Water Heater question?

[Adam]

While camping this past weekend I noticed my water heater wasn't firing on propane. So, on the way home I dropped it off for service and just found out the circuit board was bad. I also was informed by the service mgr. it's not recommended to run your water heater on both electric and propane at the same time. I was very surprised to hear this, as I have in all my past campers run both, one to keep propane consumption lower, and also for quicker recovery?

Has anyone else heard off not running your "Water Heater" on both supplies Propane/Electric at the same time???

[Handysam]

Interesting. Did he happen to mention why it was not a good idea? I personally don't, if we are hooked to electric, I run it on electric. The recovery time is fast enough for us. I do know that running on both will give you faster recovery time, but I never heard you should not run on both electric and propane.

[cpaulsen]

I have run them both for years and have never had a problem. Wonder what his reasoning is??

[Me.Bikes.Dogs]

My Surburban WH manual recommends running on both if you want a faster recovery.

[canula2]

We just took delivery on a 2012 Passport and we were told the same thing on our demo. They said to run on electric is avail and not worried about recovery time. Have a great day

[Bob Landry]

I run on both if showering because DW and I both do not like to rush a good shower. I woud show the dealer the manual, just to prevent a warranty issue should you ever get questioned by the dealer's warranty dept.

[ktmracer]

Since Suburban lists the recovery rate at about 16 gal/hr using propane and electric combined, I'd take that as an indication that using both propane and electric is endorsed by Suburban. Second, my suburban WH manual describes using both together and has no disclaimers about any negative effects of running them together.

I'd say the salesmen is giving you a line of........

[campingcpl]

We use both when we shower then turn off the gas when done and just run off electric and have never had any problems.

[wgb1]

I was told at my recent walkaround that running the WH on both was OK.

[rojoslay]

We just bought a Laredo 291TG and went camping in it this past weekend. I tried using the electric water heater only and the water was ice cold. I am not sure if I am working correctly as the gas water heater worked great. anyone witht he Laredo 291 know if I am doing something wrong with the electric water heater.

Thanks

[allentx1]

rojoslay, check the breaker panel to make sure the breaker is on. As for the gas/electric question, I use both on every trip, in 2 different campers and never seen any issue.

[Halibutman214]

The long and short of it is the instructions CLEARLY state you can run both. When dealers tell me something opposite of the manual that it came with they better have a valid reason.

[SLIMSHADIE]

Rojo there is 2 switches for the electric. One is inside on the main panel with the water pump and gas water heater and the second switch is outside behind the waterheater panel, far left bottom behind some tubing. I guess its just a safety precaution so someone doesnt flip the inside switch with no water in the hot water tank.
I use the electric all the time because its free with electric hookups. But when we take showers, I temporarily turn the gas on too, for faster recovery. There is usually 2 of us showering in the morning and 2 at night.

[hoffbrew]

Ditto for me too... I have always ran both.

[f6bits]

My dealer told me I could run both, but recommended just using electric when plugged in to save propane. I run both when it’s shower time.

[SAD]

Originally Posted by SLIMSHADIE

Rojo there is 2 switches for the electric. One is inside on the main panel with the water pump and gas water heater and the second switch is outside behind the waterheater panel, far left bottom behind some tubing. ..

Mine only has 1 switch for the electric. The outside one behind the water heater panel.

[djkrs2]

Seeing as how I haven't actually used my water heater yet, perhaps I should ask a dumb question. I was shown a switch on the inside console of my Cougar 27RLS and a switch under the panel on the outside of the trailer. The switch has a pin through it which has to be removed before toggling it. My understanding was the toggle outside was for electric and the switch on the console was for propane. Am I wrong about how to use the propane? Also the guy that did my walk around said he used both for faster recovery.

Thanks.

[Festus2]

You are right in that the toggle/rocker switch located inside the exterior HW heater panel is for electricity. When it is in the OFF position, the only way you can heat your water is by propane. The interior switch is for the propane. You can leave the rocker switch in the ON and also turn the interior switch to ON and you will be heating the tank with both - electricity and propane - and have a faster heating recovery.
Unless your HW tank is empty, you can leave the rocker switch (110v) in the ON position all the time if you like. If you are hooked up and just want to use propane for some reason, turn the rocker switch to OFF.
So, you can use electricity and/or propane ---- your choice. Just don't use electricity when your tank is empty!
Hope this helps.

Reminder: Some HW tanks on some models are not set up this way. They have just one interior switch.

[djkrs2]

Great. Thanks. I've tested about everything else in prep for the maiden voyage. I just haven't needed hot water so I guess it slipped my mind.

[JRTJH]

Festus is right about what he told you, but he left one "small, significant" part out. The electric element in your hot water heater will rapidly burn out if there is no water in the tank. By rapidly, I mean seconds, not minutes or hours. If your HWH is empty, you're connected to shore power and flip that switch, you may well burn out the element before you can get back inside to turn off the circuit breaker.

Why caution about this? If you get in the habit of just leaving that outside switch on all the time, and then do some maintenance or winterizing to your rig, or even just return it to storage, it's really easy to overlook the switch and destroy the element. How do I know? Don't ask, just trust me on this one

If you look back through this forum, you'll see that many members have had the same situation happen to them and we all learned the hard way. Keep an eye on that switch if your water pump is turned off and you leave your trailer connected to shore power in storage !!!!!