# Water Heater



## twiech (Oct 25, 2007)

I have a 2006 Outback that has been used less than 20 times. On a recent trip my main breaker and water heater breaker kept blowing with no hot water. I reset the main with no problems. Obviously I have something wrong with the hot water unit. Someone suggested that it may be a bad heating element causing a short. I'm suprised being how new the trailer is. Any suggestions or comments?


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

You do not say whether or not the water heater works properly on propane. If it does not produce hot water on propane and/or the heater will not stay lit, you may have the bypass valve(s) turned to the BYPASS condition, which would explain a lot. (Cold water bypasses the heater and returns to your faucets - and no water in the heater.) Do you have any water in the heater? An easy way to tell is to turn the pump on (or connect to city water) and see if any water or air comes out the pop-off valve on the heater. If there is no pressurized water in the heater, your bypass valve is in the wrong position.

If you get hot water on propane, then the water heater is on-line and the there is definately an electrical problem. This could take more time and trouble:

Start by looking at the switch for turning the water heater (electric) ON. You could have a wiring problem there - short to ground, perhaps - or the switch could be bad.

Next, I'd check the wiring at the water heater to make sure all the connections are correct. There should be a wiring diagram that came with the bundle of technical information for all the appliances in your trailer. If all the wiring checks out, try swapping the water heater breaker with another breaker that you know is working OK (same amperage). You could have a bad breaker that is tripping way too early. It's been known to happen.

If the breaker is OK, then remove and test the heating element. A simple resistance test, using a Volt/Ohm Meter can tell you quickly if there is a problem there (again, the resistance spec should be in your supporting tech information).

If all of that stuff checks out OK, then there may be a short somewhere above the underbelly - which makes things not so easy.

Good luck, and let us know what you find. And perhaps someone else has an idea or two that I haven't thought of.

Mike


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## twiech (Oct 25, 2007)

Thank you for all the information!


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