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Old 06-10-2019, 02:27 PM   #1
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2012 shasta revere suburban hot water tank electric/gas

Okay... here we go... our 2012 Shasta our hot water just stopped working on ELECTRIC only, it works on propane but not on electric. Everything is opened proper. We tried the restart, replaced the anode rod and nope nothing. The red light stays on, it clicks to indicate it's igniting but nothing happens. Can someone please help! Oh and we have ZERO clue if a fuse is blown as there is no indication on our fuse panel for the water tank... PLEASE HELP!!! P.S. took me forever to figure out how to do this too LOL
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Old 06-10-2019, 02:30 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anual View Post
Okay... here we go... our 2012 Shasta our hot water just stopped working on ELECTRIC only, it works on propane but not on electric. Everything is opened proper. We tried the restart, replaced the anode rod and nope nothing. The red light stays on, it clicks to indicate it's igniting but nothing happens. Can someone please help! Oh and we have ZERO clue if a fuse is blown as there is no indication on our fuse panel for the water tank... PLEASE HELP!!! P.S. took me forever to figure out how to do this too LOL
OK, you have several things confused. The red light (fault light) only has to do with propane.

So if the fault light is staying on, then that means the propane has failed to light.
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Old 06-10-2019, 02:32 PM   #3
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Please read this entire thread (link below), then let us know exactly which mode of heating is not working. It really explains both heating modes as well as the fault light. and the clicking from the DSI (propane ignitor).

Also remember that if the water is already heated, then neither mode will start, since the thermostat won't allow it as the water is already hot.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ore-36197.html
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Old 06-10-2019, 02:32 PM   #4
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The electric element for the water heater will be on a breaker, not a fuse. Some times when the breaker trips it only moves a little, not all the way to off. If the breakers aren't labeled try turning each one all the way off and then back on. Good luck.
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Old 06-20-2019, 09:02 AM   #5
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Just received a PM from the OP and am going to state the troubleshooting in this thread, as it may help others. It was stated in the PM that the anode (which has nothing to do with the electric heating element).....as well as the electric heating element itself have been replaced.

The fact they mentioned an anode, does identify this water heater as a Suburban brand...and not an Atwood/Dometic who use aluminum tanks and do not have an anode rod....so we are going to proceed based on this is a Suburban brand water heater. We just now need to ascertain which model water heater as Suburban has a few, two of which FR does use in a lot of RV's.

To the OP, when you turn on the electric heating element, what/where is the switch to do this.

Do you have only ONE inside switch to the water heater, or do you possibly have an inside switch to the propane and another inside switch to the electric? This will tell me the model, either a SWDE or SWDEL.

If two inside switches, then it's a SWDEL...if only one inside switch with an outside switch on the water heater tank to the electric heating element, then it's a SWDE. A 2012 model is most likely a SWDE, but we need to make sure before delving into the different things that could be wrong. We will start with the easy stuff first.
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Old 06-20-2019, 09:32 AM   #6
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While awaiting for the OP to identify which model Suburban they have, we'll start with the very basic and easy stuff to begin with.

1. This element works only off of 120 volt AC power, and you must be connected to some form of 120 volt power for this heating element to work. This is usually shore power, or possibly a generator. I point this out, because sometimes this not fully explained to new RV owners, who do not understand the different electric systems of a RV. We have had members, that just were not connected to 120 volt AC power being the reason their electric heating element did not work. (the propane side of the water heater works off of 12 volt DC, and will function off the battery thus no need to be hooked to shore power)

This thread helps explain the different electric systems in most RV's.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...nt-152813.html

2. If connected to a form of 120 volt AC power, then you want to make sure the circuit breaker to the water heaters electric heating element is flipped on and not possibly tripped. This is found in your RV's electrical distribution panel. The circuit breaker is usually 15 amp, but can be on it's own dedicated circuit or shared with other things. You want to see if its on its own easy identified circuit and the breaker is not tripped.

The labels may be easy to see or not in the electrical distribution panel.. It could say water heater, heater, W/H, etc.

Examples below:






EDIT: Some RV's are coming with load sharing power devices/switches. This is either a device and/or switch that let's you select one of between two electric devices, so as to not overload a circuit. This could be a microwave, electric fireplace, electric water heater element...etc.

http://www.precisioncircuitsinc.com/...witch-RevA.pdf
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Old 06-20-2019, 10:04 AM   #7
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It has the switch on the outside and one on the inside that turns red when you turn it on.
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Old 06-20-2019, 11:02 AM   #8
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Ok, staying with simple and basic stuff. There is a method to my madness for the order I'm showing things, as we may have to come back and check for power at different things.

3. Behind the water heater tank, the electric heating element can be plugged into a regular power outlet (although some water heaters are hard wired in).

As you can see in this pic below, the power cord to the electric heating element is just lying on top of the water heater tank, but should be plugged into that outlet at the top left hand side of the pic.



Some RV's are being shipped without this power cord being plugged in, or the dealer doesn't do it. Your non-functioning electric element can be something as simple as just not being plugged in. However, the OP stated theirs was working, then was not. Sometimes the power cord can also come loose from the outlet from the RV bumping and jumping down the road to it's next destination. You do want to make sure the power cord (if not hard wired) is plugged into securely to the outlet.

Also note that the other end of the power cord is going into an electrical junction box at the top right hand side of the water heater tank in the picture. We need to note this in case we need to come back to that point in the future to check for power/connections. Sometimes there is a bad/burned connection inside the junction box.
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Old 06-20-2019, 01:38 PM   #9
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Now we move to the face of the water heater. This is where the power switch to the electric heating element is located..along with the thermostat/hi-limit ECO assembly... and the electric element itself.

We will be referring to this electrical schematic for the SWDE model, which shows the three aforementioned items. We will also test for power thru all these items in later posts. Before we get out the multimeter we are going to stick with easy stuff first.



Assuming that the previous 3 steps in the previous posts have been checked:

4. The little black power switch must be turned to it's on position for the electric heating element to get power. This switch is also a point which frequently is the culprit of no heating at the element. These switches do burn out and are easily replaced for around $10-15.



5. The thermostat/hi-limit ECO assembly consists actually of two thermostats connected by a fusible link. The regular thermostat is set to open the circuit (cuts off power) when the tank wall temperature reaches 130 degrees. When the tank wall temperature falls low enough then this thermostat closes again, once again allowing power to the heating element so it can heat up the water. It does this as needed to keep the water heated via the electric heating element.

The top thermostat in the assembly is called the hi-limit/ECO (Emergency Cut Off) thermostat. This thermostat opens when the tank wall gets to around 165 degrees. This is a safety feature and backup to keep you from possibly getting scalded by hot water should the normal thermostat fail to open (and cut power to the electric heating element) at 130 degrees. This ECO is also resettable. If it opens, then you can push in a reset button to close it again. Sometimes, this ECO just trips inadvertently and you may have to reset it. It will be underneath a rubber cover on the face of the water heater. You want to make sure the ECO has not tripped and push in on the circle on the rubber cover.


You will have actually two ECO/thermostat assemblies on the SWDE, where the left hand side one goes to the electric heating element, and the right hand side one goes to the propane side. This is what helps keep the two heating modes independent of one another where you can use one or both modes depending on your wants/needs.

Here is what it looks like underneath the cover. However in this particular pic, the fusible link has burned out between the thermostat and hi-limit/ECO on the left hand side one. Can you notice it in the pic vs the fusible link connecting the two on the right hand 12 volt DC assembly (it's the vertical thin strip between the two thermostats). We will come back to that in a future post.




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