Water Heater

[sauerld]

I just got my 2013 alpine 3450 RL out of storage for the summer. I hooked the water up and turned on my electric water heater switch at the control center. The red light by the switch comes on for a couple seconds and then off as always and then turns on again and does this each time I reset. All of the winterizing valves have been set to off and it has filled with water. Any suggestions? I have not checked yet to see if it will work on gas but will do so today.

[lonerider98]

Did you make sure the tank was full of water before you turned on the electric switch? If it was not full you may have burnt out the electric heat probe.

[sauerld]

Yes, i waited several minutes and opened the relief valve to make sure.

[dutchmensport]

Does your water heater have the rocker-arm switch on the water heater (outside). Remove the outside panel, it located on the lower left corner. Sometimes (we all) forget to flip them back to the "on" position.

Another thing, those switches do go bad. I replaced mine this Spring because it froze in the off position. They just pop off with a flat screw driver, unplug the wires, attach the wires to a new one, and pop it back in. The plastic catch clips is all that's holding it in place. Your local RV dealership service / parts department has these switches. The don't cost much at all.

Check there? Make sure that switch is "on". Even if that switch is "off", the inside switch will still turn on and flash red (or blue as in my inside panel).

[sauerld]

Switch is on, I flipped it off and on a few times to no avail. Thanks

[travelin texans]

The red light is an indicator for the lp part of the wh, is the gas turned on at the bottles? If so fire up all the cooktop burners to purge the gas line after sitting all winter.

[sauerld]

The LP is not turned on but I will try your suggestion. Thanks

[wrvond]

IME there is nothing to indicate the electric heater is on except for the presence of hot water without LP being used.
Turn on the switch and wait about 30 minutes then check for hot water at a faucet.

[sauerld]

So, don't worry about the red light being on?

[wrvond]

Originally Posted by sauerld

So, don't worry about the red light being on?

Correct.

[dutchmensport]

As suggested above, turn on your LP tank, purge with the gas stove, and then turn on the gas for the water heater with the switch. The red light should turn on for about 15-30 seconds and then go off. It turns off once the propane fires at the water heater. (normally it does anyway)

If you flip on the electric and things are quiet, you can hear the water beginning to heat up. But, things need to be quiet, no air conditioners running, no electronics blaring, and no dogs barking or kids screaming. Put your ear as close to the outside of the water heater as you can and you should be able to hear a slight humming/hissing sound (very, very faint). If you do, it's heating up. It will take about 15 minutes before you feel the warm water. It will take about 30 to 45 to heat the tank completely.

On mine, I have two lights to indicate if the water heater is on, one for electric, one for gas. My (blue) gas light does not shut off. It stays lit all the time. My previous campers, that light always went out once the water heater fired on gas.