Water Heater Element

tropical36 wrote:

hanko wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

grannyapple3 wrote:
We have an Atwood 10 gallon elec/gas water heater. We are on like our 4th element in probably 2 years. We make sure tank is full before turning the electric switch on but we are going through these things like crazy. Any ideas why we are constantly burning the elements up???

Thank you

Are you normally in one place for long periods of time and if so, what's the voltage? Also what is the voltage rating on the replacement units and I would like seeing at least 130vac for having some longevity.
These things usually last next to forever, unless without water or in an air pocket, so would always run a little water through the tank, if sitting without use for long periods and before turning it on.

Come on tropical, electric water heaters are resistive loads, voltage has no bearing on longevity

Why not hit it with 240vac then and just to see how long it will last?
You might just be reading me wrong here.
Light bulbs are resistive loads, as well, so try seeing how long one of them might last at 125vac, if only rated for 115vac.
Heavy duty incandescent bulbs, as they call them sometimes, are rated at 130vac and will last much longer, with various voltages put to them.
Another example are my night lights outside my home, that I run at half voltage and haven't changed one of these bulbs since inception, 13yrs ago. I also used to have some 250vac bulbs that would last next to forever and found some uses for them, as well.
Not sure what these water tank heating elements are rated for, but hopefully for at least 130vac.

your first post said that you like to see AT LEAST 130 volts, so I think you pretty much meant a low voltage, not 230 volts.

Hank MI wrote:

grannyapple3 wrote:
I would like to thank everyone for all of your reply's. Hanko I agree with the crappy Mexican or Chinese parts but I would think we might get lucky an get a decent one somewhere along the line. I am going to check thermostat but it seems to work fine on gas and I agree with cdl2 about the relief valve

Atwood heaters have an ECO, thermal cutoff, for both the propane and electric side. If the temp gets too high on electric the electric ECO will open and cut voltage to the element. Once tripped, like a circuit breaker, it has to be manually reset. If the thermostat fails the ECO will open. So I don't think your thermostat is the problem since you haven't said anything about the ECO. This assumes no one has bypassed it.

The ECO has no manual reset. It will reset once the tank temp drops. Doug

You have a motor home. Are you driving with the generator running that is also feeding the water heater? If so, perhaps water is sloshing away from the element while it is energized.

DownTheAvenue wrote:
You have a motor home. Are you driving with the generator running that is also feeding the water heater? If so, perhaps water is sloshing away from the element while it is energized.

The Elements are in the bottom 1/3 of the tank. The water will be at least 5 inches above the top of the element. The "Air gap" on a water heater is very small, so there would be no way for the water to slosh and expose the element. Doug

dougrainer wrote:

DownTheAvenue wrote:
You have a motor home. Are you driving with the generator running that is also feeding the water heater? If so, perhaps water is sloshing away from the element while it is energized.

The Elements are in the bottom 1/3 of the tank. The water will be at least 5 inches above the top of the element. The "Air gap" on a water heater is very small, so there would be no way for the water to slosh and expose the element. Doug

Thanks for eliminating that possibility.

dougrainer wrote:
The ECO has no manual reset. It will reset once the tank temp drops. Doug

Not on our Atwood heater, I had to access the back of it and manually reset 2 days ago. It had been tripped for about a week. Check the Atwood service docs, they describe resetting the electric ECO. The gas ECO has no manual reset.

Hank MI wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The ECO has no manual reset. It will reset once the tank temp drops. Doug

Not on our Atwood heater, I had to access the back of it and manually reset 2 days ago. It had been tripped for about a week. Check the Atwood service docs, they describe resetting the electric ECO. The gas ECO has no manual reset.

NOT ON YOUR MODEL. That is the operative statement. YOUR model has the OLD style rear system. The OP may have the NEW style system with the Tstat and ECO on the ourside, which controls BOTH LP and 120 operation. NOT in the back. You still have to access the back to replace the element. We really need the OP to respond with their Model number. They may have an old style as 2003/2005 was when Atwood changed. Doug

dougrainer wrote:
NOT ON YOUR MODEL. That is the operative statement. YOUR model has the OLD style rear system. The OP may have the NEW style system with the Tstat and ECO on the ourside, which controls BOTH LP and 120 operation. NOT in the back. You still have to access the back to replace the element. We really need the OP to respond with their Model number. They may have an old style as 2003/2005 was when Atwood changed. Doug

Well I guess my statement was no more correct nor incorrect then yours since it depends on which model they have. As the MH is an 03 like ours it may have the manual reset ECO. In any case if the unit was overheating due to a failed thermostat the ECO should cut power and prevent the element from overheating.