When I turn on the "Electric" water heater the Propane fires up.

4wirenuts

Member
I have a 2021 Cyclone 4005, The water heater (Atwood) used to work correctly then the Electric started chattering on the contacts so I turned it off electric and went to Propane, no issues. Then when running on Propane it would reach its set point and turn off and then about every minute it would reignite and run for about 30 seconds then shut back off again so I had no choice but to shut it off from the controller. I called Heartland and they sent me new E.C.O. and Tstat for it. I replaced both of them and made sure it was wired exactly the same way it was before I replaced them. Now when I turn on the "Electric" water heater the "Propane" kicks in. If I turn that off and turn on the Propane water heater then nothing happens. I would really like to only use the Electric to save propane if anybody has any ideas I'm all ears. Also when running in the Propane mode it does reach the setpoint and shut off like its supposed to and doesn't turn back on for a while so the short cycling has been corrected.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I'm confused by the description of current operation. "turn on the Propane...then nothing happens", "but when running in the Propane mode...short cycling has been corrected."

So let me assume the current situation is that when you turn the propane/12V switch ON, the water is heated by a flame. But when you turn that off and turn the Electric/120V AC switch ON, that also causes the flame to light. Water gets hot, but you don't want to use propane.

On Atwood/Dometic units, both operations are controlled by a single control board on the water heater. So you could have a problem with the control board.

Another possibility is lack of 12V DC to the switch that turns on the Electric operation. The switch likely operates a relay that in turn sends 120V AC to the control board and on to the heating element. Check inside the trailer in the main fuse box to see if you have a blown fuse.

Finally, make sure you didn't knock a connector or wire loose while replacing the ECO/Thermostat.
 

4wirenuts

Member
Thank you for your reply, so to clarify I do not have a switch just a touchscreen control panel. prior to me changing out the ECO and the TSAT if you selected the "Electric Water Heater On" setting you would hear a chattering like the contactor that turns it on and off was possibly shorting and it would be a steady clicking sound and it would not stop. So I turned that off and turned on the "Gas Water Heater" setting and it would light up and run until it was satisfied then shut it self off for about a minute then it would fire back up and run for 30 seconds and that would continue short cycling like that until I shut it off by the panel. Then I called Heartland and they sent me new ECO and TSTAT. I swapped those out with no issues and made sure to reinstall the wiring exactly the way it came off. after that repair now if I go to the touchscreen and turn on the "Gas Water Heater" setting nothing happens then I turn that back off and turn on the "Electric Water Heater" setting the Electric does not turn on but the Gas fires up and runs. However in this mode the heater will run on propane until it satisfies and it will stay off for a bit and cycle back on normally to maintain temp like it should be. but like I said before I want to be able to run the "Electric Water Heater" and have it actually run on Electric to save propane. I dont live in it full time but I do stay in it for work so I am in it Monday night thru Thursday night. If I only used it on the occasional weekend I would probably just deal with it since it does work.
 
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