Water Heater Won’t Start

Neliv21 · 03-28-2021, 05:42 PM

Took out our Brand New Passport 268BH on its maiden voyage. Water heater doesn’t work? Have no clue if there is something I can do to fix this or is this thing just broken. Any help is appreciated. Need my wife to take a hot shower before she kills me. Lol.

Terry W. · 03-28-2021, 06:01 PM

Water heater won't work period? Is it not working on gas or electric? Turn the stove on to bleed it out of gas line. The electric switch is in the bottom left hand corner almost can't see it also is opposite than .normal switch

Neliv21 · 03-28-2021, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry W.

Water heater won't work period? Is it not working on gas or electric? Turn the stove on to bleed it out of gas line. The electric switch is in the bottom left hand corner almost can't see it also is opposite than .normal switch

It doesn't Turn on at all. Not on gas. Not on electric. It has Water in the line. Just no heat. I will Give your suggestion a shot and hope it works. Thank you.

bobbecky · 03-28-2021, 06:25 PM

Do you have a control panel that has switches for lighting and such? If so, are there any switches that say gas and electric, maybe have water heater printed near them? If so, they must be turned on, either the gas or the electric, or both if you are needing a quicker recovery when taking showers. You will also need to make sure the 120 volt breaker is turned on in the electric panel in the trailer and the gas valves on the propane cylinders must also be open.

Neliv21 · 03-28-2021, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbecky

Do you have a control panel that has switches for lighting and such? If so, are there any switches that say gas and electric, maybe have water heater printed near them? If so, they must be turned on, either the gas or the electric, or both if you are needing a quicker recovery when taking showers. You will also need to make sure the 120 volt breaker is turned on in the electric panel in the trailer and the gas valves on the propane cylinders must also be open.

Breaker on. Both switches on the panel on. Gas tanks open. Still no heat.

**sourdough** · 03-28-2021, 06:46 PM

Brand new trailer; maiden voyage....switches on etc. Everything should work; it's not still in bypass is it?

Neliv21 · 03-29-2021, 06:44 AM

The bypass was shut off. I opened It. Now to wait and see if hot water comes out. Any ideas as to how long the water should take to fill up then heat up?

**sourdough** · 03-29-2021, 06:48 AM

Open your faucets with the hot water on. If it was in bypass has it been dewinterized? Is the plug/anode in the water heater? If not water will run right out of the heater and you won't be getting anything out of the faucets. Did you turn on the electric to the element with the water heater empty? If so it is probably burned out.

Neliv21 · 03-29-2021, 08:15 AM

The anode is in the water heater. I made Sure to turn on both the electric and gas with water in the water heater. I open The faucets and cold water comes out. Do i just Let the faucets run until the water temp changes?

SummitPond · 03-29-2021, 08:18 AM

What brand of WH do you have? Dometic or Suburban.

If the bypass was engaged (meaning the tank was bypassed) and there was no water in the tank, you may have fried the electric heating element.

Did you test the WH when you did your PDI?

Our Dometic WH flaked out on us after a winterization. It turned out that a spider had built a web in the flame tube, and when the burner kicked on it caused the thermal cutoff to perform its safety function and the WH would not work on gas nor electric. I assume the Suburban has something similar. The part is only a few dollars.

Javi · 03-29-2021, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neliv21

The anode is in the water heater. I made Sure to turn on both the electric and gas with water in the water heater. I open The faucets and cold water comes out. Do i just Let the faucets run until the water temp changes?

If the water is hot that shouldn't be but a minute or two.. ant worse.

Or you could go outside and momentarily crack open the pop-off valve but carefully..

Neliv21 · 03-29-2021, 08:35 AM

Still no hot water hours later. Guessing it may have gotten fried before we got it. We were never shown the water heater and how it worked At the dealer. Rookie mistake on our part.

**sourdough** · 03-29-2021, 08:42 AM

Does your heater have a plastic plug in it or a metal one (with the anode rod inside)? If it is the metal one you should have a Suburban water heater and it will have a secondary switch on the left inside the water heater outside access. Inside do you have both the electric and LP switches turned on? If so, when you turned on the LP switch did you hear the water heater fire up on gas? If the LP side is working correctly you should still get hot water even if the electric element is fried.

Neliv21 · 03-29-2021, 08:49 AM

No sound came on when i switched The LP on. It’s a Dometic WH.

Javi · 03-29-2021, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neliv21

No sound came on when i switched The LP on. It’s a Dometic WH.

So, it's an Atwood there should be a switch like this

Neliv21 · 03-29-2021, 09:12 AM

I have similar switches on the switch board inside the trailer. Nothing exactly like that. Unless that switch board is somewhere else.

Javi · 03-29-2021, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neliv21

I have similar switches on the switch board inside the trailer. Nothing exactly like that. Unless that switch board is somewhere else.

Can you post a photo of the switches.. ???

Neliv21 · 03-29-2021, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Javi

Can you post a photo of the switches.. ???

Unfortunately i cannot.

**sourdough** · 03-29-2021, 10:51 AM

The control panel (switchboard) would be inside the RV. My switches are labeled electric and gas and side by side on the panel. Depressing the top of the switches should turn them on and mine light up.

If it's a brand new trailer and you've done all those things and the LP still won't fire and the electric won't heat it might be the control board. Has it ever worked?

If it's the control board (or fuse) you may want the dealer to fix it under warranty if you're not familiar with troubleshooting - they cost $100-130 I believe. They do go bad...or come bad. Replaced the one on my last trailer at about 15mos. old and this one was bad from the gitgo.

wiredgeorge · 03-29-2021, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neliv21

The anode is in the water heater. I made Sure to turn on both the electric and gas with water in the water heater. I open The faucets and cold water comes out. Do i just Let the faucets run until the water temp changes?

If the trailer was winterized like I do mine; that is, by putting an air chuck on the city water hose inlet and then blow the lines out. I first make sure my water heater bypass behind the water heater is turned so that water goes in. I hook up city water and fill the hot water tank and let it run till I can open the relief valve on the outside and water comes out. I then go inside and turn on my propane hot water heater switch. A red light will come on and you can hear the pilot light light in my camper and the red light goes out. Then I open the hot water tap in the kitchen sink which is closest to the hot water heater and NOTHING WILL come out till the air gets displaced... then a dribble, then a flow. I move toward the front of the camper to my bathroom sink and repeat and then the tub and repeat. It takes quite awhile for all the air to purge. Eventually get hot water. At this point I may or may not turn on the electric heating element; do in the winter but sometimes not in the warmer months. Matter of personal choice.

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