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Old 01-16-2018, 07:51 PM   #1
fishingprospector
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Gas Electric Water Heaters

I have a 12 gallon gas/electric water heater. How do you switch from gas to electric or vice versa? There is an on/off switch outside in the water heater compartment and a switch on the wall marked water heater. 5th wheel is a 2013 Keystone Laredo. Gas seems to come on when we turn switch on that is mounted inside on wall. Thinking if switch is on outside then element for electric should be on? I know these are pretty common but this is my first experience with the combination style.
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Old 01-16-2018, 07:54 PM   #2
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Switch on the outside lower left corner will energize the electric element. Switch inside will energize the LP burner.

Separate heating sources, you will have to be plugged into shore power (110VAC) for the electric element to work. If you are plugged in then you can operate both at the same time. Faster recovery.
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Old 01-16-2018, 08:07 PM   #3
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Just for my own edification; is this a Suburban heater? I have an Atwood and there is no switch on the heater as has been indicated many times with the Suburban. Do you have to actually actuate that switch each time if you want to use AC with that heater? If so, I think the Atwood is much better....plus no anode rod. Thoughts?
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Old 01-16-2018, 08:11 PM   #4
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The electric heater also has a circuit breaker in the power distribution unit which also needs to be on. I never use the switch on the actual water heater but use the circuit breaker to control the heater. I turn the breaker off when packing up and leaving the site and it does not go on again until hooked up to the water supply at next site.
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Old 01-16-2018, 09:40 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sourdough View Post
Just for my own edification; is this a Suburban heater? I have an Atwood and there is no switch on the heater as has been indicated many times with the Suburban. Do you have to actually actuate that switch each time if you want to use AC with that heater? If so, I think the Atwood is much better....plus no anode rod. Thoughts?
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Originally Posted by Bostongone View Post
The electric heater also has a circuit breaker in the power distribution unit which also needs to be on. I never use the switch on the actual water heater but use the circuit breaker to control the heater. I turn the breaker off when packing up and leaving the site and it does not go on again until hooked up to the water supply at next site.
Yes Suburban HWTs have the switch on the outside, some installations also have a separate switch inside along with the breaker in the power distribution panel. In my case I have no switch inside and use the circuit breaker to turn the electric section of the HWT on/off.

The outside switch on the tank itself gets unpinned and turned on after I fill it with water and stays on. Just before I empty the HWT I turn off the tank mounted switch and pin it (locked open) to ensure the electric section of the HWT is not energized with no water in the tank.
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Old 01-17-2018, 06:50 AM   #6
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Thanks that what I thought. I assume mine is a Suburban because it has the switch outside. I like the idea of leaving the switch on and just using the water heater breaker. I will just have to get in the habit of shutting it off everytime we disconnect. Thanks again.
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Old 01-17-2018, 06:54 AM   #7
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Since this camper is new to us it does have the anode rod. Like our old camper we pulled the anode rod to drain the water heater when we winterize. I do not see a drain like on a conventional water heater so that is how we drained ours. When I worked in the plumbing business we had some customers whose hot well water would smell and they fixed it by just breaking of the anode rod from the threaded end and put the threaded end back in as a plug. Of course this voided the warranty on the water heater but it was better than smelly hot water.
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Old 01-17-2018, 07:23 AM   #8
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Most of the "odor" from a water heater comes from stagnant water being "decomposed" and reacting with the magnesium anode rod. There are several things that will help reduce that odor. First, drain/flush the water heater, add 1 cup of Clorox to the tank, reinsert the anode and fill the tank. Let it sit overnight, drain/flush and reinstall a "cleaned" or new anode. If the problem recurs, either drain the tank between "extended use" and/or install an aluminum anode rod. The factory "magnesium rod" does react with some local water types to create a sulphur compound in the tank. Some types of water are more prone to that with a magnesium anode, some with an aluminum anode.

If you're going to store your trailer for over 2 or 3 weeks and experience "smelly water", you may benefit from draining your water heater before putting it in storage.
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Old 01-17-2018, 08:21 AM   #9
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“I turn the breaker off when packing up and leaving the site and it does not go on again until hooked up to the water supply at next site.”
Another advantage to turning off the water heater with the circuit breaker is that when setting up and the AC is working hard to cool the camper down I don’t need the additional amperage load. Hot water can wait awhile.
PARAPTOR, “The outside switch on the tank itself gets unpinned and turned on after I fill it with water and stays on.” I did not know the heater switch could be pinned as a idiot?/safety feature? Will have to check that out! Thanks.
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Old 01-17-2018, 09:07 AM   #10
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...I did not know the heater switch could be pinned as a idiot?/safety feature? Will have to check that out! Thanks.
There is a small (really small) hairpin type clip that goes into a hole in the "on half" of the exterior water heater switch. Its purpose is to "pin the switch in the off position" so it can't be accidentally turned on. Over the years, it's "saved me" a couple times. I put a "key tag" on mine so it's more visible and keep it "clipped to a visible wire" in the water heater. That way, it serves as a visible reminder that the switch is on. Easy to notice when I'm removing the anode rod and makes it less likely to forget the switch with that red "key fob" hanging in the way.......
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Old 01-17-2018, 09:49 AM   #11
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The new Suburban water heater I installed a couple years ago to replace our failed one did not come with the switch with a hole and cotter pin in it. It has the switch, and I was surprised that the hole was not there.
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Old 02-10-2018, 05:03 PM   #12
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I’m confused. My Suburban has no outside switch. Just two switches inside on the control panel, LP Water Htr, and Elec Water Htr.
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Old 02-10-2018, 05:09 PM   #13
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Seems to be the trend not to have the lockout pin anymore.
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Old 02-10-2018, 11:10 PM   #14
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I use that outside switch/pin as protection against possible Senior Moments. As soon as I get ready to drain the HWT, the switch gets turned off and pinned then HWT is drained. HWT gets filled, then pin comes out and switch turned on. Having to deal with that pin makes me think twice
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Old 02-11-2018, 06:42 AM   #15
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Just an FYI if you are using the circuit breaker to turn the a/c side of the water heater on and off. I suppose it might depend on whether your trailer is 30 or 50 amp, but, on our previous 30 amp trailer the water heater and the refer were on the same circuit. FWIW
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