Weak Link in the Water Heater Electrical System

[wdk450]

Gang:
I have been fulltiming for about 3 years now, and just wanted to put out a heads up about the electric side of the Suburban water heaters. I think that the weak link in its wiring (assuming the factory install connections were made correctly) is the thermostatic switch assembly. This switch switches 12 amps of AC power on and off repeatedly as it regulates the water temperature and I believe is subject to the contact points within the thermostatic switch burning out due to the repeated normal electrical arcing. I just went through my 3rd thermostat switch this week. Fortunately, they are available on E-Bay for less than $15 (and free shipping) and easy to remove/install. Just 2 screws for the black cover, 2 slide on terminals (turn off the power first!), and 1 nut securing the assembly. I changed mine in about 5 minutes. http://www.ebay.com/itm/391005590405?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I think it is worthwhile to keep one of these on hand.

 

[Piperflyer]

I had to replace mine after 1 yr of fulltiming

 

[Speedy]

Going on five years of fulltiming and still running original thermostat. But I run mostly propane during the summer to cut down on current draw with ACs and fans running. Winter is a different story.

 

[wdk450]

Gang:
Well this intermittent electrical operation problem fooled me a couple of times. Initially when I removed the cover off of the heating element to take some electrical measurements, the water started heating again. Then it stopped again. I thought about how the system worked, and thought that the 110 volt thermostat was the most probable cause. I replaced that, and the water started heating again. Then it stopped again. Lastly, I popped out the small, black, outside AC power shutoff switch. Both of the right angle spade terminals on the wires connecting to the switch showed signs of heat damage. I also noted that these were the small size of spade terminals (not appropriate for 12 amps of current), and the spade connector blades on the switch had most of the center metal drilled out so that the spade blade could also function as a solder wire terminal. This missing metal could have added more connection area to carry the heavy current.

Since the switch was initially stuck (but it did respond to contact cleaner treatment), and I did not like the small terminals being used, I opted to just clip off the wire terminals, strip and solder the wires together, and insulate the connection. I then stuffed the connected wires back behind the faceplate, and covered the rectangular cut-out hole with Gorilla tape.

The water heater now heats water reliably on AC power.

 

[JohnDar]

Good find. My switch has been on from the git-go. Tried to operate it once but it wouldn't budge. You would have thought Suburban would have the right parts to assemble their product. Maybe not so much. Lack of quality goes further up the food chain, it appears.


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