# Electric Hot Water Heater



## bonseye (Oct 16, 2007)

Hi Everyone......fired up the propane hot water heater and then the next day tried the electric one. Nothing.....had it one for a while and nothing......any hints??? Our other unit (not an outback) only had a propane HWH.

Thanks so much for any input.....


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Nothing? does that mean nothing on both Propane and Electric?


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## jozway (Jan 28, 2008)

Open the outside cover on the water heater in the lower left corner there is a on off switch with a little cotter type pin. Pull out the pin and turn to on position. That should do the trick.


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## Beaner242 (Jun 25, 2007)

Does this apply to my 07rsds? The gas heats up fine but if I try to use electric it dont seem to heat up. The light on the control panel comes on but it dont seem to heat the water on electric. How long should it take on electric?


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## jozway (Jan 28, 2008)

Beaner242 said:


> Does this apply to my 07rsds? The gas heats up fine but if I try to use electric it dont seem to heat up. The light on the control panel comes on but it dont seem to heat the water on electric. How long should it take on electric?


Yes. Without that switchin the on position on the water heater itself it will not work. It doesnt take very long to heat up. It is however faster on propane than electric.
Joe


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## jozway (Jan 28, 2008)

One more thing is to check the breaker at the convertor.
Joe


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

Beaner242 said:


> The light on the control panel comes on but it dont seem to heat the water on electric.


If I remember correctly, when the red light comes on, it indicates that there was a problem and the unit is locked out. You must turn off the switch and turn it back on to reset the unit. Red light = Not functioning.

For more info: Click here


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## LA Plouff (Mar 15, 2008)

bonseye said:


> Hi Everyone......fired up the propane hot water heater and then the next day tried the electric one. Nothing.....had it one for a while and nothing......any hints??? Our other unit (not an outback) only had a propane HWH.
> 
> Thanks so much for any input.....


Welcome,

Thee are a few things to check on the hot water tank.

1) The reason they put the toggle switch on the water heater is to prevent it form running when the tank is empty. So I flip the circuit breaker, not the switch on the hot water heater off when I am traveling to prevent it from accidently being turned on by the wall switch when you park again. The inside breakers are usually in a small (pull it open) cabinet under the stove area.

2) I leave the on/off switch "on" at the tank alone because I dont like putting my fingers near hot stuff.

3) At night, I like it on electric because I dont like hearing the hot water propane turn on and off aas the tank heats and cools.

4) There is a toggle valve that sometimes is hard to find inside the trailer but near the backside of the hot water heater.
This is to redirect the water and bypass the heater. This would only be used maybe in winter or when you need to remove the heater/work on the heater for some reason etc.

Hope some of this is helpful and not redundant.

Len


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## Beaner242 (Jun 25, 2007)

Thanks for the replies, I didnt realize there was a separate switch for the electric part of it, that wasnt part of the PDI that I can remember.


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## Beaner242 (Jun 25, 2007)

I went and checked at lunch and didnt see any switch on the water heater. The switch inside that lights up is the rocker switch not the little LED light. I left the switch on to see if it will heat up over night. It has been on for several hrs before and no hot water. If anyone has a pic of the switch on the heater could you post it up. I looked all around the heater and couldnt find it, even under the couch I didnt see anything. Works great on gas though.


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## jetjane (Feb 8, 2007)

I don't have a pic, but if you open the exterior WH cover and look, it is on the lower left hand side, right at the bottom corner. It is kind of hidden behind some metal tubes and so you have to crouch down a little to see it. The switch is smaller than the inside one, dark brown or black, says on/off on it in white letters, and has a tiny silver cotter pin in it. If you don't have that switch, then you have other problems like maybe a loose wire or something. If your WH has an anode rod, then my experience is that it has that switch.


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## Beaner242 (Jun 25, 2007)

The only thing i see in the corner is the gas line and the sealer around it. After I turned the switch on inside, I could here a humming noise outside from the heater when I got close to it. Maybe I never left it on long enough before?


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## advancedtel (May 7, 2008)

I'm glad that I saw this. I found the little switch on mine and turned it to the "on" position. I never would have figured that one out!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

jetjane said:


> I don't have a pic, but if you open the exterior WH cover and look, it is on the lower left hand side, right at the bottom corner. It is kind of hidden behind some metal tubes and so you have to crouch down a little to see it. The switch is smaller than the inside one, dark brown or black, says on/off on it in white letters, and has a tiny silver cotter pin in it. If you don't have that switch, then you have other problems like maybe a loose wire or something. If your WH has an anode rod, then my experience is that it has that switch.


This outside switch is only on the newer units with the Suburban water heaters. If you have an Atwood there may be a switch on the junction box on the back side of the water heater.


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## Beaner242 (Jun 25, 2007)

Well the heater was on for about 8 hrs yesterday and still no hot water. I have the Atwood unit. I searched inside and out for a switch, no luck. I can hear a hum from the unit when the switch is on, sounds like its coming from the circuit board on the back of it. Guess Ill just use the gas till I figure it out.


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## bonseye (Oct 16, 2007)

bonseye said:


> Hi Everyone......fired up the propane hot water heater and then the next day tried the electric one. Nothing.....had it one for a while and nothing......any hints??? Our other unit (not an outback) only had a propane HWH.
> 
> Thanks so much for any input.....


Thank you everyone for your replies! I will go up tomorrow and see where that switch is under the outside door. The rocker switch inside turns red but the time out light doesn't come on and no hot water (electric only) The proprane works fine. I had left the electric hot water heater on for hours so now I know the secret.

Thank you so much again everyone!!

Happy Memorial day to all!!


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## prankster (Dec 20, 2007)

ive got the same problem.i have an atwood heater,no switch outside(my uncle has a cougar fiver and he has an outside switch).looked on the backside of the heater inside the trailer,theres a black box with a 120v wire going to it but inside it there is a relay of somesort.and at my converter i have a circuit breaker for the heater.(120v breaker) outside in the water heater housing it tells me that my heater is gas/electric. but how does the electric side work?does it start off on gas,heat the water then automaticly the electeric kicks in and the electric element keep the water warm?


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