no hot water on electric

[Bobby A]

Need a little help hear gang,
I was not getting hot water on electric last night so I switched to propane and got plenty of hot water. I figured the heating element went bad so I replaced it this afternoon, waited about an hour and figured I would get some indication of warm/hot water. But It doesn't appear as if the new heating element was the problem. Can someone help me to figure out what next to check ?? Also, on the heating element it has two wires going to it, I was told it doesn't matter what wire goes to each screw, is that correct information or could I have the wires going to the wrong screws ?? Thanks I appreciate the help before I call a mobile tech.

Bobby A

 

[Aspenwind]

Make and model of the water heater would be helpful.

Some units have a separate thermostat / TCO for the electric side.

 

[Bobby A]

Its a surburban 12 gal model # SW12DE

 

[MTPockets]

My electric stopped last year. It was the electric thermostat, easy to replace. There is one for electric and one for gas.

 

[JohnDar]

I had the opposite last summer with the heater not working on propane. Replaced the 12V thermostat and it was OK. Until last week... Seemed to be OK for several days then it would go into lockout. Reset switch and it would be good for several hours, then quit again. Gave up and went back to electric.

Hint: if you do a restart of the propane system, give it five minutes before turning it back on. The boom will tell you that you didn't. You may need to make a deposit into the black tank if you don't let the gas clear from the burner tube. Does clean the rust out, though.

 

[Bobby A]

My electric stopped last year. It was the electric thermostat, easy to replace. There is one for electric and one for gas.

Where is this located ?? on the out side or behind the wall ?? what does it look like ?? Thanks

 

[danemayer]

Hi Bobby A,

We have a Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide that includes photos and a step-by-step approach to finding the problem. Here's a link.

 

[jimtoo]

Have you checked the "Tools" section for manuals?

 

[MTPockets]

Where is this located ?? on the out side or behind the wall ?? what does it look like ?? Thanks

It's on the outside - you'll see two rubber reset buttons, one for gas & one for elec. Mine was the one on the left. Best to look at manual page that instructs removal.

 

[JohnDar]

The link to the manual that Dan posted has it all. I know that the 12V one costs $25 - $30 at an RV Dealer. And they come in two temperature ratings, 130 deg. and 140 deg. It won't hurt if you have the OEM 130 and get a 140, or if one is lower and the other is higher. I spoke with Suburban about the mismatch before I did it and was assured it wouldn't hurt anything, just get hotter water if you were running one vs. the other, or if running both at the same time.

 

[gotlieb]

I'm having the same problem (Suburban WH). Tested the element and it registered 10.22 ohms (assuming we used the tool correctly), which is below what the document in the link suggests. However, I've read other posts that say the reading should be 10-11 Ohms. Tested the wires and were getting 122 Volts to the element, which is good because I thought maybe I had some of that bad water heater wiring that I read about in other posts.

So, I'm down to the Thermostat / Hi-Limit ECO switch. Any suggestions on how to test if this is bad or not? The documentation just says to replace it.

 

[danemayer]

I'm having the same problem (Suburban WH). Tested the element and it registered 10.22 ohms (assuming we used the tool correctly), which is below what the document in the link suggests. However, I've read other posts that say the reading should be 10-11 Ohms. Tested the wires and were getting 122 Volts to the element, which is good because I thought maybe I had some of that bad water heater wiring that I read about in other posts.

So, I'm down to the Thermostat / Hi-Limit ECO switch. Any suggestions on how to test if this is bad or not? The documentation just says to replace it.

If you have a Suburban water heater and you have 122 Volts at the element, the thermostat is properly closing the circuit. If you're checking voltage to ground, you should see 122 Volts from either terminal on the element. If that's the case, with power OFF, check the rest of the water heater circuit from the element back to neutral. Again, with POWER OFF, there should be continuity between the element and the neutral connection on the nearest outlet. This is covered on page 9 of the troubleshooting guide.

Atwood water heaters work differently, so there may be other considerations.

