Chris Bryant wrote:
In a 2004, you may have a model with separate 120 volt thermostat and eco located on the back of the unit.
We had an Atwood that was like that, and there happened to be an access cover in the closet that backed up to the inboard side of the water heater.
Chris gave me a good tip awhile ago when the electric side of our Suburban wasn't working: Having a "hot" 120 VAC Black Wire INTO the water heater, also requires a complete circuit, through the "neutral" White Wire, back to the breaker panel. After Chris said that, I found 120 VAC on BOTH heater element terminals. This was because of no neutral. I traced to a junction box and found the cheesy push-down terminals RV builders use, had failed on the Neutral side. I make new and better connections, back in business.
I recently read where an RV water heater can run "dry" 20 minutes before the element burns out. I have no plan to test that.
