1993 Micro-Warrior Water Heater Missing Propane Parts

[Spspspspoon]

What exactly am I missing from the hot water heater

Does the water heater only work on gas (LP)?

I understand hooked to city water bypasses water pump and holding tanks
But does it go through the hot water heater??

Anybody have a clue what the capacity of the hot water heater is or any information like that about them

 

[Morich]

Sounds like you are trying to figure out an RV and get to know the tricks each has!
So I took a look at the parts info here:

Winnebago Cortona Portal

cortona.winnebago.com

Not too much help but it does give the info that the OEM heater was an Atwood model G4-8M. So search using an AI (Copilot!) got me a bunch of info on that heater. A bit old but with aluminum 4 gallon tank it may still last a long time if not allowed to freeze!
Do you have access to any of the AI things like copilot? I could start with copy and paste a few things but if you can pull up the big bunch of info, it likely gets there better and quicker?
OH my! Just looked at the picture from the manual compared to real picture and this is not happy news as you are missing some really vital parts and they may be impossible to find??? UGH! May not be able to get this one to work as many of the vital parts are missing. Compare the pictures to see what I mean.. Starting at the left lower side, there should be a copper tube gas line come in. Maybe through that black grommet hiding behind the wires? Then going toward the right as you look at the manual picture, there should be a gas regualtor, a "flue" type thin metal tube where gas and air mix before going into the large hole in the tank where there should be some form of burner or where the fire comes on! All missing! It looks like most of the working parts have been stripped out and that may make finding those parts and replacement is not a practical thing due to hgh prices for part and all the drama of finding them.
Probably looking for a different heater. UGH! Fire should burn in that big hole inside the heater and under the tank then the fumes and exhaust come out the vent at top left side!
On how it might work if there, is that there is the fresh water tank that you fill to turn on a small pump to pump water to each faucet. OR you can likely connect a hose to a hose fitting sticking out the RV side to get city water pressure if in a campground.
I did not look at where and how to connect those but after hooked up and whetehr you use the pump or city water pressure the should be pressure on both hot and cold water lines to let you get either hot or cold. Both systems let you run water through cold lines to faucets or through the water heater and then to the faucets to get hot water. But if they scrapped out the parts to the heater, there is a question about the lines . Are they also missing? Be alert when you start adding water as it might fill the RV instead of the tank, if you know what I mean. Check for leaks kind of careful at first until you know the pipes are there?
Looking closer, this looks like it may have been wored on realy heavy and they may have taken all the gas parts out and added an electrical heat element where I've circled here? ANy odd switches inside to turn heat on that way?

Maybe they could not find normal part to fix gas, so made it work on electric? Not a part I know at that place as it should normally look like your picture! See how that plug doesn't show in the picture?

 

[Spspspspoon]

Hm
Maybe
I'll research that!!

Still have many cubby holes to take pictures of and find out what's really all in there

 

[Spspspspoon]

I was thinking about the electric water heater as well due to the fact that the refrigerator can be ran off of electric and electric is easier to deal with

Like I said I have a lot of cubby holes to look in to see maybe there is a electric heater in there

The literature states that City water will bypass the tanks and the fuel pump

But I was kind of wondering whether or not it bypassed the heater
So to have hot water period You would have to have the LP working

Which everything stays that it does work and it still got a quarter tank full of LP

 

[Morich]

Propane may go to stove and furnace but I see nothing on this that would use gas.
I see lots of things that have been changed but if there is a model number on the label, I amy be looking at the wrong heater for info?? Stilll does not look right as they have spray painted the grey color on and there are parts missing that would let it heat with propane.
The big hole where I drew a red line is where the fire should come out ot he burner. There is nothing there. Normally the fire is inside this hole and the hot air goes in next to the water to heat it an then comes out the exhaust at teh top vent.
But there are three holes that look like they have changed things to add an electric heating element. I think the frist hole at left would have had a gas line, Next should have been a drain plug to let you drain the water out of the tank to keep it from freezing but now it has something in that hole. But the really big question might be how they got the third hole where it looks like there is a heater there as well. Wires make meat thing those are heaters but maybe one is some form of thermostat to control the heater and shut off power when the water gets hot enough?
The paper work you have is what should have been there but it is gone now!
City water can come in an dgo to filll the tank or it can go to other parts of the RV. Some can go directly to faucets for cold water and some go the the heater in on a cold water pipe and come out of the heater on a hot water pipe that goes to all the faucets to get hot water there.
Something kind of like this but I did not draw how water can also go to the fresh water tank and has a pump to pull water out of that tank togo to the came places as the city water. Something like this idea but I am sure the connections are different on each RV.
Just the idea but not like what you really see if looking at the pipes!

