Water Heater Wiring WARNING
- Thread starter labbysmom
- Start date
wdk450
Well-known member
Well, I finally crawled into the storage/UDC space and got the water heater connection box off to check that out. I had to remove the two screws from the outside upper front (toward front of trailer) corner of the water heater to get the connection box loose, then I could get the cover screw off. I found that there were 2 wirenuts being used, and they were taped against accidentally coming loose, BUT THEY WERE TAPED CLOSELY TOGETHER WITH NO INSULATING TAPING BETWEEN THE TWO WIRENUTS! I could see no burn marks, but sepearated this hot and neutral wire pair, and taped them INDIVIDUALLY, then re-assembled and re-attached the box to the water heater.
I drove 3 hours to my current campground yesterday, and so far the electric water heater does not trip it's breaker.
danemayer
Well-known member
Wish that picture were clearer.
Bill, I don't know for sure, but I would expect the outer covering on the wirenuts acts as insulation. If the wirenuts conducted electricity through their outside cover, I would think every metal box with wirenuts inside would be likely to have shorts. And I doubt that wirenuts are routinely wrapped with insulating tape, or that code requires that action.
Maybe the wirenuts had a defect and you've solved it with tape. Or maybe by moving the box and wires you have temporarily solved the problem by moving the exposed wire away from whatever it was grounded to.
wdk450
Well-known member
I have seen wirenut connections before where the stripped portion extended beyond the wirenut - I am guessing MAYBE this is what happened (I would have preferred to have smoke traces as a confirmation). Anyways, I turned on the water heater switch before I went to bed last night, and it was still on in the morning. Now I have to deal with water heater water that smells like sulfur.
The way I was contorted in the UDC area, I couldn't look at the camera viewfinder to get a good picture.
The way I was contorted in the UDC area, I couldn't look at the camera viewfinder to get a good picture.
ParkIt
Well-known member
Remember reading this and downloaded the picture just in case....just in case has happened this week. Same thing. Propane works fine, water heater suddenly quit working on the 110V, haven't used the water heater rod so I can't imagine it's burned out (put some tape over the switch so it couldn't be turned on accidentally).
Now to chase it down which isn't fun since I just got it out of the shop 2 days before it stopped working, it would have been a lot easier to have had it fixed properly then...time to gut the fish so to speak anyway.
Just thought to check my extended warranty, not sure if it's covered though I've forgotten what is and isn't covered as far as an electrical issue.
Now to chase it down which isn't fun since I just got it out of the shop 2 days before it stopped working, it would have been a lot easier to have had it fixed properly then...time to gut the fish so to speak anyway.
Just thought to check my extended warranty, not sure if it's covered though I've forgotten what is and isn't covered as far as an electrical issue.
wdk450
Well-known member
Parkit:
My primary symptom was the circuit breaker for the electric water heater tripping as soon as I turned on the red water heater switch. Is that what is happening to you?
danemayer
Well-known member
ParkIt
Well-known member
The breaker on the main isn't tripping and the lights inside will turn on and stay on.
First thing I looked at Dan when it wouldn't work. It seems the reset button on the left is mashed and the rocker switch below isn't doing anything though it still lights up inside above the main circuit panel like its on but not getting propane. Last year when I used it I could hear it cycle from time to time to keep the water warm, it did it once this time then stopped so my guess is the reset button needs replacing or making sure the wires haven't come loose. Won't know until I get behind the UDC to find out.
Upside: its been in the 90's to triples so the water is pretty warm without the heater though that will start changing in a month.
danemayer
Well-known member
Parkit,
You've managed to get me confused. I thought your original problem was that it won't run on electric. Now you say "not getting propane" and "can't hear it cycling." I've never heard my water heater cycle while on electric and of course it doesn't need propane to run on electric. The left reset button is for electric operation, but what does the propane have to do with it?
Also, I don't know why you need to get behind the UDC. If you take the cover off the heating element and measure voltage with both switches on, you'll find out if the element is getting power. If not, just start working backwards to find the last place you're getting 110V and you'll find the failed component. If there's no power at the black rocker switch in the corner of the water heater, before checking that junction box behind the UDC, I'd check for a failing relay or other wiring problem behind the control panel. The junction box could be the point of failure, but it's probably a rare scenario compared to the other possibilities.
Bingo...This weekend while camping I opened the basement and smelled burning electric I kinda blew it off as a new smell from a new rv. Later that night when I took a shower and guess what, no hot water. Even though the light is on no tripped breaker the water heater only works on propane. Now I know what I smelled the wires frying. Not to mention the two leaks I found, water pump and brass city connection cracked.
danemayer
Well-known member
Hi Mike14,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. Sorry about your problems, but it sounds like you're handling them ok. What kind of trailer do you have?
Thank you, I've got a 2012 BigHorn 3455RL.
ParkIt
Well-known member
It's difficult to put into words what is going on mechanical...when I went to use the water heater to keep the water warm from the propane it wasn't working. It cycles every once in a while to keep the water warm. When using the electrical heating rod it would work intermittently so I dropped the heater control panel out, found one loose wire (not a danger) and only needed to re-secure it, popped it back in and now have hot water using either propane or electric. The lights would still come on inside and the circuit wasn't tripping so I figured it had to be something fairly simple.
Since I'd just had the lines blown clean prior to the propane part not working I ran the stove a few times to get propane in the system. I'm pretty sure it just took awhile to get the gas in the lines is all it needed. It also seemed to displace a brown spider as well since I ended up with a bite on my wrist right above where my gloves come up, painful for a few days but that was the point of having the lines blown clean since it had been at 2 lots for the better part of 3 months.
(pretty sure none of that made any sense of what was or wasn't happening but I try my best, maybe pictures from now on?
)Edit: I also opened the outside line (evap valve) and drained the heater tank then refilled the system. Not sure if it had to do with anything but I figured trying everything small first was the best way to troubleshoot it.
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