Hot Water tank not working on AC

j-d wrote:
Is it a "One-Time" ECO? Some are. Let me offer a few guesses, NOT based on experience:

Yes once it's burned out it's like a fuse….done.

1. Is the Water Heater actually FULL? Say you'd drained it. Turn water on then power on, possibly you were heating some air and the tank of the heater without adequate water to dissipate the element's heat.

Definitely full. Been using it for a month with propane.

2. Thermostat Stuck, to the point the system got hot enough to trip the ECO.

The thermostat is part of the part I replaced so I think it's unlikely the new one would also fail.

3. Element damaged with either a hot spot or a short.

Tested the element with a meter for the correct resistance and it looks good. I would have to buy another ECO to experiment AGAIN if I don't figure this out.

An Element is probably cheaper than an ECO. Don't just get one at the Big Box that physically matches yours. Match the WATTAGE also. RV's can't provide the current most home water heaters use.

How do you Drain this WH? Anode Rod means Suburban and Plastic Plug means Atwood...

Definitely a Suburban. Drained by removing the anode.

Thanks for trying.

Is it a "One-Time" ECO? Some are. Let me offer a few guesses, NOT based on experience:

1. Is the Water Heater actually FULL? Say you'd drained it. Turn water on then power on, possibly you were heating some air and the tank of the heater without adequate water to dissipate the element's heat.

2. Thermostat Stuck, to the point the system got hot enough to trip the ECO.

3. Element damaged with either a hot spot or a short.

An Element is probably cheaper than an ECO. Don't just get one at the Big Box that physically matches yours. Match the WATTAGE also. RV's can't provide the current most home water heaters use.

How do you Drain this WH? Anode Rod means Suburban and Plastic Plug means Atwood...

Bringing back this subject as I discovered why my 110 Volt HW tank was not working. The ECO thermostat burned out which prevents overheating of the water. Bought a new one and replaced it. HW heated up and the next morning the new one was also burned out. Just wasted $25.00. Any experts out there ? Why is this happening?

The tank is a Sububan, there is power at the rocker switch in the outside compartment and no power to the thermostat, high level eco or the heating element.

If anyone else is having issues with Suburban Water Heaters, here is a good manual with colour photo's Hot Water Tank

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:
I had the exact same problem on my last trip in Mexico.
Turns out one of the screws at the element was loose and the wire simply fell off...Thankfully is didnt short anything.

The reason I quoted this reply: Assuming that all the connections are good (See quoted text for a case where this was NOT the case and be advised there are many connections all the way back to the circuit breaker box).

The parts involved are the selector switch, the control board, a RELAY and the element.

On some units there may be a second T-Stat for electrical use.. but with Atwood.. i'd need to know the model number.

Element failures are fairly common.. In my case worked fine on Electric, NOT on Gas.... Was control board.

I'm reviving this post as I have done more testing. First of all it is a Suburban HW tank even though the manual says Atwood.

1. There is no power at the heating element after testing with a meter.
2. The rocker switch is "on" in the control compartment
3. There is power at the heater off on switch inside the camper.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Is this in your 2007 Arctic Fox Camper?

Yes it is a 2007 Arctic Fox and the original HW heater. Thanks for the info.

Either brand should have a Make/Model sticker visible from the outside door. Please post that. You can also go to bryantrv.com and probably find the Service Manual for it.
Note from the pix that OB posted that the Atwood has the tank parallel to the side of the RV and the Suburban has it perpendicular. So Atwood has a door that's more rectangular than Suburban. If somebody replaced one brand with the other, should be easy to tell.
One brand might actually be better than the other, but I always suggest replacing either brand with the same brand because of the mounting cutout issue with changing brands. We've had both brands and both have been fine.

Is this in your 2007 Arctic Fox Camper?

See in 2003 Atwood combined the t-stats (one set for both gas & electric) and did away with the on/off switch on rear cover and went to a 12V DC relay to activate the 120V AC to element. Prior to that the electric had it's own set of 120V AC t-stats located on rear of tank with element. Gas set of t-stats were in outside compartment.

The electric element is on rear of tank under a cover.

The 'push to reset' suggested a Suburban as they have resettable high temp t-stats in outside compartment under a cover. The electric element is also in outside compartment under/behind gas valve. Junction boxes on side of tank for AC & DC power connections.

This may help, with pics at the bottom.....
Atwood water heater