Quote:
Originally Posted by Pull Toy
The (hidden on/off switch) inside of the outside access cover to my hot water heater "fried" in the open position. No hot water!)
Now that Radio Shack is gone, what think you to just eliminating it and using the circuit breaker in the main panel for on/off? All I need to do is jumper across the two quick connect terminals that pull out with the hidden switch, and mark the correct breaker on the panel.
Any Pro's or Con's come to mind?
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I am always leery of bypassing switches and fuses in any electrical item. There are too many tales of good intentions gone bad. But I will admit that I always left the switch on the heater in the on position and used the breaker to turn it on or off. We didn't use the electric very often in the 11 years that we had that Sunline. Everything is in the off position now in the Cougar.
That said, you should be able to determine what kind of switch it is and search out a suitable replacement. My favorite source is Ebay, but there are other ways to find stuff. Ebay's search engine is pretty efficient. FWIW, switches like that one use a standard mounting size, and there's only a few different standards. The current and voltage ratings should be stamped or molded into the switch body. Armed with the size and shape of the mounting and the general electric specs, finding a replacement should not difficult.
Push come to shove, you could pick up an electrically suitable switch at Home Depot along with a small surface mount electric box and remote the on/off switch to a location next to the heater. If you do, use the same type of wire that feeds the 110vac side of the water heater from the circuit breaker box. It's probably standard interior residential 14-2 solid copper, but check to be sure.
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