Water heater 120v

[hotrodhenson]

I have a 2007 Rickwood Signature Ultra Lite with Suburban equipment. Ok so knew I had a stuck rocker switch on the outside access water heater. The switch was stuck in the "on" position. The water heater has not worked for me since my recent purchase of the trailer. I was sold a switch, element, anode and tstat. I followed the proper procedure taken from a post in here on replacing this stuff. Problem is the electric element still does not come on. I put a meter across the black and white AC wires to the element and there doesn't appear to be power with the switch on. Is there something I'm missing?

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by hotrodhenson

I have a 2007 Rickwood Signature Ultra Lite with Suburban equipment. Ok so knew I had a stuck rocker switch on the outside access water heater. The switch was stuck in the "on" position. The water heater has not worked for me since my recent purchase of the trailer. I was sold a switch, element, anode and tstat. I followed the proper procedure taken from a post in here on replacing this stuff. Problem is the electric element still does not come on. I put a meter across the black and white AC wires to the element and there doesn't appear to be power with the switch on. Is there something I'm missing?

First off, the water has to be cool, so the thermostat will close to allow power to the electric element...so make sure the propane/dsi side is off.

Now, on the backside of the water heater, it's going to be plugged into an electrical outlet or hardwired in. Have you checked there? We have many threads where the water heater wasn't plugged in to an outlet.

Also, is the circuit breaker to the outlet that the water heater is plugged into, flipped on?

Once you determine that there is 120 volt AC going TO the water heater, we'll step by step it....to the electric heating element.

[donniedu]

Who ever sold you all that stuff must have been a great salesman. Likely you only needed a new switch. Which I would never replace.
There are two Tstat packs. Which one did you replace? The one on the left or right?
The tstat packs both have a resettable side, always on top. Did you push the reset button in?
Did you check the breaker at the panel?
Did you check 12VDC at the control box?
Time to get the VOM out and start checking voltages.
If your water heater is a electronic ignition, then look for 12VDC. If its a standing pilot, forget my comments on 12 volts.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by donniedu

Who ever sold you all that stuff must have been a great salesman. Likely you only needed a new switch. Which I would never replace.
There are two Tstat packs. Which one did you replace? The one on the left or right?
The tstat packs both have a resettable side, always on top. Did you push the reset button in?
Did you check the breaker at the panel?
Did you check 12VDC at the control box?
Time to get the VOM out and start checking voltages.
If your water heater is a electronic ignition, then look for 12VDC. If its a standing pilot, forget my comments on 12 volts.

donniedu, we don't really want to confuse the issue right now with the propane/dsi side or 12 volt. The OP is trying to fix only his 120 volt electric heating element side.

There is no way you could know his problem is only on the 120 volt side, since he did kinda indicate in the OP here that his water heater did not work since he bought it, without clarifying he meant only the 120 volt electric element.

The reason I knew this is I was involved in a previous thread here:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ml#post1357642

As he checks each item, I plan to walk him thru it from the outlet, to the electric element switch, to the thermostat, to the element itself.

We should get him fixed up in short order.

[donniedu]

But you have to remember that if this is a DSI unit it does require 12VDC too. And as I indicated if he replaced the wrong temp pack and IF the 120 side is by some chance bad it will still be bad.
The guy needs to get his volt meter out and start checking things. Fought issues with my water heater for a year before I replaced it in August,mso Im not a novice to these things, at least Suburban water heaters.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by donniedu

But you have to remember that if this is a DSI unit it does require 12VDC too. And as I indicated if he replaced the wrong temp pack and IF the 120 side is by some chance bad it will still be bad.
The guy needs to get his volt meter out and start checking things. Fought issues with my water heater for a year before I replaced it in August,mso Im not a novice to these things, at least Suburban water heaters.

His DSI and propane are working as per the link earlier. The Direct Spark Ignitor only pertains to the propane....which is working. We don't want to even involve that.

If his 120 volt t-stat is bad, we'll get to it, but we have to progress logically thru the steps....which right now is to make sure there is 120 volt AC power going to the water heater.

[hotrodhenson]

I'm not at the trailer at the moment but I appreciate the assistance and will take y'all up on the diagnosing part. I replaced the left tstat. I do have a meter and only checked the element leads. When I return home I will follow any steps to diagnosing the issue.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by hotrodhenson

I'm not at the trailer at the moment but I appreciate the assistance and will take y'all up on the diagnosing part. I replaced the left tstat. I do have a meter and only checked the element leads. When I return home I will follow any steps to diagnosing the issue.

Good deal, and the left thermostat is to the 120 volt AC, provided that the wire terminals are also on right side of the thermostat.



If you will, verify the water heater is indeed plugged in behind the water heater, and the outlet (if the water heater is not hard wired) has 120 volt AC power using your multimeter.

Once you have verified that, we'll move on to the next link in the circuit.

Just post here.

[hotrodhenson]

Heading to the house. Just curious. Does the heater assembly unscrew from the outside and just pull out? I assume that is how I'm going to check power.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by hotrodhenson

Heading to the house. Just curious. Does the heater assembly unscrew from the outside and just pull out? I assume that is how I'm going to check power.

