# Hot Water Tank How To Switch From Gas To Electric



## rv adventurer (Aug 21, 2014)

Hello everyone,.... went camping this weekend, tried to power the hot water tank with electric. Only worked on battery. Did not get an owners manual with this trailer. How do I heat the hot water tank while plugged in to power? Is there some sort of switch on the actual tank itself. If I simply turn on the electric switch on the hot water wall panel inside it does not heat tank! Sorry this is probably a simple thing but I've never had this option in a trailer before! Thanks.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

How long did you wait, while on electric? There is no sound, unlike when the propane lights.

Is the trailer new or used?

Do you know if it worked on electric before?

Is there water in the tank?

Have you checked the circuit breaker?


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## rv adventurer (Aug 21, 2014)

Hi,..no there is no noise, unlike when propane burns then you can hear it. The trailer is a 2013, (we bought used. We have never had it on electric before, we have only gas heated. Yes, water in the tank as we had been using the gas to heat it at an event and then while still there plugged into power and tried to heat it. We are not sure if we are even trying to turn it on correctly. Do you simply switch the inside wall switches off gas then turn on electric? We had it on electric for about 3 hours and no hot water, turned the gas switch on and hot water almost instantly.As we were using it already on gas, do we need to add more water for electric?


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

there should be a master on/off switch on the outside of the trailer, in the access door to the hot water heater. Is that on?

Did you check the circuit breaker?


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## rv adventurer (Aug 21, 2014)

I will check both the master switch and the circuit breaker. Thanks!


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

Take special note of the* GREEN DOT *information on this photo. The switch is a little rocker switch and electric won't work until the switch is flipped. As a safety precaution I always turn this switch off when the trailer is stored or not in use for a while. Turning on the electric switch on the panel is TOO easy to do and can cause burnout. If you turn on the electric element to heat water and NO WATER IS IN TANK the element will burn out very quickly. Good luck and keep asking questions.


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## ALASKA PFLOCK (Jun 24, 2007)

RV Adventurer-Thank you for posting this question, we were experiencing the same issue.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

ALASKA PFLOCK said:


> RV Adventurer-Thank you for posting this question, we were experiencing the same issue.


Did any of the info above solve your problem?


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Leedek said:


> Take special note of the* GREEN DOT *information on this photo. ..............


GREAT picture!!! I'm sure that will help a lot of people.


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## KamperKen (Jun 3, 2015)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Take special note of the* GREEN DOT *information on this photo. ..............


GREAT picture!!! I'm sure that will help a lot of people.






















[/quote]

It is possible that the electric element could be burned out. Our salesman told us that if we turned the electric on without water in the tank the element can burn out.
There is a master switch inside the access panel on ours as well. There is also two buttons one says reset... not sure what they are for... just noticed them the other day when looking for the bypass valve as winter is fast approaching here in the north country.
I find the electric takes much longer to heat the water up so we generally use propane and that seems to be very efficient. Have yet to fill either of the two 20 lb propane tanks and we have used everything from cooking elements, hot water to furnace.


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## sonomaguy (Jun 17, 2012)

Mine is an 04 model and all we have are 2 switches on the wall. One is for gas, one is for power, both can be on at the same time. Electric heats up fast and that is all I use. Paying for power anyways.


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## ALASKA PFLOCK (Jun 24, 2007)

Oregon_Camper said:


> RV Adventurer-Thank you for posting this question, we were experiencing the same issue.


Did any of the info above solve your problem?








[/quote]

It did! I did"t realize that there was an on/off switch located on the hot water access panel. You have to kneel down to see it because it is positioned behind the gas tube. The nice thing is it also has a cotter pin through it, so you don't turn it on by accident. I wonder how many other Outbackers didn't know it was located in there?


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