Turn on my hot water!
I just bought a 2004 Golden Falcon that is permanently parked in a campground . How do I turn on the hot water? Is there a switch inside? Outside any help is greatly appreciated!
Forum Discussion
Not familiar with that brand, but most RVs have a gas water heater switch inside the coach. Some are on the monitoring panel with the gauges for tank level and others are located in a variety of places from the bathroom wall to the living room wall. They will usually either be labeled "Water Heater" or have a picture of a flame like the right side of the control panel referenced below... Not all RV water heaters have electric and those that do may or may not have an inside switch. If they do, they will usually have the gas and electric switches side by side like in the referenced control panel. Some, usually RVs with 30 amp service, will have a toggle switch that will switch between the electric water heater and some other high load appliance like the second air conditioner or microwave.
Water heater controls
If it does have an electric heating element, regardless of whether there is a switch inside, there is usually a switch inside the outside access panel for the water heater, often tucked away at the bottom left corner back behind all the plumbing, that turns the electric element off at the heater. As already mentioned, whenever the tank is drained that switch at the heater should be turned off to prevent damage to the element. Running the electric element without water in the tank causes a near instant failure of the element.
Once you locate the switch(es), if you are running on gas, make sure there is propane in the tank and the tank is on. When you switch the heater on, you should hear the burner try to ignite. If there is air in the gas lines, it may try several times and then go into "lockout" where it simply stops trying. Switching it off and then back on will reset the lockout and try again. If it doesn't light and stay lit after several cycles, you may have other issues.
Water heater controls
If it does have an electric heating element, regardless of whether there is a switch inside, there is usually a switch inside the outside access panel for the water heater, often tucked away at the bottom left corner back behind all the plumbing, that turns the electric element off at the heater. As already mentioned, whenever the tank is drained that switch at the heater should be turned off to prevent damage to the element. Running the electric element without water in the tank causes a near instant failure of the element.
Once you locate the switch(es), if you are running on gas, make sure there is propane in the tank and the tank is on. When you switch the heater on, you should hear the burner try to ignite. If there is air in the gas lines, it may try several times and then go into "lockout" where it simply stops trying. Switching it off and then back on will reset the lockout and try again. If it doesn't light and stay lit after several cycles, you may have other issues.