Before we start, please make absolute sure there is actually water in the heater tank.

If you are talking about checking power at the outlet the water heater could be plugged into, then you need to gain access to the rear of it. Most likely this is where your winterization bypass valves are too. You don't pull out the water heater from outside the RV.

Since you know where the water heater is outside, go inside the RV and see if you can figure out a way to access the back of from inside the RV.

Depending on your particular RV, you may have to remove a false cabinet/door, drawer, panel, bed bottom, fake hinges, etc... in order to access the backside of the water heater. Seen some where you remove the kitchen drawers, then unscrew a side panel. Each RV is different in this aspect.

Here's a few examples gleaned from the internet:

[hotrodhenson]

Ok well mine would be under my kitchen sink somewhere. I will check.

[donniedu]

Huh? Guess I did my all wrong then then? Replaced mine in August and it totally came out from the outside. Just have to remove the door, face plate, which is 4 screws, one gas line, two water lines, and it slides right out.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by hotrodhenson

Ok well mine would be under my kitchen sink somewhere. I will check.

Good deal, just let us know. You actually need to know how to access the backside, since your winterization valves are many times located there.... in case you ever need to winterize your RV and bypass the water heater.

My access requires removing the screws to fake hinges on a panel underneath my pantry.

[hotrodhenson]

So I found the the outlet where the water heater was plugged in and the cord was not fully seated in the socket. Went outside and turned the switch on and now getting 120VAC.

[hotrodhenson]

Now should it heat up? The water is already hot from the propane. Can I turn the switch off now to the propane and let the electricity do its magic?

[hotrodhenson]

So I drained the hot water and let it fill up and then turned on the switch. There is power now at the element because I shocked myself. Lol.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by hotrodhenson

Now should it heat up? The water is already hot from the propane. Can I turn the switch off now to the propane and let the electricity do its magic?

You never ever have to use the propane if you don't want to. You can just use the electric element if connected to a form of 120 volt AC shore power

You never ever have to use the electric element if you don't want to. You can just use the propane if you have propane and 12 volt battery/converter power.

You can use them both together if you want to, if you need the fastest heated water (like using a lot of hot water at one time, ie multiple showers in quick succession)

The choice is yours and depends on your camping situation. That is why it's a dual powered water heater. The propane and the electric element operate independent of each other, and is why you have two thermostats, depending on which side you use. You don't have to use one, in order to use the other.

However, if you have the water heated from the propane..... then the thermostat for the electric heating element won't close to allow power to the heating element for it to turn on...because there is no need. The water is heated.

It works the same in opposite. If the electric heating element has the water heated, then the propane won't fire up, since it's thermostat won't sense the need cause the water is already hot.

Now, if you have both switches on, and use a lot of hot water quickly (multiple showers), then when the water temp falls to around I think 100 or so, then the propane will fire up and the electric heating element will come on, since both sides thermostats sense the water needs heating. Once the water gets back up to 130 degrees (usually), then both thermostats will turn off their respective power sources...awaiting the next fall in temp enough for both to come on again.

It all is up to you, and which switches (the propane/dsi or the electric heating element) you have turned on, as to which power source heats the water. You have three choices.

1. You can use propane/dsi (propane/dsi switch on, electric element switch off)
2. you can use the electric heating element, if connected to 120 volt shore power. (propane/dsi switch off, electric element switch on)
3. You can use both 1 and 2 above at the same time (propane/dsi switch on, electric element switch on)

I think what you are doing now, is turning on the gas/dsi to quickly heat the water. You most certainly can do that, then turn off the propane/dsi switch and turn on the electric heating element to maintain the hot water. It's probably easier to turn both on, then once the water is heated, turn off the propane only, and leave the electric on.

Just always, and I mean always make sure there is water in the tank before turning any switches on.

P.S. Did I mention to always make sure there is water in the tank before turning any switches on? LOL

P.S. 2 The propane does heat the water faster than just the electric heating element (it's called recovery rate). You can keep this in mind, depending on how fast you need hot water. This link below has the details:

http://www.airxcel.com/suburban/prod...n-gas-electric

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by hotrodhenson

So I drained the hot water and let it fill up and then turned on the switch. There is power now at the element because I shocked myself. Lol.

This concerns me. Can you explain in detail what you were doing/touching when you got shocked?

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by donniedu

Huh? Guess I did my all wrong then then? Replaced mine in August and it totally came out from the outside. Just have to remove the door, face plate, which is 4 screws, one gas line, two water lines, and it slides right out.

wmtire was just helping him to access the area at the back of the water heater, not remove the water heater.

The back of the WH is usually where the 120VAC plug is located - and in this case, apparently, it was there.

[hotrodhenson]

wmtire....you are not only a character, but you are full of knowledge. I really appreciate you and the rest of the members on here lending their time to reply to these posts. I'm proud to be a member of this forum. Thank you all tremendously!