No Hot water

surreyboy

Member
Hey All ! thought id reach out for some info or help here.
So my unit ran out of hot water a couple weeks ago & i switched over to propane & I've been running propane since. I thought it might be the element , so i swapped it out but still nothing . i checked the breaker , shut it off , then turned it back on , still nothing . I did a reset on the breaker in the element panel. still nothing. what else should i check ? it just up & went. not much of an electrical person but with some suggestions , i can check a few things....

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance
 

jmarnell

Well-known member
We had a similar problem in our Cyclone, only the opposite of what you're experiencing. Ours would work on electric, but not propane. Turned out to be a bad control board. A new one wasn't expensive and incredibly easy to install. Both electric and propane on the water heater have been working great ever since. We have an Atwood water heater and this was the part https://amazon.com/gp/product/B019COT1HC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

jmarnell

Well-known member
Hey , thanks
wheres the control board located ? im willing to give it a shot

Open the exterior cover and it should be right on the front of the water heater. Ours was on the upper right, just to the right of the pressure relief valve.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If you have a Suburban water heater, the 120V operation doesn't use the control board at all. Only the propane operation uses it. On an Atwood unit, 120V and propane operation are both dependent on the control board.

So, if you have a Suburban unit (remove the outside cover and look at the manufacturer's tag). Then you can take a simple set of steps to diagnose exactly what's wrong. Our Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide will step you through what to check.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
These Suburban water heaters have a Heartland history of having the electrical hookup to the heater being done with supply wires that are a little too short, and pulling apart the wirenut supply connections. You will find these on a hard to get at little cover box on the top inside of the water heater, accessible by moving or removing the storage space divider wall by removing the hidden screws on the end. This happened to me, and I was able to put the wires back together and better secure the wirenut connections. My Bighorn is of the same vintage as your Cyclone.


MODERATORS!!! I think that the Suburban Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide (Owner written) needs to have a section on this known problem of poor trailer wiring to water heater power input connections. Some previous threads on this subject even have pictures of burnt up wires and wirenuts.

---> Added to the list of updates. DanEMayer
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Bob.jr

Well-known member
This is a what a loose natural wire can do to your water heater.
206d13f6f5e771b57cba2de7926df8e0.jpg


Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
This is a what a loose natural wire can do to your water heater.

I've had that happen once in a past RV. My theory on this is splicing a solid conductor to a stranded conductor with a wire nut in a mobile application is not an ideal application.

A lever-style Wago brand connector would be better or a crimped butt connector.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Thanks for those prompt responses so helpful to all the forum users Dan, Bob and Jim B.

From my experience as an electronics technician, I would say that a screw terminal strip, the equivalent of what is in a household electrical outlet, might be the right way to make this interconnection.
 
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