# Hot Water Tank



## Steve McNeil (Aug 30, 2004)

We just returned from a week long vacation and had little hot water. The tank was full of water. I turned on the electric to heat the water and let it run for approx. 20 minutes and had no hot water. I turned on the gas and let it run for approx. 20 minutes and we had warm water for about 2-3 minutes. You could hear the the tank running outside and it the vent was pretty hot. I let the gas run all night and still only had about 2-3 minutes of warm water. Then after that we only had cold water even with both the electric and gas turned on. The propane tanks are full, we used them for cooking,etc. We camped out about 4 weeks ago and had no problems with the hot water. Do you think that it is a bad heating element and/or thermostat?

Thanks

Steve


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

It sounds like your winterizing by pass is in the bypass position but if it worked 4 weeks ago then the thermostat is the most likely issue.


----------



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

It can't be a bad heating element if you were using gas to heat, as the heating element is electric. If you switch it over to gas only and it only runs for a few minutes, it has to be something to do with the thermostat. When the tank is cold, it should run for quite a bit until the water inside is heated.

By chance, have you looked at the hot water heater to see if anything appears to be wrong? Could be a wire loose or something like that...


----------



## Steve McNeil (Aug 30, 2004)

Justman said:


> It can't be a bad heating element if you were using gas to heat, as the heating element is electric. If you switch it over to gas only and it only runs for a few minutes, it has to be something to do with the thermostat. When the tank is cold, it should run for quite a bit until the water inside is heated.
> 
> By chance, have you looked at the hot water heater to see if anything appears to be wrong? Could be a wire loose or something like that...


Justman,

I looked at all of the wires,etc and I didn't see anything loose or disconnected. On the last day of the outing, I never heard the heater kick in (on the outside).

Steve


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Steve McNeil said:


> It can't be a bad heating element if you were using gas to heat, as the heating element is electric. If you switch it over to gas only and it only runs for a few minutes, it has to be something to do with the thermostat. When the tank is cold, it should run for quite a bit until the water inside is heated.
> 
> By chance, have you looked at the hot water heater to see if anything appears to be wrong? Could be a wire loose or something like that...


Justman,

I looked at all of the wires,etc and I didn't see anything loose or disconnected. On the last day of the outing, I never heard the heater kick in (on the outside).

Steve
[/quote]

That would have been good information in the first post. You had said you let it run all night! We must assume it was actually running.

If the gas did not fire then it is a bad connection on the control board. Pull the two edge connectors, clean and reinstall. Just curious did the DSI fault lite come on on the control panel in the trailer?


----------



## Steve McNeil (Aug 30, 2004)

CamperAndy said:


> It can't be a bad heating element if you were using gas to heat, as the heating element is electric. If you switch it over to gas only and it only runs for a few minutes, it has to be something to do with the thermostat. When the tank is cold, it should run for quite a bit until the water inside is heated.
> 
> By chance, have you looked at the hot water heater to see if anything appears to be wrong? Could be a wire loose or something like that...


Justman,

I looked at all of the wires,etc and I didn't see anything loose or disconnected. On the last day of the outing, I never heard the heater kick in (on the outside).

Steve
[/quote]

That would have been good information in the first post. You had said you let it run all night! We must assume it was actually running.

If the gas did not fire then it is a bad connection on the control board. Pull the two edge connectors, clean and reinstall. Just curious did the DSI fault lite come on on the control panel in the trailer?
[/quote]

Is the control board where you turn on the gas or electric for the heater? The red light came on at that location. It has come on before in the past. I couldn't find anything in the manal about the red light.

thanks


----------



## Steve McNeil (Aug 30, 2004)

Well, I had a friend come over and we tested the therostat and all of the different wires with his meter. We finally found the heating element wires was fried into. My local dealer won't have the parts in until Tuesday. They sure put the heating element in a convenient place. I didn't want to take the tt into the shop, since they charge $80 per hour for labor. Thanks everyone for you help and advice.

Steve


----------



## Stan (Aug 9, 2006)

CamperAndy said:


> It can't be a bad heating element if you were using gas to heat, as the heating element is electric. If you switch it over to gas only and it only runs for a few minutes, it has to be something to do with the thermostat. When the tank is cold, it should run for quite a bit until the water inside is heated.
> 
> By chance, have you looked at the hot water heater to see if anything appears to be wrong? Could be a wire loose or something like that...


Justman,

I looked at all of the wires,etc and I didn't see anything loose or disconnected. On the last day of the outing, I never heard the heater kick in (on the outside).

Steve
[/quote]

That would have been good information in the first post. You had said you let it run all night! We must assume it was actually running.

If the gas did not fire then it is a bad connection on the control board. Pull the two edge connectors, clean and reinstall. Just curious did the DSI fault lite come on on the control panel in the trailer?
[/quote]

I had the DSI lite come on on my last trip..what the heck is it? what does it indicate?

Thanks
Stan


----------



## 5 KENDALL'S CAMPING (Jul 9, 2008)

It means the water heater tried to ignite (running on gas) three time but failed to start. I have found this usually means there is air in the line. If you listen closely you can hear the water heater "clicking" while it tries to ignite. If it is successful you can hear the gas burner running. Try running it through the cycle a few time to see if it will eventually ignite the burner (it took mine about three tries) if that doesn't work someone else with much more expertise then me will be able to help out. Hope that helps.

Dean



Stan said:


> It can't be a bad heating element if you were using gas to heat, as the heating element is electric. If you switch it over to gas only and it only runs for a few minutes, it has to be something to do with the thermostat. When the tank is cold, it should run for quite a bit until the water inside is heated.
> 
> By chance, have you looked at the hot water heater to see if anything appears to be wrong? Could be a wire loose or something like that...


Justman,

I looked at all of the wires,etc and I didn't see anything loose or disconnected. On the last day of the outing, I never heard the heater kick in (on the outside).

Steve
[/quote]

That would have been good information in the first post. You had said you let it run all night! We must assume it was actually running.

If the gas did not fire then it is a bad connection on the control board. Pull the two edge connectors, clean and reinstall. Just curious did the DSI fault lite come on on the control panel in the trailer?
[/quote]

I had the DSI lite come on on my last trip..what the heck is it? what does it indicate?

Thanks
Stan
[/quote]


----------

