2005 Cedar Creek Propane Water Heater 12V Switch

[dsatz64]

2005 Forest River Cedar Creek 5th Wheel. Suburban Propane and Electric water heater. Electric water heater works fine. Can anyone tell me or ideally, send me a picture of where the 12V propane water heater switch might be? I can't seem to find it inside the RV. The electric side of the water heater switch is inside the entryway on the right side with all of the other switches, etc., but Im not seeing a switch for the 12V propane side of the water heater.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by dsatz64

2005 Forest River Cedar Creek 5th Wheel. Suburban Propane and Electric water heater. Electric water heater works fine. Can anyone tell me or ideally, send me a picture of where the 12V propane water heater switch might be? I can't seem to find it inside the RV. The electric side of the water heater switch is inside the entryway on the right side with all of the other switches, etc., but Im not seeing a switch for the 12V propane side of the water heater.

For that old of a RV, you might have this panel:

https://youngfartsrvparts.com/produc...b-72c40f1b90eb

The propane switch is on the left.

[wmtire]

Can you please post a pic of this switch inside your RV?


A lot of people get this backwards and the switch inside the RV is actually to the propane. The switch to the electric heating element is outside the RV on the face of the water heater. You could have this electric element switch turned on unbeknownst to you and anytime you are connected to shore power, the electric element is ON...but you "think" you are turning it on via the inside switch, but you are not.


Please see this thread


https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ore-36197.html


A picture of that inside switch will help us determine this, as we are going to be looking for a DSI fault lamp near the switch which is only for the propane mode of heating. Thanks

[dsatz64]

Yes, that is the switch that I have on the inside of the RV. I had assumed that the "HTR" switch was for the tanks to prevent them from freezing in cold weather because of its placement in/on this switch. This unit was a recent purchase for us so we are still getting used to all of the different things about it, switches, quirks, 12v and 120v components, etc. We will be back at the RV in a few weeks and I will check it out then and let you know if this works!
Thank you so much.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by dsatz64

Yes, that is the switch that I have on the inside of the RV. I had assumed that the "HTR" switch was for the tanks to prevent them from freezing in cold weather because of its placement in/on this switch. This unit was a recent purchase for us so we are still getting used to all of the different things about it, switches, quirks, 12v and 120v components, etc. We will be back at the RV in a few weeks and I will check it out then and let you know if this works!
Thank you so much.

Please take a pic of the switches. I still think you may have the water heaters electric heating element switch messed up. It should not be in the panel of switches (unless the previous owner made a modification) you referred to, and then have the gas switch off in a separate location. You could possibly be now mixing up the tank heaters with this.


This thread is aimed at those just starting out and has a lot of useful tips that may help as you learn your RV.


https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ts-157524.html

[dsatz64]

Here is the switch that I have. Again, I did not realize this HTR switch on the lower left of this panel was for the water heater. I assumed it had something to do with the other tanks. My bad! There is another home type light switch next to this one for the electric side of the water heater. The electric side works fine. It was the propane side that I was struggling with and ALL of the You Tube videos that I looked were very extensive for the 120V side information but not a one, showed a single picture inside any of the RV's for the Propane side of the system. The information that both of you have provided is extremely extensive and solved my problem in RECORD time! Thank you both SO much!https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...g?v=1647133215

[dsatz64]

/Users/dougs/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/renders/2/2F15676A-8BF2-48C3-ABA8-F57DCF74633B_1_201_a.jpeg

Here is what I have. I'm not sure if the picture will come through as it only shows up as a link on my end of this post.

[dsatz64]

Actually, I was wrong with the electric water heater switch on the inside of the unit. I don't have a picture of this one but it is below my panel pic and is on a house type, 3 position light switch.
In the up position, this turns on the central vacuum.
In the middle position, this is the OFF position.
In the down position, this sends 120V power to the electric water heater. And yes, there is an on/off rocker switch in the lower left corner of the heater itself outside. I have tested 120V power to this rocker switch and there is no power to it when the inside switch is in the middle position and there is 120V power to the water heater on/off rocker switch when the switch on the inside is in the down position.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by dsatz64

/Users/dougs/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/renders/2/2F15676A-8BF2-48C3-ABA8-F57DCF74633B_1_201_a.jpeg

Here is what I have. I'm not sure if the picture will come through as it only shows up as a link on my end of this post.

When you registered here the other day, the forum system sent you a Welcome PM. Open it, click on the link to Forums 101. Follow instructions in post #7 for posting pics.

[dsatz64]

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...1&d=1655564462

[Reverse_snowbird]

For the propane water heater.... it's either the one at the top right labeled HTR or if that one is for electric, then it's the one on the lower right.
When you turn the switch on, if it works like ours did, it will light up for a few seconds, then go out. If it lights up again, it means there's a problem and the hot water heater propane won't light.

[dsatz64]

Yes, it has to be one of those two. Neither is for the electric side of the water heater. That is on a separate switch that I described in a the post further up and unfortunately, I do not have a picture of that switch.

I'm pretty confident that the propane water heater switch is the lower right hand switch in this picture. I will be there at the RV in about 3 weeks to try it and will let everyone know.

Thank you again!

Thank you

[dsatz64]

Ok, so the Propane Heater switch was indeed the red switch marked "HTR" on the panel in the upper right of the picture. There is a tiny light between the "HTR" and "PUMP" switches that lights up while the heater is attempting to light and then turns off when it has lit. The propane side of the water heater works great as does the electrical side. With both turned on at the same time, we are able to shower and do dishes at the same time without running out of water.
Thank you to all who have helped me is solving my problem!
I did notice though that with both the propane and electric water heater controls on and heating the water, my pressure relief valve has started leaking/dripping. I have purchased a new relief valve to replace the old and will install this soon.
Again, thanks to all who gave their input..

[Reverse_snowbird]

Thanks for letting us know and congratulations on getting it to work.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by dsatz64

Ok, so the Propane Heater switch was indeed the red switch marked "HTR" on the panel in the upper right of the picture. There is a tiny light between the "HTR" and "PUMP" switches that lights up while the heater is attempting to light and then turns off when it has lit. The propane side of the water heater works great as does the electrical side. With both turned on at the same time, we are able to shower and do dishes at the same time without running out of water.
Thank you to all who have helped me is solving my problem!
I did notice though that with both the propane and electric water heater controls on and heating the water, my pressure relief valve has started leaking/dripping. I have purchased a new relief valve to replace the old and will install this soon.
Again, thanks to all who gave their input..

Thanks for the follow-up.

There may be nothing wrong with the T&P valve.
You may have simply lost the air pocket inside the top of the weater heater and with the increased temperature of using both heat sources, thermal expansion is causing the dripping.

There's another thread running currently that talks about this. I'm on my phone but if I find it I'll post a link.

Here it is... the information about thermal expansion is near the end of the thread.
https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...d.php?t=254599