 

[Spspspspoon]

It has a Hott Rod Electric Conversion Kit!
I'll look tomorrow n see Where it has a switch hookup

 

[klook]

From 93 it was propane only and they removed the gas valve and burner tube. I hate those Hot shots. I would be amazed if it held water after all these years.

 

[Spspspspoon]

So when I hook up the city water
It goes into the freshwater tank correct?

Cuz that's where the Hott Rod is placed

I get that there is a freshwater that I can fill up that is not city water

But does the freshwater tank get filled also by the city water???

Cuz like I said the electric heater goes into the tank
So I can't understand that filling up with city water would bypass the tanks

Meaning that if I use City Water I would not have hot water

 

[klook]

No,,,,,,let me see if I can sort this out. When you hook up to city water, it bypasses the fresh water tank with a check valve at the pump. One way valve. When you fill the fresh tank, it needs to have the pump turned on to provide water to the camper. If you turn on the pump and have the water hooked up to the city inlet you will burn up the pump. It is only used on the tank. Both of them push water thru the camper and the Hot water tank. In addition, if your tank is filling up when you are on city water, the check valve in the pump is bad. There are exceptions to this but those would be on high end rigs where you could hook up to city water and turn a valve and fill the tank....turn it back to not use the tank.

 

[klook]

There is no way the Hot Rod is in the plastic fresh water tank.

 

[Morich]

Sounds like some confusion on what both are calling different tanks? I think you mean the hot rod is what we see in the picture/ If that is true we more often would call that the water heater tank, not the fresh water tank. Fresh water tank is a big plastic tank the is mostly hidden. the idea is that we CAN add water to the big pastic tank and haul it around for whenw e want water without having a place to hook a hose. The pump has a line from the fresh water tank and it will draw water from it and send it to alll the other parts of the RV, including the ot water tank.
That pump has a system to sense how much pressure is on the water lines and if the pressure is low, maybe near 20PSI, the pump will turn on and build pressure back and shut off, That is whty there is not any problem with running the pump and having the city water connected at the same time. If we have city water, it will almost always be above 20 PSI and the pump never comes on! We normally don't turn the pump on and use battery power if we are hooked up to the city water that already has higher pressure, though!
I left off some parts on that first drawing. this closer to the idea.

You have a big plastic tank and it can be filled different ways. Some have a seperate port where you can stick the hose in and water goes to the tank OR some have a valve that sends it to the tank or direct to the RV and depends on which way the valve is set. Where exactly the connections are madeis not likely to be totally corrrect as I drew them but the idea is that there is a one way check valve built intot he pump that should keep city hose water from going backwards through the pump and overflowing the tank. Water can come in from the hose and go to the RV but not back through the pump to overflow the tank! the one way/check valve stops it goes that way!
But when you are connected to hose/city water, the pressure from that water will be higher than what the pump controls will let the pump come on. The pump comes on, if the switch is on but only as long as the pressure in the line is low. So if city water pressure is there, the pump won't try to come on and pump! The city water pressure is already higher than when the pump will shut off, so it never tries. But we usually leave it off to save battery power until we want water from the tank.

Simple plan is that all the parts of the RV should get water, whne we are hooked to city water or if we turn the pump on and it pulls water out of the big tank and also sends it to the water heater tank. Water gets hot there when something like your hotrod heater is turned on, comes out a differnet pipe to go to all the faucets and shower!

One thing to maybe watch carefully is to not turn the water heater on when the water heater tank is empty! that may let the hotrod get too hot an might burn it out?? Not used one and not sure of that but being careful, until you know!! The way you might find out is when it has burned out!!! UGH?
Maybe this is the correct drawing for what you have or maybe close. It shows two places where you might add water direct from the hose or fill the tank. What's behind the little door???

 

[klook]

The city water pressure preventing the pump from running only applies when no changes have been made to the system. Putting a check valve in the output side of the pump will not allow water pressure to get to the switch. I have seen this in the real world. That is why it is so hard to advise with no pictures and the owner does not understand the basics.