Water Heater Thermostat

[HornedToad]

Last fall my camping buddy had a blowout in his Sundance 3400QB that required the furnace and water heater be replaced. He said now it seems the water does not get as hot as before.

On a residential water heater I'm use to just turning up the dial to raise the temperature. On an Atwood RV water heater I'm not sure if you can adjust / replace the thermostat to a higher temperature?

I found several replacement thermostats on eBay, some marked 120 degrees and others 140 degrees, however, I watched a You Tube how-to video on RV thermostat replacement and it seemed from the narrators comments you should only replace with the same degree thermostat. Couldn't find a specific answer in the Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide on the forum.

Can you adjust or change out the thermostat on an Atwood RV water heater to a higher temperature setting?

 

[danemayer]

Before trying to fix the water heater, they should check the other common causes: outside shower faucets may be ON, mixing hot and cold, Water Heater Bypass may be partially ON, mixing hot and cold.

Atwood says:

an adjustable thermostat may be purchased allowing the water temperatures to be adjusted
from 110 - 150° F. It fits in place of the original thermostat.

This may be the correct part, but your friend should doublecheck before ordering. A call to Atwood might help.

 

[HornedToad]

My friend should get on the forum.

Last week on his first trip out he had no hot water and I told him over the phone how to check the bypass.
Forgot about the shower? Even though I've read it here half a dozen times!!!
If that doesn,t work he can look into the adjustable thermostat.

Thanks Dan.

 

[JohnDar]

Don't know about Atwood's, but last summer when my 12V thermostat (130F) wasn't working, I could only get a 140F one from a local RV dealer. I called Suburban about it and was told it would be fine, the water would just get a little hotter if running on propane vs. electric. If using both, the propane would continue to heat to the higher temp.

Although we spend the season on a FHU site, I like to keep the propane systems functional just in case there is a power failure. That includes keeping some water in the fresh water tank so we don't have to hike to the "facilities."

 

[HornedToad]

Last week on his first trip out he had no hot water and I told him over the phone how to check the bypass.
Forgot about the shower? Even though I've read it here half a dozen times!!!

After reading the moderators post we rechecked the shower handles & bypass.

I didn't do a very good job of explaining how to switch the valves over the phone. He went from no water to luke warm when he open the in/out but didn't close the bypass.

Can't blame him for missing it, he got it back from the dealer without a handle on the bypass valve. We used one of the other handles to close the bypass... voila, hot water!!!