Electric Water Heater

mrschwarz · 08-21-2006, 01:25 AM

It seems that the Electric portion of the water heater doesn't work. The breaker is connected and is on (with voltage present).

Are there any other fuses or breakers to look for? Any troubleshooting suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

mrschwarz · 08-21-2006, 01:25 AM

It seems that the Electric portion of the water heater doesn't work. The breaker is connected and is on (with voltage present).

Are there any other fuses or breakers to look for? Any troubleshooting suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Belgique · 08-21-2006, 01:51 AM

Mine too! I'm guessing that the heating anode(?) got zapped when this heater was installed becase of no water and it was turned on...I know house ones will do that. The anode is just so hard to get to (on the back side) that I've just used gas.

Curious what answers you get. Steve

DavidMc · 08-21-2006, 04:23 AM

As suggested above, the heating element may have burnt out (especially, as noted, when the tank is empty).

Another possibility is that there may be another switch on the back (interior side) of the water heater that needs to be turned on. [True for most Atwater heaters.]

Has the heater worked on electric only before?

PS: The anode is different from the heating element. Typically there is a hex-headed plug on the exterior side of the heater that is either a drain or an anode. The heating element is often on the interior side of the heater.

Which brand of water heater can lead to more specific suggestions/help.

Buddy & Jenna Kidd · 08-21-2006, 05:45 AM

On mine there is a breaker on the back side of the water heater. There is a access hole on the back side of the water heater compartment. Even with that it is difficult to get to. I had a water leak which dripped on my breaker and ruined it which resulted in it's replacement. There is also a thermocouple which senses the water temp back there.

Hikerdogs · 08-21-2006, 07:05 AM

Here's a posting from CatDave on RV.net. He had a similar problem and was able to talk to the people at Atwood (assuming it's an Atwood water heater)for a cure:

"I have a combination gas and electric/DSI Atwood water heater (model GE16TE) that has been working fine but suddenly died this morning. Wouldn't work on gas, electric, nothing. Checked all the fuses, checked for flue tube obstructions, checked wiring connections, etc. but the problem persisted. Finally called Atwood on the phone (very nice people) and was immediately connected to a friendly service tech who walked me through a diagnostic process that quickly located the problem- I had a fused Thermal Cutoff. This cutoff detects high temperatures due to an obstructed flue and once fused will prevent operation in either gas or electric mode. Since my flue wasn't restricted I wondered why the Cutoff would be fused- the tech said that it happens occasionally when both modes of operation are selected, i.e. gas and electric are on for the quickest water recovery time.

Unfortunately once the Thermal Cutoff activates it has to be replaced (it basically acts as a fusible link) but the water heater works fine without it and Atwood has shipped me a new one at no cost under warranty.

If your water heater dies, here's a quick way to find out if it is the Thermal Cutoff. First, MAKE SURE there are no obstructions in the flue tube. Then turn off the water heater's electric mode and turn on the gas mode. With the exterior access door open and looking at center of the water tank you'll see a black foam-covered area with 4 wires running to it. Look for the area marked T-STAT with two brown wires running to it. One of the wires will have a piece of clear tubing over it that covers a large diode- this diode is the Thermal Cutoff. (Mine didn't look burned or in any way defective, so a visual inspection won't tell you if it's bad or not.)
Remove the diode from the T-STAT terminal lug then disconnect the other end of the diode from the brown wire connector. Now connect the brown wire (without the diode attached) directly to the T-STAT terminal lug. Give it a few seconds and the water heater should turn on in gas operation mode. If it does, that means the Thermal Cutoff is bad and you'll need to get a new one from Atwood. Leave the wire hooked up, turn on the electrical mode to supplement gas mode (if you want) and you'll have hot water till you get the new Thermal Cutoff.
If the water heater doesn't turn on after a minute or so chances are it's not the Thermal Cutoff and you'll have to look elsewhere for your problem.

Hope this helps someone down the road."

The Atwood rep at the grand National also mentioned there were some Winnebago coaches (didn't give specific makes or models) that had poor air circulation around the front of the water heater in the area of the "Thermo Cutoff" (fusible link). The lack of air circulating caused the heat to build and melt the link.

You might want to call Winnebago customer relations for specifics. Apparently on some coaches they were installing a "spacer kit" on the steel door that covers the gas valve, controls, and circuit board to allow more air flow and better cooling.

