help with surburban 10 de water heater

zig500

Member
my water heater working fine for about 2 months then the other night it made a pop sound in the kitchen and it tripped the breaker opened the cabinet took off metal plate where wires are connected with wing nuts the hot side(black wire)was melted a little and was touching the white wire brun it into has anyone had this happen
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi zig500,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There's a lot of useful information here along with a great group of people who are quick to reach out when you need help.

I'm sure you see some responses shortly.


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JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Wires connected with wing nuts? But maybe the nuts were not tightened fully and the wires slipped during transit until the bare metal touched and shorted. If there's enough slack or the wires are not burnt through, try wrapping the area with electrical tape and reconnecting. Or cut off the damage and reattach the bare wire to the terminals. A short circuit would trip the 120V breaker, if you were using that to run the water heater.

Have you tried shutting off the 120V to the water heater and running it on propane only? That uses the 12V feed to it.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
I'm sure they meant Wire Connectors. One probably slipped out. I always twist mine together before putting on a connector. Suspect the factory doesn't do that.


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zig500

Member
sorry meant wire connector did not slip out could have been loose inside i could not remove the connector guess it weld the wire inside so i wrip electrical tape around the connector it work until about 30 minuntes after i got out of the shower then the same thing pop it melted the electrical tape this time it was touching the metal plate
 

57chevyconvt

Well-known member
Loose or oxidized (caused by excessive heat) copper wire will generate lots of heat because of high resistance, therefore resulting in melting the PVC electrical tape. Repair or replace the oxidized copper wiring in order to correct this problem.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
OK, now I get it (looked at the online manual). The connections are inside the AC Junction Box and you removed the cover plate. If the wire nuts are installed properly and there are no loose strands sticking out, then there should be no shorting. Unless the insulation on the wires has been damaged/compromised. If the electrical tape truly covered the damage, it should not have shorted out.

There's probably not enough slack in the wires, but at this point, if there was, I'd try cutting back the wires from the wire nuts and reconnecting them with new wire nuts of the correct size. My guess is the connections in the wire nuts are the problem since that seems to be where you're describing the damage.
 
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