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Old 08-18-2019, 11:02 AM   #1
TJG0524
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Suburban SW12DEL - Not Working on Electric

I have a Suburban SWDEL12 in my 2016 Alpine that works on electric or propane.

On propane it works fine and heats water without issue. On electric, when I put power to it, down at the tank I will hear it working for about 2 minutes (sounds like a pot of water heating up), then it will stop. No hot water.

The water tank is full - water comes from the faucet/shower without spitting and water comes out of the pressure relief valve.

The anode rod is two trips old and looks in good shape.

The reset buttons have not tripped, and there is power.

Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks.
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:07 AM   #2
ajk170
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TJG0534- When the tank stops working, how do you reset it to make it work again for those two minutes? Kick it over to propane then turn it back to electric and the process repeats (ie works for a couple of minutes then stops?).
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:20 AM   #3
ajk170
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TJ- if you are able to reset the process and it works for a couple of minutes and then stops, it seems logical that it might be some type of connection to something is going out, such as the heating element. As it heats up and reaches a point, the element simply can't do get hotter and stops. Or a connection is failing for a similar reason, but that might actually be a little more concerning if a connection is heating up. Here's a video and at about 9:40 it talks about the heating element and where to find it. I imagine you could take a multi-meter to the connections to see what's going on with it.

I had an issue with my water heater recently (no the same as you) but the electric switch shorted out and slightly melted (danger, I know) but I attributed it to checking the hot water valve on the tank and it splashed up and seeped in and crated the short. looking at where the element is on these heaters, it's plausible that something similiar happened to you.
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:24 AM   #4
ajk170
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TJ - Here's another one on replacing the element- but that's not saying that this is the issue. I know when I was troubleshooting mine, I saw a video talking atbout the rest buttons and how they may not trip (it didn't really apply to me so I didn't watch all of it). I'll see if I can find that for you.

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Old 08-18-2019, 11:29 AM   #5
ajk170
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TJ- Here is the one that I mentioned- I think this is a good one because he shows how to use the multi-meter on both the electric coil (~3:47 min mark) and the reset buttons at the 5:35 mark. After looking at the video, you may have a simialr issue as he does in the video.

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Old 08-18-2019, 11:46 AM   #6
ajk170
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TJ- The video "RV Water heater Part 1" at 8:50 shows the testing(conntinuity test) of the electrical thermostat and how it failed despite not popping the reset.

Here is a replacement T-stat from amazon, but check to ensure this is the correct one for your unit. I provide this as an example of what you might be looking for.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...87ZP7KU9&psc=1
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