Does water heater switch to gas automatically

[e_millergy]

This may seem like a silly question but here goes anyway. I recently purchased a 2016 Heartland Landmark Newport design. I noticed on the first trip out there are 2 switches on the control panel for the water heater. One is for 110 electric and the other for 12v electric. That is simple enough, but my question is......does it automatically switch to Lp when no electric is available? The reason I ask is after disconnecting from shore power and driving 4 hours home I still had hot water. The generator was not in use and neither switch was on for electric. I noticed the hot water when I was draining my fresh water tank and had all faucets running with the pump on. I turned off the Lp and disconnected the batteries and put the trailer in storage. My concern is if I had not noticed the water was still hot and had forgot to turn off the Lp would the water heater still try to heat using propane and if so would there be a fire hazzard if I had drained all the water from my system? Sorry if this question seems silly but I am fairly new to the Rv life. Any comments and helpful knowledge are appreciated. Thanks in advance to those who reply.

 

[boatto5er]

The water heater will keep the water hot for quite some time, so it's not unusual for it to still be hot. Also, did you have the 12V Heater switch on while you were driving home? If so, you were heating the water with propane while on the road.

 

[e_millergy]

Hello and thanks for responding. Neither electric switch was on inside the rv. So after reading your reply I now have another question. If no switches are on for electric does that mean the propane doesnt heat either? And does the electric switch being on activate the propane side of heater if no electric is available? My old rv had seperate switches for Lp and electric and both could not be used at the same time. This is a learning process for sure. Just want to make sure I dont do something that would harm my eqmuipment. Thanks

 

[danemayer]

Hi e_millergy,

There's no automatic switch-over between gas and electric operation. If the electric (110V AC) switch is OFF, and you want to operate on propane (and 12V DC), you have to turn on the 12V switch. You can also choose to run with both switches ON for faster recovery time. But when on your way home, turn the switches OFF so you don't waste propane.

We have a Water Heater Usage Guide that has some detailed explanations and pictures that will clear this all up for you. In fact, being new to all this, you may want to browse all our owner-written user guides. If you have problems, we also have a few troubleshooting guides that may help you out.

 

[e_millergy]

Thanks so much for the great information. I really appreciate this forum. It is quite helpful. I have been reading some of the manuals online and they are quite informative. Have a great day all.

Eric

 

[TxCowboy]

Deleted.

Dane's information below is correct.

 

[danemayer]

On Suburban units, in the bottom left corner outside, there is a rocker switch that cuts off the power to the electric heating element. This is primarily used by dealers to protect the element when there's no water in the heater tank. If the electric element is turned ON with no water in the tank, the element will burn out very quickly.

Knowing that prospective customers often flip switches while touring coaches, leaving the exterior switch OFF protects the heating element.

The propane side is not affected by that switch. Keeping the propane tanks closed (or empty) protects against firing the gas burners when the tank is empty.

Atwood units work differently and don't have that 2nd switch.