?? Surburban 6 gallon water heater

Outbackmel · 03-09-2012, 03:30 PM

Need some feedback. Subject water heater is 1 year old. Works with propane, no issue. On electric, no hot water. Interior switch is lit, but no hot water. So is the heater coil burned out or is there something else I can check?

Feedback please.

Thanks.

SteveC7010 · 03-09-2012, 03:40 PM

There may be a switch on the back or top of the heater for the 110 vac side. Check also the circuit breaker which should be devoted just to the HW heater.

If those two plus the interior switch are all OK, then it is likely that the element is shot.

Oscar · 03-09-2012, 04:22 PM

And it's REALLY easy to kill the element... as in power to it without water in the heater......4 seconds.....POOF! (How do I know this?

)

The good news is that they are universally available, cheap and easy to install.

f6bits · 03-09-2012, 04:29 PM

My interior switch lights don’t come on during use. Apparently they only come on when there’s a problem, according to the dealer.

Outbackmel · 03-09-2012, 04:45 PM

I checked for a circuit breaker and nothing blown. No switch outside other than the "safety switch" that I always turn off when no water so no chance of flipping the inside switch and burning it out. We have been on the same spot for 6 weeks and using the water daily with no issues. Bingo....bango...so sad, died.

Gonna cost me, but, I have a tech coming by with a new element and a new control panel. I had an issue with the "propane" burner, but, that seemed to be ok when the tech was here checking around 3 weeks ago. Different issue.

Darn unit is mounted in there so well, I am not going to attempt any repairs myself. I don't do electric. Have another 4 weeks out on the road before we head back east. Need that thing working with no fear of burning the house down.

Arizona is beautiful, BUT, the darn wind blows hard every 3rd day. Still beats freezing rain or snow.

Outbackmel · 03-09-2012, 04:55 PM

interior light panel comes on in this Outback 5er when in use for whatever is in use. Never heard of or experienced them "not" lighting. Even in our previous RV 2006 Hornet, was the same.

The purpose of that would be so you have an alert as you see the panel as to what may be "on" or "off" the way you desire it to be.

Not sure all rv's work the same or why. I would check with other owners of your model and see if the dealer is correct.

Outbackmel · 03-09-2012, 05:11 PM

After going outside and poking around, the hot water is working on electric.
I believe, the "control panel" on the heater is bad and creating an issue. Sooo,
good news is the repairman will bring a replacement and we will be good 2 go!

Glad to see the "element" is good...

I am

f6bits · 03-09-2012, 05:53 PM

Here’s a link to ModMyRV that shows what I’m talking about in regards to indicator lights:
http://www.modmyrv.com/2010/02/20/rv...ater-on-lights

Outbackmel · 03-09-2012, 07:21 PM

I see what you are referring to. My lights do not work in this manner. Maybe it's brand specific operation...

SteveC7010 · 03-09-2012, 07:45 PM

The Dometic HW heater in our Sunline had a rocker switch with a red light in the kitchen. When you turned the heater on using propane, the light briefly came on and then went off while the heater tried to fire up. If it did not successfully fire up, the light would come back on and stay on indicating a problem. Generally it was just air in the lines from changing a tank and you had to just cycle it a couple of times to get it going.

Every once in a while, it indicated a bigger problem. One time was debris in the burn tube that blocked combustion. Another was after a heavy rain and the control board decided not to work. After it dried out, it fired right up.

I believe that function was/is standard with the Dometic HW heaters.

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