Suburban Hw circuit breaker

[brownie289]

Hi All
I have a surveyor with a suburban hot water heater.
I keep having to do a reset at the heater for the electric side.
Doesn't pop the breaker in the camper though.
There is a small reset button on the heater.
The gas works fine but usually at the campground I like to use
The electricity that I paid for.

Is the element shot??
Thanks
Db

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by brownie289

Hi All
I have a surveyor with a suburban hot water heater.
I keep having to do a reset at the heater for the electric side.
Doesn't pop the breaker in the camper though.
There is a small reset button on the heater.
The gas works fine but usually at the campground I like to use
The electricity that I paid for.

Is the element shot??
Thanks
Db

More likely the thermostat is bad.

With the AC power OFF:

Remove the rubber cover and examine the thermostat.
Look for obvious damage to wires and the switches.

Element damage is usually indicated by a tripped breaker or no hot water at all from the electrical side.

[brownie289]

Thanks Herk
I think that must be the issue if I stab at that button w my finger or wiggle it
side to side I can get it to come on for a little while.
Thank you for the pictures mine doesn't look quite that bad though.
Is that a common part? Can I operate it with out that in place on the gas side
only?
Actually think I'll have to remove all the gas guys to get
to it anyway, no sense in doing it twice.
I'll wait till I have part in hand.
Db

[Herk7769]

The two sides are completely separate so you can use gas alone with no issues; just flip the water heater breaker off to be safe (the gas side uses a fuse).

You should be able to change it easily without taking anything but the rubber cover off and then the one nut that holds the left (AC) thermostat to the tank wall.

MAKE SURE you buy the AC one as the DC one is NOT interchangeable.

Here is one source...

Suburban RV Water Heater 120 Volt Thermostat 232317 | eBay

[brownie289]

It's kind of a tight spot
I'll see what it looks like w the cover off..
Db

[brownie289]

Here

[brownie289]

You can actually see it glowing hot before it shuts off!!

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by brownie289

You can actually see it glowing hot before it shuts off!!

The rivet is broken and making a high resistance connection.
The current through the high limit switch is not enough for it to open at the right temperature, I am guessing.

The nut you see and two wire spade connectors are the only things holding the thermostat on the tank.

GREAT photo's by the way!

[brownie289]

It will be left off for now obviously, thanks for your help.
I'll post the swap over just for grins when I get home from Maine.
Db