Gary the Wombat · 08-21-2006, 08:32 AM

With regards to the flue tube being blocked...

When I bought my RV the walk-thru was done by the head of the service department, and he told me to buy some dog flea collars and put one in each outside compartment for the water heater, fridge etc to keep spiders from building webs in there. He told me that most problems he has seen with blockages were caused by spider webs. I live in an area with LOTS of spiders, but so far have no webs, so it seems to work.

JnGOnTheGo · 08-21-2006, 09:25 AM

This happend to me also. I was able to get the fusible link at Camping World. I think the cost was around $20 a pack (2 fusible links per pack).

harry t · 08-21-2006, 04:22 PM

Same problem many times, but not so much now that I leave the compartment door open a few inches for circulation. Have the Winnabego spacers installed but they don't help as much as leaving the door open. Some time ago someone on this forum listed specific parts to assemble your own fusible lengths for just a buck or two. Wish I had written them down. I've probably spent $100 for links over 4 yrs.

Harry T.
'02 Suncruiser

mrschwarz · 08-21-2006, 04:35 PM

The water heater is an Atwood. The gas burner works fine. It's just the electric that doesn't work.

Did I understand that the fusible link prevent both gas and electic?

How do you get to the back of the water heater? Do you use a mirror to see back there?

DavidMc · 08-21-2006, 04:45 PM

Michael, Now begins the game called "If you were a water heater where would you be hiding?".

Normally you can not reach in from the outside to the backside of the heater (thus the mirror may not be helpful).

Usually it will be inside some cabinet behind a false wall or under the floor of the cabinet. Sometimes it is directly behind an exterior cabinet face which requires removing screws to get there.

Perhaps someone with you specific RV model will be able to give more specifics.

Once you do get there, be careful when you get to the point of checking the over-temp switch. Sometimes you need to remove the cover over the open wiring and terminals to get to it -- some have a small hole where you can press on the reset-button with a blunt pencil or chop stick.

When you are there, you will also be able to see if power is actually reaching the water heater; it might be a bad connection between the main circuit breaker panel and the heater.

mrschwarz · 08-22-2006, 05:16 PM

I know where the water heater is and the instructions show the electrical connections. Unfortunately they are in the back of the unit. I just haven't figured out how to get back there to do anything with it.

Belgique · 08-23-2006, 01:57 AM

Michael: I watched the tech install and work on mine (that doesn't work on electric

))

On the 35U, the heater is next to a basement compartment. The heater itself is behind a door that can be raised like the other basement doors except that there is no handle...just screws that hold it down. He could stick half his body in the basement and fool around behind the heater but only for very basic investigations. Anytime he had to really do something, he slid the heater out a few feet. There was some room to do that since the plumbing and gas line have some flex, but not much.

After watching him, a young thin guy go through all this, I decided that this lard butt senior citizen wasn't going to tackle this in the future...especially when he, a guy that knows what he is doing, broke one one of the lines.

That's why I haven't fixed my heater's electric problem...waiting for another reason to pop up to take the coach in for maintenance. Steve

DancinCampers · 08-25-2006, 05:17 PM

Harry

Try

http://irv2.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2486094452/m/...871077202#9871077202

Sorry, my url link is not working right

DancinCampers · 08-25-2006, 05:18 PM

whoops, guess it is

DancinCampers · 08-25-2006, 05:29 PM

I will weigh in a little

I have the Atwood 10gal DSI gas/electric, motoraid water heater.

The 120volt side is separate from the gas side.

On the electric side, I have a 120 VAC remote switch on my EMS panel. This sends AC to the 120 VAC switch located on the back of the heater (which should always be turned on). The AC switch on the back is used in installations where a remote switch is not used. The hot AC side then goes to the thermastat, then to the ECO stat, then to the heating element, then to neutral, completing the circuit.

The ECO is a manually resettable unit. When you look at it, there is a small white button located between the two electrical wire connections. Pushing this in resets the ECO.

It is in a very hard place to reach, at least in my install.

The tstat, ECO & element are all covered by a metal cover & glass insulation, similar to a household water heater, but there is a small hole in the cover over the ECO which allows you to insert an object like a pencil eraser to push in the button.

I plan to remove my wh when we get back home from this place, in order to fix my AUX coach heater, which is located behind the wh. At that time I will check & see if I can replace the ECO, or at least make it easier to reset.