instructions how to use electric hotwater heater 3185rl Big Horn

New owners of 3185RL Big Horn. .confusion regarding monitor panel heater switch. next to the monitor panel is a h/w elect. switch like a residential light switch. To use electric h/w you flip the "light" switch but do you also have to turn on the heater switch thats on the monitor panel too ? We only have warm water. Anyone have an answer? Thanks

Hi BrendaWendell,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

The switch on the monitor panel is for propane (gas) operation, the switch with the red handle on it is for electric operation. Normally you do not need both on, but will heater will recover really fast like that. You need to check outside on panel for access to water heater, there is a small switch, usually with a pin through it that must be removed, and turned on for the electric to work. The inside switch will be the master switch then and you do not need to use the outside switch....But you must make sure the heater is full of water before turning on the electric side, it will burn the element out immediately. Next,, if everything is OK there,,,you need to make sure the outside shower and also inside shower are turned off at the control, not the shower head. Water will bypass and you will only get warm water. If this is all OK,,, make sure the bypass valve setup on the back of the water heater is correct... if the middle valve is open you will only get warm water also...

Several things to check, but let us know what you find.

Jim M

Wendell followed the instruction manual to the letter, it worked the first night and hasn't worked since. He checked the outside and inside shower as you mentioned but they were fine. He checked the breakers, and did a reset on the outside tank....the water isn't even warm now, its cold. Figures the element may have a wire loose or something. Works on propane without any problem. Thanks for all of your info. it was much appreciated!

Let us know what the problem is, or was, when you get it repaired. This information is always good to pass along.

Jim M

Brenda/Wendell, I just went through the same exact thing with my new RV (3670RL). Here's what happened to us. We heated the water heater with LP gas, then turned it off to try electric alone - the red lighted toggle switch. The water was hot, we were happy, then it slowly got cold, real cold... I thought "Oh no I musta fried the elements by turning on the water heater without water in the tank... BUT WHEN ? Then I started reading the manual... Duh (us guys always read the instructions last... it's a guy thing and it's in our genes) ! Turns out, I had to go outside the RV, remove the water heater panel reach in and turn a little square black rocker switch on... it read ON/OFF... Walla, I had all the hot water I could stand. Maybe this is your problem too ! Good Luck Tom

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

The red "light" switch in the lower left of the first photo is the Electric only switch for the water heater. To use it, however, the little black switch in the second photo must be in the ON position (and the tank full of water). You can run it on both electric and propane by turning on the little red switch on the right side of the monitor panel (third photo). The little indicator next to it should light when you do. To run on only propane, turn off the red "light" switch in photo 1 and turn on the small red switch on the monitor panel. You do not need to turn off the little black switch outside, though.


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Thank you for going through all that trouble for us with the pictures We have done everything you good people have told us, sadly still no elec. h/w . The repair people checked the element which is fine, seems at the time there wasn't any power to the tank. They have to come back another day to check it out completely as they ran out of time. Once again we tried just elect. and after 4 hours had h/w, seems like a looong time. The only thing different that we did was turned the switch on for the awning recepticle, so we Turned it off for the night THEN next day with the water still lukewarm from prev. night, put on elect. thinking it would heat up faster. NOPE, not working at all again. So we had it, lost it, had it...... baffled

Uh Oh,,perhaps the switch is wired wrong. Go plug someting in the awning recepticle plug and see if it works with the switch on. If not then turn the w/h switch on and try the plug again. May be that the switches were switched!~

Brenda:
This heating element is a heavy electrical load and it sounds like you possibly have an intermittent connection. If the heating element is electrically OK, and you have an adequate current source to it, it should heat correctly. High impedance digital voltmeters will register voltage even where there is very little current flow. A 2nd check with a clamp on ammeter around the heater element wire would give more info. You might remove power to the rig and check the electrical connections for tightness at the breaker panel (check all of the connections at the panel while you are at it). Also check the connections at the heater for tightness. If you are in warranty, your servicer should be doing this (with Heartland Service pre-authorization).

BrendaWendell said:

Thank you for going through all that trouble for us with the pictures We have done everything you good people have told us, sadly still no elec. h/w . The repair people checked the element which is fine, seems at the time there wasn't any power to the tank. They have to come back another day to check it out completely as they ran out of time. Once again we tried just elect. and after 4 hours had h/w, seems like a looong time. The only thing different that we did was turned the switch on for the awning recepticle, so we Turned it off for the night THEN next day with the water still lukewarm from prev. night, put on elect. thinking it would heat up faster. NOPE, not working at all again. So we had it, lost it, had it...... baffled

Click to expand...

You're welcome for the pictures. I can't really say what the problem might be with your water heater, but on electric only from a fresh fill/cold start, I have hot water in 30 - 45 minutes. Recovery after a shower is very quick, too. Maybe because I don't have a lot of real estate to wash. I've never had to run mine on propane.

Just to add to the mix.
We brought home our new augusta and started to learn. The electric hot water does not work, luke warm that is all.
No matter what we do. I understand that the HL rep is in town this week so we are going to visit.
Chainsaw

Lukewarm hot water is usually an indicator that a mixing valve is mixing water while the faucet handles are open and the showerhead is closed. This may not apply in your case, but if you do have an exterior shower in your UDC, please check it now to make sure the hot and cold faucets are both fully off. Same in the RV in your shower if you have installed a shut-off valve after the mixer on the faucet as many of us have so we can leave the water set, yet turn the head off to save water while showering. Rather than waiting for the rep, who may know little about the plumbing, consider contact your dealer or our own Customer Service departments by phone.

Best of luck.

Jim

Good post Jim! I forgot about the mixing thing. I had a truck camper that had a mixing drain valve that was not shut off. Gave me fits until I figured it out.

How does one get access to the inside of the 110 junction box on the side of the hotwater tank ? It appears unaccessable due to its location . Repair person says tank must come out , but before doing so, all wiring to the tank must be disconnected, but its such a small space to work in. Is there any solution on how to deal with this? Its like they put the tank in and built the trailer around it and left no access from the inside. The basement walls were removed but the repairman is not small enough to squeeze behind the basement wall, and he's not very big He did find there wasn't any current flowing to the heating element.
Thanks
Brenda