110 Volt water heater

71_340 · 10-21-2019, 10:01 PM

I have an Atwood 6gl water heater. The propane functions works great as well as the engine preheat function.

My question concerns the 110 volt function. I have a single large switch above the main control panel and I am not sure if that function works.

Is there supposed to be a light inside switch indication when it is on? Is the on position up or down. Lastly, are the 110 volt pass through the switch or is it 12 volt activating a relay somewhere.

While I am at the control panel, the level indicators for LP, battery and fresh water read correctly. Grey only reads the first bottom two, black only reads the bottom one regardless of the actual level. I did a lot of reading about dirty tanks which really shouldn't impact the external sensors. I couldn't find any good troubleshooting guides either. I cleaned out the black tank with one of those rotating wands and then drove around with almost full grey and black tanks after adding a bunch of dishwasher soap pads and two more flushes.

There is nothing but clear water coming out now, there isn't even an odor anymore coming from the black tank. I assume it is really clean now.

This is our first RV and I already learned that you can spend some serious money to get everything right and make some improvements.

Sorry for the longwinded post and I appreciate any advice.

Hans

be happy · 10-22-2019, 04:59 AM

My 07 Meridian the Hot Water Switch is located top left corner. Its a rocker switch that when rocked up (upper part of switch lower than bottom) the switch turns red. I believe that its a true 110 switch, make sure your water heater breaker is on.

The level lights have and I am sure will always be a problem no matter what. To me its just one of those things you have to get used to and live with. Save your money for something else.

**creativepart** · 10-22-2019, 07:26 AM

Check your coache’s owners manual. That should explain the button operation.

Does your tank level display have learning sensors? Mine is called “One Place” and can be reset and it will automatically recalibrate itself. Again your owners manual should cover this.

71_340 · 10-23-2019, 11:06 PM

be happy:

Good advice on checking the breakers. My owners manual shows a photo of but I have to find them yet.

creativepart:

I have the "True Level" system and it isn't self learning (at least there is nothing in the manual about it. I will eventually upgrade to the Sea Level system which has great feviews.

powercat_ras · 10-24-2019, 04:52 PM

The light in the Electric Hot Water Heater switch is a 12 volt bulb so it does indicate you have the switch in the position that asks the control board to put 120 VAC power to the electric heating element. If the control board or the element or the 120 VAC feed to the hot water heater is bad, the light will still come on. Good luck.

71_340 · 10-24-2019, 06:40 PM

Thank you. I did find my 110 volt breakers (hidden behind a grille below the fridge), there is no separate breaker just for the water heater. Next step is to check for current at the heat element And the dismantling the control panel.

It is raining here for the next few days so I am taking a break working on my RV. On the plus side my sky light gets leak tested. Yesterday we had sun and 72 degrees so I had a chance to replace the old, was much easier then I thought it would be.

jabass · 10-27-2019, 06:19 PM

I Had same problem..red light would come on but did not see any amps on display panel showing the 11 amps to heat the tank. When I went under the water tank and pulled the access panel toward the back I found that the grounds brazed to the tank had both broken off and was just hanging there. I took the wires and grounded them to the back side of the box holding the tank. Solved my problem....
2006 journey....

NeilV · 10-27-2019, 09:21 PM

The tank has to be cold enough for the electric element to activate so if its already at temp this won't work however the simple check is when the tank is cold and nothing else running in the coach to turn on the switch and observe the amperage readout on your OnePlace Panel. It should go up to about 10 amps if the electric element is working.

If your AC is running, batteries are at high charge, etc, etc and there is not enough amperage available the electric water heater will automatically be turned off to allow enough power to run the Microwave, Main Air Conditioner so forth and so on and you should see a light indicating that the electric water heater has been turned off/shedded by the PowerLine control until such time as there is enough amperage available for it to run again such as the Microwave finishing, Batteries fully charged, AC reaching temperature, coffee done, etc, etc.

danhannah · 10-28-2019, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71_340

I did a lot of reading about dirty tanks which really shouldn't impact the external sensors.

Dirty tank sidewalls can absolutely affect even external sensors. I had enough gunk coating my grey tank insides that it always read "half full". In some ways grey tanks can be dirtier and smellier than black tanks.

I was able to snake a hose up into the grey tank to give it an internal bath. No amount of chemicals, ice, soaps, softeners or any other method I tried cleaned the grey tank walls. It required the pressure of a hose to clean the walls enough so that the sensors weren't fooled.

Now the sensors function as designed. I have to repeat this cleaning every year or so, and I am more careful about coffee grounds and greases in the kitchen drain.

danhannah · 10-28-2019, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71_340

Thank you. I did find my 110 volt breakers (hidden behind a grille below the fridge), there is no separate breaker just for the water heater. Next step is to check for current at the heat element And the dismantling the control panel.

It is raining here for the next few days so I am taking a break working on my RV. On the plus side my sky light gets leak tested. Yesterday we had sun and 72 degrees so I had a chance to replace the old, was much easier then I thought it would be.

A water heater is a high-amp device. It HAS to have a breaker somewhere. No way it was wired without a breaker... and very unlikely that it is a shared breaker.

Best of luck tracking this down!