Water Heater Not Working - 2007 Adventurer 38J

gromhome · 07-28-2022, 06:29 PM

2007 Adventurer 38J, Workhorse W-24 Chassis, 8.1L V8 - Atwood 10 gallon 3 way water heater, electric, propane, and motor aide

Heaters been working fine on electric and gas for the year and a half we've owned the coach. We made a trip to HWH for work on the hydraulics and plugged in overnight to their 50 AMP service. The next evening, still at HWH, I noticed the water wasn't hot. The electric portion of the water heater wasn't working.

Drove home the next day and it didn't magically fix itself so I fired off the propane and had good, hot, showers. I researched the electric and found a website that said to push the reset button on the heater and even said where to look for it. It's not there that I can see. I have a bunch of wires and a couple connections on the back of the heater but nothing looked amiss. There was no reset button. I checked the 110 breaker for the heater and it wasn't tripped but I cycled it anyway. I also cycled the on/off switch a few times. I have a multi meter but don't know where to start trouble shooting the water heater.

Today the propane stopped working although it worked fine last night. And we do have propane flowing as the stove top works great. I changed out the thermo cutoff but that didn't help. I'm stumped.

With both the propane and the electric not working we're going to be showering in the campground showers, the wife just doesn't want a cold shower.

Richard Grom

Ray,IN · 07-29-2022, 07:01 PM

On the irv2.com website, RV appliances forum, ask your question there and a member "Old-biscuit" will reply, he is the expert on RV appliances and will have correct answers for you.

gromhome · 07-29-2022, 09:01 PM

Thanks!

Advtwindad · 08-03-2022, 04:17 PM

It may well be the thermal cut off fuse tripped. It’s a relatively easy fix if that is indeed the problem. There are a few Youtube videos that explain it really well including how to test whether that is the problem. I had the same issue earlier this year because the thermal cut off was resting on the heating tube. Good luck!

gromhome · 08-03-2022, 06:42 PM

Got it fixed. First I replaced the thermal cutoff as I carry spares. When that wasn't it I checked out the thermostat and ECO stat and they were old and corroded so I replaced them but it still wouldn't fire. Checked out all the wiring and the board with my multimeter and found the board was bad. Replaced it with a Dinosaur board (brand name) and it fired right up.

Advtwindad · 08-03-2022, 06:58 PM

Excellent!! The board is another common culprit. Glad it’s ready to roll again for the next adventure (with warm showers!)

**creativepart** · 08-03-2022, 07:09 PM

One thing to keep in mind... if the thermal cutoff blows neither LP nor Electric will work. So, if one works and the other doesn't it can't be the thermal cutoff.

The OP said the electric stopped, but the LP worked. So, that means it's not the thermal cutoff. It was later that the LP stopped.

One thing to know, if you don't have a spare thermal cutoff, you can easily bypass that device. In fact, the water heater comes standard with the connections to remove the thermal bypass and simply bypass, er, the bypass.

So, it's easy to check. When things stop working on both AC and LP just remove the thermal bypass, reconnect the wiring and see if it works now. If so, that's your problem.