Suburban Propane Water Heater Question

[Carchidin23]

Hi All,

Quick question, hoping someone can answer. Just fired up my water heater in prep for our first ever camping trip this weekend. Approximately how long will it take for the water to heat to full temp? When it gets to full temp does the water heater turn off and just leave the pilot light on until it needs to reheat? Or does the full flame always stay on?

Thanks!

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Carchidin23

Hi All,

Quick question, hoping someone can answer. Just fired up my water heater in prep for our first ever camping trip this weekend. Approximately how long will it take for the water to heat to full temp? When it gets to full temp does the water heater turn off and just leave the pilot light on until it needs to reheat? Or does the full flame always stay on?

Thanks!

Give us the manufacturer and model number. Water heaters don’t usually have pilot lights… they are DSI -Direct Spark Ignition. Thermostats cycle heat source (electricity/propane for most of them).

Edit: OK… I see Suburban in the title. Now for the model number.

[Carchidin23]

Sw6p. I have to manually light the pilot then turn the dial to on.

[Scotty]

Originally Posted by Carchidin23

Sw6p. I have to manually light the pilot then turn the dial to on.

Normally with this model once the water heats it turns off and leaves the pilot lite lit. Will come back on when needed.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Carchidin23

Hi All,

Quick question, hoping someone can answer. Just fired up my water heater in prep for our first ever camping trip this weekend. Approximately how long will it take for the water to heat to full temp? When it gets to full temp does the water heater turn off and just leave the pilot light on until it needs to reheat? Or does the full flame always stay on?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Carchidin23

Sw6p. I have to manually light the pilot then turn the dial to on.

Yes, it has a thermostat to keep the temp. After the initial heating, the thermostat will turn the main burner on/off as required to heat the water to normally 120 degrees (low setting).


As far as the time it takes to heat to 120 degrees (low setting) the very first time depends on the temperature of the incoming water. You should probably expect around 15 minutes the first time (but could be more or less). After that, when the temperature inside the tank falls to (IIRC) around 100 degrees, then the main burner will start back to heat the water back to 120 degrees. This second (and subsequent) heating time will be very short to maintain the heat, but can take several minutes if you are using water and cold water is replenishing the tank.


--------------------------------------------------


Per the Suburban manual we keep in the library:


LIGHTING INSTRUCTIONS If the water heater comes equipped with a reignitor control, see “Lighting Instructions for Reignitor Control.


1. STOP! Read the safety information provided.

2. Depress and turn knob (A) clockwise ] to “OFF” position.

3. Turn off all electric power to the appliance (gas/electric models only).
4. Wait five minutes for gas to clear the area. If you smell gas then STOP! Follow instructions in items B above in the safety information. If you do not smell gas, go to the next step.
5. Depress and turn knob (A) counter clockwise \ to “Pilot” position, press down and light pilot where indicated. (See illustration).CAUTION: Do not attempt to light at main burner orifice (C) in illustration.

6. Hold knob depressed until pilot remains on for 30 seconds. If it does not hold, repeat procedure.

7. Depress and turn knob (A) counter clockwise \ to “ON” position. The control knob has a straight line designation beyond the “ON” position. Turn to this position when moving the valve from the “Pilot” position to the “ON” position.
8. If pilot goes out, repeat steps 2 through 6. On initial start-up, this may take several minutes in order to purge the air from the gas lines and the pilot remain on.
9. Turn on all electrical power to appliance if the combination gas/electric feature is a part of the water heater.
10. Set temperature dial (B) to desired setting.

CAUTION: Temperature setting on control was factory set at low (120°F/49°C) to reduce risk of scald injury. Setting the temperature dial past the low position will increase the risk of scald injury. Children, disabled, elderly and diabetics are at highest risk of being scalded

[NJKris]

Those things heat up surprisingly fast, 6g size. I have dual gas/electric model, using electric alone (which is all I've used so far), it is definitely up to temp within an hour, probably less as noted above. Stays hot even after turned off for many hours too. I turn mine off at night, because the blue illuminated power switch shines in my eyes trying to sleep, very bright.

[Carchidin23]

Perfect! Thanks everyone for the help. The family and I are ready to leave for our first trip today after work!

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Carchidin23

Perfect! Thanks everyone for the help. The family and I are ready to leave for our first trip today after work!

Hope ya have a great weekend and safe travels.