First time out with my brand new unit a leftover 2012 Amerilite 255BH with a Suburban SW6D. It seemed to work fine but went to take a shower and ran out of hot water half way through. My previous unit was a 98 Amerilite 24RB which also had a Suburban 6gal gas water heater (not sure of model but it was standing pilot model) the SW6D in my new unit is electronic. anyway I never had any problem with the old heater running out of hot water so whats up with this new heater? I initially thought I just needed to adjust the thermostat hotter but found out from the owner manual that the SW6D is not adjustable. It seems to light just fine and flame looks good. Im tired of cold showers and doing the wet down, pause soap up, rinse off garbage. Any Ideas ?

Same issue with another poster on a 2013 unit. That post....LINKSounds like Suburban has some issues with 'dip' tube falling off.Instead of cold inlet being directed down towards bottom of tank, without the dip tube it cold water would flow in and mix with the hot water more readilyIF the cold inlet dip tube has fallen off.But 2 Suburban water heaters both 6 gallons sizes running out of hot water after roughly 3 gallons sounds like a problem with the dip tube on cold inlet.Drain WH and with a strong pin point flash light look inside WH tank for a piece of black tubing laying in bottom.IF so that would be the dip tube.Suburban will give you a new one FREE. Then the cold inlet has to be disconnected, the cold inlet nipple removed and new dip tube installed.Course that is IF it's the dip tube.When WH turns after a heating cycle......need to test water temp with an instant read thermometer at the Pressure Relief Valve.CAUTION: Water will be under pressure and HOT.It should be ~130*F that is factory pre-set on the normal t-stat)Strange......cold water after 3 gallonsPost back what you find/learn.

Ok, Back home after a week of military style showers,drained hw heater and looked as best i could, I can see the cold water inlet and dip tube which appears to be fine although it looks to be natural translucent polyethylene rather than black. Tried every which way to see the hot water outlet but could not get the angle to view it and my inspection mirror was just a hair too big to fit through the opening. I did not see anything lying in the bottom of the tank. I haven't checked the temp of the water as suggested but it seemed plenty hot just wouldn't stay that way. It did seem to take a bit longer than I thought it should to kick on while the hot water is being used, I'm wondering if the thermostat could be the culprit not allowing the heater to kick on until too deep into the cycle for it to recover. (I know it won't actually recover just prolong the inevitable). If shut off is set at 130 degrees what should kick on temp be?

Normal t-stat should OPEN ~130*F and should CLOSE ~100*F to reheat.You can get a 140*F normal t-stat (they close ~110*F)I'd change out t-stat, run it thru a cycle and test water temp at PRV.Good luck!

I've got a feeling the stat is bad so I ordered the optional 140 degree stat and will install it that will probably kill two birds with one stone! Thanks for the input!

Are the bypass valves in correct position?

Suburban SW6D Help! | Good Sam Community

j-d
Explorer II
Jul 09, 2014
I'm glad you got it corrected. We had a standing pilot water heater before, and you will LOVE having the DSI. You can turn it on when you sit down to eat, shut it off when you get up, and have plenty of hot water for your dishes. The standing pilot wastes LP once you get tired of lighting it on demand like you can so easily do with DSI. And, at least with our SP heater, all too often, we'd go to actually use hot water and find it had blown out. DSI is Great!
DiskDoctr
Explorer
Jul 09, 2014
Old-Biscuit wrote:

Suburban 140*F optional t-stat.....for electric side #232317
Suburban 140*F optional t-stat.....for propane side #232319

Both can be found HERE

Thanks! No electric on mine :( Same part number for the lp side?

This was going to be my first step, hotter to extend hot water a few more minutes. Otherwise, I was looking at HottRod, except I'd lose the anode, which is definitely needed in this model (I just replaced it)
j-d
Explorer II
Jul 09, 2014
Anode! We can get about two seasons before it's a little over half gone. There are inexpensive ones but I get Genuine Suburban from Amazon Prime. That's about $6 a season, no need to try to get it down to $4.
jwchenault
Explorer
Jul 10, 2014
DiskDoctr wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:

Suburban 140*F optional t-stat.....for electric side #232317
Suburban 140*F optional t-stat.....for propane side #232319

Both can be found HERE

Thanks! No electric on mine :( Same part number for the lp side?

This was going to be my first step, hotter to extend hot water a few more minutes. Otherwise, I was looking at HottRod, except I'd lose the anode, which is definitely needed in this model (I just replaced it)

The #232319 is the one I put on mine! LP only 12volt DC it is the operating stat and the hi limit together mounted on a plate that attaches to the tank with one bolt all over ebay for $20 but I went to my local RV store and they had it in stock for the same money.
DiskDoctr
Explorer
Jul 10, 2014
Thanks!

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