MPG 185 Water Heater

TXSWICK

Member
Good Evening: We are 185 owners in Spring TX and have a question regarding the Water Heater. Hate to admit it but just tried to heat water this weekend after having the 185 after almost a year. Yikes I am afraid of the propane. We had great success lighting the stove top on the first try but seem to not be successful yet with the Water Heater. We turned on propane, made sure the on/off button on water heater was "on" and made sure there was water in the water heater. I guess if there is water coming from the red/ hot water drain, there is water in the water heater. Didnt see any place within the water heater to measure that. We flipped the red switch inside the cabin, waited a good bit and no hot water. Did the same procedure several times but still no hot water. We have been fortunate to stay where we had other facilities available so it has not been a top priority. But we decided we just wanted to be sure everything works properly and that we know what to do.

Have we missed something.

I particularly wanted to pose this to another MPG owner and hope you dont mind the intrusion.


Jan and Larry Swick
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi Jan and Larry,The electric side has 2 switches and both have to be on for the electric element to get powered up. The big light switch with the light inside is the main switch. On the outside wall of the water heater, under the removable cover, there's a small black rocker switch that also needs to be on. It's a safety switch to prevent you from burning out the heating element if someone flips the inside switch on while there's no water in the water heater. There may be a cotterpin in the rocker that has to be removed in order to turn the switch on.

When you empty the tank to winterize, it's a good idea to flip the rocker to the off position.
 

tomh

Member
Hi Guys
Well, if the 185 is like the 180, there is a switch on the furnace thermostat that turns the propane portion of the hot water
heater on. On the 180 I can run both the electric element and the propane at the same time. I had the same problem trying
to figure out why the propane section didn't come on :<)

Regards
Tom
MPG 180 Owner
Russellville, Ar.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
HI Jan and Larry.

If your not plugged into 120v a/c, the switch your turning on is the one that looks like a regular light switch with a red light in the handle, it is for electric only. On your panel for tank levels on the bottom is a small switch labeled "Heater", this is for propane for the water heater and beside it is a small red light that should be on when the igniter is trying to light the propane and goes out when propane is burning. I think if everything is quite, you should be able to hear igniter when it is sparking and also hear the burner when it ignites. Also your battery must be charged. Hope this helps.

Jim M
 

TXSWICK

Member
Thanks to all of you and Craig and Nina Rennpage for the great input - I dont see how we can possibly not figure this out now - Again, Thanks
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Please let us know what you find or what corrected the problem. It may help someone else.

Jim M
 
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