Luke warm water on electric

sjs731 · Sep 30, 2013

Just recently I have started to get only warm water at best using the electric heating on my water heater. It seems to work the best the first day we get to the campground and by best I mean I shower with only the hot side of the faucet open. By the second day after a cool night the water is barely warm. The reset on the water heater is not ever tripped, the breaker is not tripped, the outside switch and the interior switch are both on. When we switch over to gas the water is hot. Any ideas of what I am not checking?

danemayer · Sep 30, 2013

Hi Steve,

Check 1) the outside shower to make sure faucets are turned off. If on, the hot and cold water lines can mix you up a supply of warm water and 2) check the water heater bypass lever - if partially engaged, it'll do the same thing.

sjs731 · Sep 30, 2013

Thanks Dan, I forgot to add that I checked the outside faucets. I will check the bypass. It was fine earlier in the year and I haven't messed with the bypass.

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Steve and Carrie
HOC# 2252
2007 GMC 2500HD Duramax
B&W Companion Hitch
2012 Sundance 3300CK

DocFather · Sep 30, 2013

danemayer said:
Hi Steve,

Check 1) the outside shower to make sure faucets are turned off. If on, the hot and cold water lines can mix you up a supply of warm water and 2) check the water heater bypass lever - if partially engaged, it'll do the same thing.

I pvt. messaged Dan this weekend to thank him. I took my first hot shower last night because I followed his suggestion and checked this valve. Either the Dealer or Manufact. left it open. Loving the hot shower!

danemayer · Sep 30, 2013

I'm not sure, but I'd expect that the factory would routinely winterize new trailers since there's no way to know when they'll encounter freezing temps on the way to or while on a dealer lot. Prepping the unit for delivery and checking all functions falls to the dealer.

sjs731 · Oct 1, 2013

It appears the element has given up. Checked all other possibilities. When I throw the switch you usually can hear the element or tank as it's heating. Turned it on in driveway and nothing after 20 minutes. It never got dry fired either. Oh well.

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Steve and Carrie
HOC# 2252
2007 GMC 2500HD Duramax
B&W Companion Hitch
2012 Sundance 3300CK

Snow · Oct 1, 2013

I had the same problem gets warm on AC hot on gas what I found was the wire nut was loose not making good contact ,in the box at the hot water heater you might check that before you change the element ,⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

cookie · Oct 1, 2013

Snow, that brings to mind a problem I found with my bros water heater.
Steve, pull the cover off the reset buttons and take a look in there for a loose wire.
If you can wait till next week my bro will be home on Jaynes Rd. You can stop by and he can show you where we found the problem.

Peace
Dave

sjs731 · Oct 1, 2013

cookie said:
Snow, that brings to mind a problem I found with my bros water heater.
Steve, pull the cover off the reset buttons and take a look in there for a loose wire.
If you can wait till next week my bro will be home on Jaynes Rd. You can stop by and he can show you where we found the problem.

Peace
Dave

Thanks, Dave. I haven't talked to Reg in awhile. It can wait till then.

Steve and Carrie
HOC#2252
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sjs731 · Oct 2, 2013

Checked for loose wires everywhere. Everything checks out. Unhooked power wire from element and turned on power. There is power at the wire so I guess that says it's the element.

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Steve and Carrie
HOC# 2252
2007 GMC 2500HD Duramax
B&W Companion Hitch
2012 Sundance 3300CK

danemayer · Oct 2, 2013

sjs731 said:
Checked for loose wires everywhere. Everything checks out. Unhooked power wire from element and turned on power. There is power at the wire so I guess that says it's the element.

Very likely the element, but there are a couple of quick additional tests you might want to do before replacing it: resistance on the element, and checking that the neutral side of the wiring is ok. See page 9 of the Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide.

sjs731 · Oct 7, 2013

Problem solved. Thanks for the link Dan. There was no continuity when I unhooked a wire and tested. Installed new element today and it works again. I think what happened last time was I had drained the water heater the trip before and when we got to the CG this time I hooked up and flicked the switch and there was air in the WH and it wasn't filling so the element burned out.

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Steve and Carrie
HOC# 2252
2007 GMC 2500HD Duramax
B&W Companion Hitch
2012 Sundance 3300CK

Luke warm water on electric

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