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aztecaa's avatar
aztecaa
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013

Water Heater NOT working!

I recently bought a 2008 Jayco JFlight with electric/propane water heater. The propane water heater does not work. I just moved it to a park and hooked up the electric to it. The water heater does not work on electric also. Any thoughts, I did notice that there was lots of rust behind the door of the water heater. Not sure what a less than 5 year old w heater would go out in it.
Talked to a tech guy who said if he ends up replacing a few parts, plus his labor that it would cost me over $350. It would be easier to replace the whole unit for $500. Any thoughts on what to do.
My wife wants me to plumb in a 10-20 gallon hot water heater so she can have lots of hot water. I seen one at home depot 20 gallons for $288. How hard is it to add this on the outside and plumb it into the existing w heater?
Thanks
  • donn0128's avatar
    donn0128
    Explorer II
    Sep 24, 2013
    Where are you going to get 220VAC power for a residential water heater? Not a smart thought IMHO. Replacing for 500 dollars? Not likely especially since it is such a simple matter to troubleshoot and fix it. The 120VAC electric element needs several hours to heat the water, it needs 120VAC power to it. All these things can be easily checked with a VOM. The gas side needs flowing propane. In other words do you actually have gas in the tanks? Do you have gas flow to other things like the stove? Does your heater have a standing pilot that you must light or is it electronic ignition? Standing pilot you need to get the thermal couple hot to generate the electrical current necessary to hold the gas valve open. Thermal couples are cheap and easy to fix if that is a suspect.

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