water heater inop-ish

[bikeman]

Hi all, I havn't posted on here in a while but the username/password are still to the good.
I have a 2 pronged question...

First, we haven't camped since last early fall (which sucks but job changes have left me with little vac time) so we pulled the camper (a 2000 Wildwood) out of storage and brought it home to clean it up and organize and such. While doing so we of course plugged in to shore power and well opps I did not open the hot water heater breaker and since there was no water in the tank I have burned out the electric heater element.

Is that element servicable seperate?

and we have been using the gas element to heat the water, do I need to open the electric breaker while using gas? (course electric inop anyway cause the bad element)

Any help would be appreciated.
Joe

PS currently enjoying the Appalacian mtns outside of Boone NC

[LadyWindrider]

If you can live with gas, then go for it. Do turn the switch for the electric off on the outside of heater, bottom left corner, or turn the breaker off, if you have a dedicated one. You can get an element at the big box hardware stores, and a socket to to change it. Just make sure all power is off before you attempt this. Element is behind the burner tube, under the black plastic cover with three screws. Burner tube will have to be removed. Two wires on element, order doesn't matter. DO a search for water heater, will find a lot of post, some with pictures. Element and tool, less than $25.

[bob213]

Here's some pics of a Suburban. Attwood should be similar. Enlarge pics to see caption for each. Element is behind black rubber cover. Mine was 1440 watts. I got a 1500W and removal tool at lowes. Good luck!
Webshots, the best outdoor photos!