 

[gotlieb]

If you have a Suburban water heater and you have 122 Volts at the element, the thermostat is properly closing the circuit. If you're checking voltage to ground, you should see 122 Volts from either terminal on the element. If that's the case, with power OFF, check the rest of the water heater circuit from the element back to neutral. Again, with POWER OFF, there should be continuity between the element and the neutral connection on the nearest outlet. This is covered on page 9 of the troubleshooting guide.

Atwood water heaters work differently, so there may be other considerations.

I should have clarified. I am mechanically/electrically challenged. What I stated probably was not accurate in terms of electrical language.

The wires to the element were disconnected. Then tested these wires with the power on and got 122 volts. With the wires off (and power off), the element registered 10.22 Ohms.

Not sure if that changes your response. I probably shouldn't be messing with electrical problems with such a severe lack of electrical understanding.

 

[danemayer]

If you had both wires disconnected and measured 122 Volts across the two wires, it would seem you're getting power through a complete circuit, but the element isn't heating up. Sounds like a bad heating element. There's also a possibility of a loose connection somewhere that allows you to read 122 Volts when there's no load, but it's probably the element.

 

[gotlieb]

Thanks. We probably weren't measuring the element correctly. I was thinking it was the thermostat because it was working when I hit the reset, then failed a couple hours later. Then worked again after hitting reset and failed a couple hours later. Then after sitting for a week, it doesn't work at all, even after hitting reset.

Maybe I'll just pick up a thermostat and an element and change them one at a time. They're relatively cheap (cheaper than the diesel it would take to pull it to a dealer).

 

[Bobby A]

UPDATE,
First I would like to thank all that responded to this thread, 2nd, my w/h is working now on electric. Its kinda a long story but I will try to keep it short and to be honest I'm not sure how or why its working now on electric. As my original post said I replaced the element to no avail. There was a mobile tech a couple doors down and came over with his volt meter. I was getting the correct readings and all suggested that it was a faulty element. On a different note my toggle switch was on the hwh has been stuck in the on position for a couple years, I never use it cause I use the switch in the coach when needed. So I pulled the toggle switch out of its hole and started to rock it back and forth to try to get it in the off position, I finally got it to break loose and then after that I started getting hot water. The mobile tech said to get a new toggle switch. Not sure what happened but if I still have hot water in the morning it must be a faulty switch and if I don't than it must be a faulty element, well, that's what the mobile tech said anyway. I will swing back again tomorrow if I have more updates. Thanks again,

 

[Garypowell]

Bobby. Others may yell at me but when my switch went bad I just took it out of the circuit and wire nutted the two wires together. The switch inside serves the purpose and you don't need two switches in series.

 

[Bobby A]

Bobby. Others may yell at me but when my switch went bad I just took it out of the circuit and wire nutted the two wires together. The switch inside serves the purpose and you don't need two switches in series.

Yea Gary I did think of that, but I went back to General this morning cause I did NOT have hot water this morning, the parts guy who knows me just gave me another heating element and to bring the defective one back. I also had him get me a toggle switch and that will be in later today. So hear we go again. I won't be able to work on it till later today or first thing in the morning and I will swap out the new possible defective heating element and put a new toggle switch in and see what happens, hopefully this will solve my problem. I will post back after the install. Thanks everyone.

 

[wdk450]

My guess from what you said is that you have an intermittent rocker switch. High current switch contacts are a frequent cause of failure. I don't think your heating element is bad.

 

[Bobby A]

FINAL UPDATE,

I replaced the new heating element with another new heating element and replaced the toggle switch and now I have HOT water. So, according to the mobile tech it must of been a defective heating element according to his volt meter readings. As Bill says above it could of been the switch also, not really sure but bottom line is now we have hot water. I wish I new how to use a volt meter I could do some of this stuf myself. Hey Jim !! there's an idea for the Rally, maybe a class for 101 for dummys learning hot to use and read a volt meter.

So long for now and thanks for everyones post.
Bobby A