Newbs- Make sure your H2O heater is not bypassed!

Frankf · 05-19-2021, 07:15 AM

2021 Micro Minnie 2108DS

Took her out on her maiden voyage this past weekend and all went pretty well. Learned a lot. One minor issue was no hot water. A quick search led us to perhaps the water heater tank being bypassed (valves closed not letting water in or out).

Panel beside toilet, (for our model not the one below the sink, although there are two strange valves there too. Those don't appear to be gate valves?). Anyhow the gate valves to and from the water heater were closed. Opened them and water went into the tank.

I did have the electric and LP on prior to the tank being filled. Figured I would have fried the element. But I left it on electric only and the tank heated. Turned on LP next and the burner lit and the LP worked fine, too.

So I think I'm good. Perhaps the newer models have a safety feature if no H2O in the tank they won't burn out?

Anyhow be aware of this. I would be nice if Winnebago had a large label on the hot water access panel warning users to make sure the valves to the tank are open if needing to use hot water.

Marine359 · 05-19-2021, 08:02 AM

Aargh,
I made same mistake after taking delivery. Took me awhile over a several scotch to figure it out. Yes, the wh has a safety cut off which activates when there is heat source but no water in tank. No damage done. Got tired of futzing with those screw panels, so I installed magnetic catches and drawer pulls to easily access the inside wh and valves under sink. You also pick up some useable storage in the process. Photos in my user albums.