I just bought a 2015 North Trail 23 RBS. It has a 6 gallon Atwood water heater. In the bathroom are switches that control the LP mode and electric mode for the water heater. I understand that in LP mode the switch lights up and then goes off when the pilot light is lit. In electric mode is the light in the switch supposed to stay on the entire time it is in electric mode?
Also, is it ok to run the water heater with 110 volt 20 amp service?
Thanks,
PJR
On our Suburban, the switch for electric operation is illuminated whenever it's on and there's 120V power to the coach. Atwood units are a bit different in how they're wired, but it probably does the same.
The water heater probably uses around 12 amp or so to keep water hot. If you're not using other 120V AC devices, the only problem you might run into is from the Power Converter. From time to time it can suck up a lot of amps for a short period. So if the water heater thermostat calls for power while the Power Converter is at max, you could trip a 20 amp breaker. If your battery is in good condition, you may have low odds of this happening.
If the tripped breaker is not reset promptly, you stand a chance of running the battery down. And if it's below freezing, after a while, the water in the water heater could freeze.
