out the black wire from the toggle switch to the fuse was broken inside the insulation. Replace wire wire a new one, back in service.

Also what everyone else wrote, check r fuses on the tank and on the breaker panel inside...
If all good use a multimeter and check you have power to the switch, to the on tank breaker then to the element.

RickyD929 · 07-03-2017, 09:05 PM

After replacing the element again, I can flip the switch for electric, and it will partially work. What I mean by that, is that it will heat up the water about 3/4 hot. Can leave your hand under the running water without getting too hot. By morning, it's barely warm to almost cool. Light up the gas, and in no time will burn your hand. Real hot. What would make it do this? Would think it either works or don't work

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