electric hot water issue

ash

Member
I have a brand new. Sundance 2900MK. After I bought it had it set-up for 2 months and the electric hot water worked fine. Then I moved it to a new location and now it's not working. Propane side works just fine. Have read some other threads on this. Have made sure that the rocker switch is on. Checked the breaker and even flipped it on/off. Also pushed the re-set buttons on the heater itself, but no clicks heard. The switch inside lights up but no hot water. Any ideas what else I should do or try? I'm new to all this so will need specific answers.

Thanks for any help.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
There are a couple of things you can check.
First of all, disconnect from shore power. Then remove the cover from around your breaker panel. Then remove the breaker panel. Make sure all the wires on the breakers are tight. Also check the neutral wires.
Check the connections at the water heater itself.
After you have checked all the connections turn the power on and using your multimeter see if you have 120 volts at the heater element. One wire will be neutral and one will be 120v. You will most likely have to remove a cover on the water heater to access the element.
If you have 120 at the element but no heat, change the element.
When you moved sites, did you drain your water heater and maybe turn it on without water in it? That could ruin the element.
Also there is a thermostat on the water heater. I am not sure how to check that. Perhaps someone else has that information.
Let us know what you find.

Peace
Dave
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Here's a schematic of the water heater circuit along with a diagram of the components. In normal operation, with the switch on, power flows through the thermostat and through the overtemp cut-off switch on the way to the heating element. If you're getting power all the way to the heating element, and you don't have lose wires, it's probably a heating element failure.

With POWER OFF and wires disconnected, the heating element should have a resistance of around 12 ohms.
 

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ash

Member
Here is an update: along with everything mentioned at the start of this post I checked the element with a multimeter and it is registering just fine. I 've disconnected and reconnected to shore power and flipped both the hot water and breaker on/off. Still no electric hot water. Think my next step would be to investigate the breaker box but not sure. Any help would be appreciated.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If you have 110 at the element, and it has 12 ohms resistance, it should work. Open neutral or ground maybe?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
FYI, I had my water heater die a while back.
I had 120 volts at the element. I turned off the power and had 12 .* ohms.
Everything tested out to be good. But it did not heat the water.
Changed the element and it has been working ever since.
Go figure.

Peace
Dave
 

ash

Member
I have decided to go ahead and change out the element. Was wondering if you all have any suggestions on places to get a new element and also instructions on how to do so. Thank you again for all your help
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Any RV dealer should have what you need.
One thing you may want to do, is when you install the new element, put a tiny bit of plumbers lube on the new rubber gasket.
If you don't, you may distort the gasket and wind up with a leak.

Peace
Dave

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ash

Member
I know i'll need to turn off the electricity to it, but will I need to turn off the propane and empty the tank?
 

Tool958

Well-known member
Yes. You will need to shut the propane off and drain it when you pull the element. It's the only way it can be changed.
 

Rrloren

Well-known member
I just changed mine 2 weeks ago and in addition to what's been suggested you will have to loosen the propane burner and carefully move it up and out of the way so that the element can be accessed. Not a big deal , then just put it all back.
Mine had to be replaced because we inadvertently left power on with no water in tank.It was surely melted.
 

57chevyconvt

Well-known member
I believe the heating element is a 1400 watt element. Lowes has a 1500 watt element that is about the same length as your old element. You can also purchase a special wrench to remove and re-install the element at Lowes for < $10.00. I keep a spare element and wrench in my basement hide-a-way behind the water heat just in case.
 

Westwind

Well-known member
After two months of use we lost hot water, I would push the reset on the electric thermostat and it would work, but just once then the tank would cool off and the electric thermostat would not reset. Ended up having the Thermostat replaced after extensive checking out process by "Camping World", Suburban paid for it in warranty.
I would suggest checking the thermostat also, it might need to be replaced and they aren't that expensive and easy to do.
 

ash

Member
Oh boy what an adventure. I thought I had the tank drained although not really sure how to do that. Used the relief valve on the outside of the tank . Anyway was able to get the element out without issue and there was water that came out as some said it would however, I did not know that water would drain into the bottom of the RV! Walked in the door and found a puddle of water only to find water behind the hot water and also dripping out of the covered and insulated underbelly. Currently have an electric heater inside and below as well as propane heat on to help with the drying. Hope that I didn't cause to much damage.

Any one else have this problem or suggestions how to prevent it? Thought I was being handy but might have done more harm than good.

Also attaching a photo of old and new element. Old one was only in use for 6 months!
 

danemayer

Well-known member
The anode rod at the bottom center is also the drain for the water heater.

Normally you'd let the tank cool down for a few hours, disconnect city water/turn the pump off, relieve pressure with the pressure reliever (some people recommend doing this by opening a faucet to avoid weakening the pressure reliever), and remove the anode rod to drain the tank.

You need to replace the anode rod periodically. It's an inexpensive sacrificial part that degrades during usage to protect the tank.
 

ash

Member
Well it's been 48 hours and no hot water :(

I've checked the valves, they are correct. Checked all the wires between the water heater and the breaker/fuse box.

I made sure there was water in the tank and both switches are on. The red light is on the switch inside.

What am I missing. Could the rocker switch be faulty. I really hate the thought of having to pack up and pull it to the dealer if it's an easy fix.
 
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