DSI water heater question

scann · 05-21-2010, 10:16 PM

I have a 2011 Rockwood mini-lite 2306 with the dsi water heater and was curious to know if anyone knows how this water heater normally operates? I think there is both a propane burner and an electric element, so if there is an electric element is it normal for the burner to kick in if the trailer is plugged into AC? I thought if the trailer was plugged in it would use the electric element alone to heat the water. I am happy to have really hot water but I am the type of person that likes to know how things work.

Radio · 05-22-2010, 01:03 AM

It usually runs on gas unless you force it to run on electric. Or force it to run on both. The switch on the inside of the trailer turns on gas only. There is a small, hard to find switch on the WH itself that will usually have a safety pin to keep it locked out. Turn on that switch and the WH breaker for electric, and turn them both on for gas/electric. I have never used my electric function. Partly out of fear I'll fire it up empty and burn it up and partly because most campground power is low and I'd rather run the air conditioner.

Of course always test to make sure the tank is full before operating the WH anyway.

milzat · 05-22-2010, 06:31 AM

x2, What Radio said........

scann · 05-22-2010, 08:16 PM

Thanks guys, a picture is worth a thousand words. I would have never seen that button since it is kind of hidden.

PumaPro · 05-22-2010, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milzat

x2, What Radio said........

YIKES!!!
Rocker switch "on" with water heater empty!!!
DANGER ! DANGER ! DANGER !

milzat · 05-23-2010, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PumaPro

YIKES!!!
Rocker switch "on" with water heater empty!!!
DANGER ! DANGER ! DANGER !

PumaPro,
Take a good look at the switch again. It may look as if it is in the ON position, but is actually in the OFF position. See the shadow to the lower right of the switch. Photos can fool you.

08flagvlite · 05-23-2010, 09:42 AM

I leave mine on full time, and control it with the inside circuit breaker that is for the WH. I then have that "to do" item listed on my checklist to switch that off before disconnecting the water or electric, so there's no chance of burning up the element. Randy

OSCBRADLEY · 05-24-2010, 07:50 AM

Controlling it via the circuit breaker huh?......I like it!! might have to modify my checklist and add that to it, good idea.

grandpaofthree · 06-01-2010, 09:44 AM

Thanks to the picture in this thread, I was able to determine that my water heater will run on both electric and gas. I was convinced it ran on gas only. The manual says nothing about running on electricity, and the switch is small and very hard to see. I had to get a flashlight shining back in that area just to see it. I ran on electric all weekend and it worked great. This will save a lot of propane.

kev2504 · 06-01-2010, 10:41 AM

Looking at the switch, it does look like it is in the on position.
The lockout pin on mine goes thru the bottom of the switch.
Kev

NWJeeper · 06-01-2010, 10:46 AM

I remoted that switch on the heater to the inside of the rig. Used a lighted switch and mounted it just below our sink. Can now see from across the room if the electric heater is on or not by the light in the switch. As has been noted before here the cirucit breakers are not designed to be turned on and off all the time like a switch and can wear out quicker that way (don't know if this is true or not). However I do tend to turn it on and off a lot with this switch so it is just way more convienient that bending down on my knees and getting into the breaker panel.

GingersDad · 06-01-2010, 12:41 PM

Good idea. Did you just splice into the wires that run to the switch on the Hot Water Heater? I had a 2005 Sunline Solaris before my 2010 Rookwood. The Sunline had two lighted swithes on the control panel. One for Electric and One for Gas. Easy to tell which was on and easy to double check neither was on until the water heater was purged of air. The Sunline had an Atwood unit and the Rookwood uses a Suburban. I have been using the electric option most often, but tend to run out of hot water even when no one has used the hot water for 10 hours. My dealer was not much help, but one salesman said that the electric is just used to hold the temp and the gas is to actually heat the water. Has anyone heard this explaination?

grandpaofthree · 06-01-2010, 12:59 PM

I have not heard that explanation, and it sounds fishy to me. In my case, my wife reported that she had plenty of hot water in the shower and that it seemed that the water was hotter than on gas.

GingersDad · 06-01-2010, 01:20 PM

My wife has run out of hot water a couple of times and this was only our second trip with this unit. I am starting to turn on the Gas switch inside to help compensate. I will have to check to see if she is turning the valves in the correct direction. I noticed that the valves seem backwards from our prior unit as if there are two hot or two cold valves installed.

08flagvlite · 06-01-2010, 06:00 PM

If I am at an electric site, I use it! We have usually 5 or 6 adults all taking showers each night, and the electric only works just fine. Remember however, that these tanks are only 6 gallon tanks, and even though they are "quick recovery", they still should be operated conservatively, or you will run out of hot water. Some people run gas AND electric at the same time, but I've never seen the need. Randy

NWJeeper · 06-01-2010, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingersDad

Good idea. Did you just splice into the wires that run to the switch on the Hot Water Heater? I had a 2005 Sunline Solaris before my 2010 Rookwood. The Sunline had two lighted swithes on the control panel. One for Electric and One for Gas. Easy to tell which was on and easy to double check neither was on until the water heater was purged of air. The Sunline had an Atwood unit and the Rookwood uses a Suburban. I have been using the electric option most often, but tend to run out of hot water even when no one has used the hot water for 10 hours. My dealer was not much help, but one salesman said that the electric is just used to hold the temp and the gas is to actually heat the water. Has anyone heard this explaination?

If you remove that AC switch from it's hole you will notice that the wires have spade style female sockets on the end to attach to the spades on the switch. I simply used 12ga two conductor wire similar to Romex although it is stranded not solid and crimped on male spade lugs to plug into the existing wiring and then ran to where I wanted my switch to be inside. You could just use the same switch but I wanted a lighted one so picked up a 120vac switch at the hardware store. You will need a source of ground near the switch location for the light to work.

We usually only use the electric element when in a park and paying for power. We only turn on the LP if one of us is taking a shower to aid in faster recovery just like Flagvlite mentioned. Why use your LP you paid for to heat the water when you are paying the park for electricity.

Once again it sounds like a case of a dealer that doen't know a damn thing about what he is talking about. It's epidemic in the RV world...

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