djarvis

[djarvis]

Hello all! New to Forest River. Looking for help and hoping to help others.

[OldCoot]

Any thing in particular you need help with?

[djarvis]

Suburban 6 gallon water heater. When on electric the power cord gets pretty warm.

[OldCoot]

What ga. power cord do you have? It should be stamped on the cord.

[djarvis]

Cord is original and appears to be 12 AWG. There may be nothing wrong. Just thought I would ask. It will not burn you or melt. Just seam to warm to me an dthought the element might be burning out.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by djarvis

Cord is original and appears to be 12 AWG. There may be nothing wrong. Just thought I would ask. It will not burn you or melt. Just seam to warm to me an dthought the element might be burning out.

12 ga is only good for 20A, so if you have anything else on an the wh kicks on, it will pull around 13A.

[djarvis]

Or maybe not! Having investigated the matter further. The cord may have been replaced at some point with 13/3. The manual requires nothing less than 14/3. I will be replacing the power cord. Thanks for your help in assisting me in the art of not being lazy.

[djarvis]

Dedicated circuit for WH.

[tncruiser]

13/3 is larger than 14/3 however I have never heard of 13/3 it might be 18/3 which would be way undersized
brianj

[djarvis]

Good point. My old eyes must have not been able to see the fine print. I am still going to replace it with 12/3.

[Big Bill]

when electric is flowing it will warm the cord ,normal but not get hot. check the plug to seeif its tight in the plug if not check for burn marks on the prongs , if so replace the plug and receptacle