Water heater startup

sleeepr · 06-03-2017, 11:48 AM

Maiden voyage this weekend. Everything seems to be working as promised, except the water heater has not heated, on electric. Switch in auto mode, no reset light on, and I did press the two buttons outside that say "reset", but no luck. Haven't switched it to gas yet, nit in a big hurry and we don't need the hot water, just want to give everything a whirl to make sure it's working before any long trips. Circuit breaker was good last I looked, but I forgot to re-check it since setting up.

Any ideas? Thanks.

slow · 06-03-2017, 12:06 PM

Is the breaker for the hot water tank on?

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Alpine · 06-03-2017, 12:10 PM

Not familiar with a "water heater" having an "auto" mode! Then again they get more fancy smancy as they evolve. Our refrigerator has a auto mode, not the water heater. If you have an on/off switch on the water heater itself, make sure it is in the on position.

Javi · 06-03-2017, 12:28 PM

Bottom left corner of the heater behind the tube... switch to on...

I turn mine off if trailer is unattended or I'm done with camping or disconnected from water source..

No safety if no water it burns out heating element

Javi

ctbruce · 06-03-2017, 12:36 PM

Probably need to turn the switch to on on the outside and then also on the inside make the electric work. Make sure it is full of water first. Lift up on the pressure relief valve to make sure it has water in it.

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**chuckster57** · 06-03-2017, 01:04 PM

I'm working on model year 2018 stuff and haven't seen any "auto" water heaters yet. Stuff keeps getting harder to keep up with...say it isn't so.

sleeepr · 06-03-2017, 02:15 PM

As the years stroll along, the gray cells get tired. My brain was thinking of the refrigerator settings. No, there isn't an auto on the heater. I have the electric on, gas off inside. Will check for outside switch. Didn't see one earlier, but didn't look closely for a switch. We pulled to a campsite close to town to set up, check out, LEARN how the damned thing works. That's the beauty of these forums - everyone is helpful and you can learn a lot. We'll be headed back out to the rig soon, and I'll follow up. Thanks all!

**chuckster57** · 06-03-2017, 02:18 PM

The switch looks "upside down" you have to switch it DOWN to turn it on. Perfectly normal.

**hankpage** · 06-03-2017, 02:46 PM

There should be a safety pin through the outside switch to prevent accidentally turning it on. Do not manually open the temperature/pressure valve ... It is designed to maintain an air pocket in the tank to allow for expansion. When you connected to city water or turned on your pump you should have heard considerably more air coming from the hot faucets letting you know the heater was filling. If you did not, than your bypass valve may still be closed.
In case you didn't get the manuals for all your appliances, they are available on line.

sleeepr · 06-03-2017, 05:03 PM

Thanks again to all. We're in business. I know they showed me that in the walk through, just needed to turn the switch on. Question. Should I always switch off when breaking camp?

Javi · 06-03-2017, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleeepr

Thanks again to all. We're in business. I know they showed me that in the walk through, just needed to turn the switch on. Question. Should I always switch off when breaking camp?

Yes... in fact as I said above, turn it off anytime it be unattended.... easy to burn out the heating element is it runs dry..

Javi

sleeepr · 06-03-2017, 06:16 PM

I appreciate all the help. We'll get this yet.

ctbruce · 06-04-2017, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hankpage

There should be a safety pin through the outside switch to prevent accidentally turning it on. Do not manually open the temperature/pressure valve ... It is designed to maintain an air pocket in the tank to allow for expansion. When you connected to city water or turned on your pump you should have heard considerably more air coming from the hot faucets letting you know the heater was filling. If you did not, than your bypass valve may still be closed.
In case you didn't get the manuals for all your appliances, they are available on line.

Hank is correct, don't let all the air out. Just pop the valve open slightly to see if water dribbles out and close it again. Or as he said, open the furthest hot water tap and see if it has water and air purged from it.

You'll get it all figured out.

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bobbecky · 06-04-2017, 10:22 AM

If you are not draining the water heater, you really do not need to switch off the outside switch, but should turn it off any time you drain the tank or when you winterize the rig. As long as there is water in the water heater, you are safe.

Javi · 06-04-2017, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbecky

If you are not draining the water heater, you really do not need to switch off the outside switch, but should turn it off any time you drain the tank or when you winterize the rig. As long as there is water in the water heater, you are safe.

There are several valid reasons to turn the switch off when unattended or in storage... my favorite of all time was the kids who thought it would be fun to take the caps off of everyone's low point drains... campground shut off the water to stop the flood... Glad I make a habit of shutting off the water and water heater if we are going to be away for more than a few minutes... only takes a minute and could save a few dollars...

Plus I keep my trailer plugged in while in storage but don't have water hooked up..

Javi

**chuckster57** · 06-04-2017, 12:36 PM

I turn mine off when it's parked in the backyard, plugged in. Can't say I've ever encountered kids doing mischief of that kind.

Javi · 06-04-2017, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I turn mine off when it's parked in the backyard, plugged in. Can't say I've ever encountered kids doing mischief of that kind.

I will say that was they last time we will ever stay anywhere near a beach during the last weekend before school starts...

There were 50 or so sites, 49 of which had at least 10 preteens... or at least that is what it sounded like.

Javi

ctbruce · 06-09-2017, 02:57 AM

1 teenage girl can sound like 10 preteens...

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GMcKenzie · 06-09-2017, 05:08 AM

I leave my switch off until I'm hooked up. I turn it on and turn it off as part of my get ready to leave routine. I may not need to but I know I will be fine if I drain for some reason etc.

Plus I don't often leave it on in warm weather if I'm running AC. With only 30 amps, the heater, AC and "something else" can pop the breakers.

**JRTJH** · 06-09-2017, 06:39 AM

We dry camp much more than use campgrounds with electrical hookups, so our style of camping precludes using the electric water heater capability. We've "evolved" to always turning the water heater electrical switch to OFF, mainly because we don't want to load up the generator when we're charging batteries. It's much easier, for us, to always have the water heater switch OFF and only turn it on when needed rather than always have it on and only turn it OFF when needed.

A different perspective? Probably, but for us, not having the extra load on our generator makes it easier for the way we camp.

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