No hot water?

[lakeside013104]

This is a new 2013 Bighorn #3685RL that I just recently took delivery of. The LPG side of the hot water system is working fine and currently all shut off. I wanted to test the 120V side of the H/W system and see how long it would take to heat up a hot water tank that is full of cold water. I and currently hooked up to shore power and have (metered) 120V at the household receptacles in the 5er. The 120V hot water switch that is in the inside control panel is on. The 15 amp breaker switch is on. The small on/off switch located on the outside of the 5er and inside the H/W heater access panel is ON. The hot water tank is full of water. After two hours in the on position, I still have no H/W. I pulled the small plastic cover off the heating element and put a volt meter on the two exposed wires. The meter reads ZERO with the entire system energized. Am I looking at a burned out element? Is there another switch or breaker that I am missing? I was at my selling dealer today, but the technician was off and no one else could answer these questions. I respectfully submit my question to this forum in hopes that the experience here will be able to help me. Thank you.

Lakeside

[Old-Biscuit]

Glad you got the problem resolved on your Suburban water heater.

Hot water is nice.......:B

[lakeside013104]

Old-Biscuit...you are right on the money. Amazing that you would figure out the exact problem. I am very impressed. See below for update.

Greetings all,

I tested power input as recommended in the link that Dane Mayer sent to me on water heater trouble shooting. There was 120V at breaker, 120 V at switch on panel inside camper. NO power at any point further in the system.

I contacted my dealer, Houlton Power Sports (HPS) and sales manager Jim sent technician, Mike Scott out to my home where the 5er is parked. Mike tested the relay immediately past the switch on the inside panel. No power going through this relay. He bypassed the relay (which is a temporary fix until the new relay is received from Heartland) and the 120V side of the water heater worked perfectly and I had hot water shortly thereafter without using the 12V (LPG) side of system. I cannot say enough GOOD about this dealer, HPS. Their service goes above and beyond what one normally receives from any retailer. They came to my home so that I would not have to drag my camper to them. This is a fine example of how a good company takes care of their customer.

To Dane Mayer: page 7 of the H/W heater troubleshooting link you forwarded to me contains an error (according to HPS technician after putting a volt meter on both sides and testing) that you may want to address.

It reads: “The right assembly is for the 110V circuit and the left is for the 12V circuit to the LP side of the W/H. Note that the sensor on the right carries the 110V AC and the sensor on the left carries 12V DC”.

The correct way this paragraph should read is as follows:
“The left assembly is for the 110Vcircut and the right is for the 12V circuit to the LP side of the W/H. Note that the sensor on the left carries the 110V AC and the sensor on the right carries 12V DC”.

Dane, thank you for your continuing assistance and thank you to all the others who replied and assisted me with this issue.

Lakeside

[Old-Biscuit]

Checked for 110V AC at the element and got ZERO.......

You problem is NOT with the element.
Problem is you do not have 110V AC going to element.
Tripped circuit breaker
Blow 12V DC fuses if it uses a relay
AC ON/OFF switch faulty

Check for 110V AC from the power panel to switch to element

[lakeside013104]

Heartland folks just gave me this link:

http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/?...s%20and%20Tips

This link appears to be very informative well organized. I will troubleshoot tommorow.

Lakeside

[lakeside013104]

Thank you folks for the direction to go in.

Old-biscuit....I did drain the tank and refill with COLD well water after fireing unit on LPG. Your way to check for 110v at element is the way I did it and had ZERO on the meter. Tomorrow I will check for continuity. Thanks again for the ideas for checking my problem.

Will let you all know the results as I get answers.

Lakeside

[Old-Biscuit]

After heating with propane...........did you drain water heater and then refill it with cold water?

IF not....did you use all the hot water before trying the 'electric' side?

Water temp needs to go below ~110*F before t-stat will reset (close) to reheat the water.

Also if water heater is an Atwood it uses 12V DC power to ON/OFF switch and to relay inside electric cover to energize 110V AC power to electric element.
No 12V DC to switch/relay no AC to element.

To check for 110V at element:
Turn switch ON
Check for 110V using a voltmeter (touch one lead to black wire/terminal/touch other lead to white wire/terminal on head of element)

To check for continuity:
Turn switch OFF
Check for continuity between the two terminals on element........NO Continuity/element bad
Check for continuity between white wire/terminal on element to flange of element
There should NOT BE Continuity/element shorted

[Roller4Tan]

Did you know that the switch outside at the water heater is upside down??? In other words if you push the top of the switch, it turns it off, if you push the bottom of the switch it turns it on. also check for voltage after the hi temp thermostat.

[USAFBILL]

My first thought was a burned out electric element, but if you were reading zero voltage at the element terminals it would indicate the problem is electrical up stream.
good luck

[Atom_Ant]

duplicate

[Atom_Ant]

looks like you have narrowed it down pretty good. One more thing to check before condemning the element is the two high limit reset breakers covered in a rubber pad that says Reset. The left is the 110V AC side, and the right is the 12V side. These are just little micro breakers that pop out a bit if the high temp limit is hit. Try pushing it in and see what happens.

Assuming you have an Atwood tank