Lukewarm Water

[smpoulin1]

:confused: Hey all,

Been full timing in my 2013 277RL for about a year now. Woke up this morning, got in the shower and was surprised by a cold shower. I have only been using the water heater on the electric mode. I noticed the "reset" button was out so I pushed it. I had lukewarm water after about 15 minutes. It does not get hot. It seems to work fine while in gas mode.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[therink]

Sounds like your electric heat element has gone on you. Do you periodically drain/flush your hw tank? Mineral build up can shorten life of the element. As a general rule I drain andflush my hw tank about once month. It is amazing the crud that comes out.
Not that hard to replace the element. I believe you can get replacement at HD/Lowes.
Does your gas work?

[smpoulin1]

Yes, works great on gas.

[EricLynnAllison]

I had the electric thermostat go out. There is a separate one for gas. $39. fix.

[smpoulin1]

Did some further testing, here is what I found:

120v from ground to 1 leg (Black) on element
12.7v from ground to 1 leg (White) on element
120.0v across both legs (Black & White) on element
0 ohm reading across element.

Starting to believe the thermostat is the problem.

[hankpage]

15 min. is not long enough to heat water on electric because the recovery rate is so low. With the breaker OFF check that the wires are tightly connected at the element. Since it is heating somewhat the element is most likely good but if you want to check it ..... With power OFF remove the two wires from the element, test for resistance ( ohms - Ω ) across the two screws with a multi-meter. If it is good you should get a reading around 12 - 13 Ω. If you read 0Ω the element is burned out
Reconnect the wires and turn heater on .... to be certain allow 1 to 1½ hours for water to heat up. Check for 110ac voltage at the element, if it has stopped heating there should not be any voltage and the water should be hot .... if not suspect electric thermostat.

There may be a non-heater related cause also ....... If you turn your shower off at the shower head (Including out side shower by quick-connect) cold water will mix with hot through the wall mounted shower valve and cause heater to cool down or run more.

[smpoulin1]

Thanks Hankpage,

I will let it "run" on electric mode for a couple of hours and try the steps you listed.

Really appreciate the help.

[smpoulin1]

Performed further testing, 0 volts & 10 ohms at the element. Have hot water now. Could have been a bad connection or a "glitch"? Guess we'll have to see how it goes come shower time.

Thanks for all of the help, really helped me through this.

[smpoulin1]

Got up this morning, lukewarm water again. Will replace the thermostat today and see what happens.