2017 Newmar Ventana LE Water Heater Switches

[obiwancanoli]

My 2017 Newmar Ventana LE has two switches for the water heater... one, with a red-lighted switch, is flipped "ON" when hooked to Shore Power, and the red lighted switch comes on...

The other switch - lower right side of display, where the Step control & security light switches all are housed within one small black panel - has NO lite, nor does it indicate which flip (up or down) of the switch is "ON" or "OFF"... I've tried both, but when dry camping, neither position seems to work, as I get no hot water heater running (you can hear it when hooked to shore power)... I don't know which position is on or off...

It seems a silly question, I should have figured this out by now, but as I said, neither position seems to work... anyone have a thought here?

[2gypsies1]

Here's a Newmar owner's forum. Hopefully, someone can help you out.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/

Try asking a question on toilet paper and black tanks and you'll get hundreds of answers! :B I guess folks aren't expected to know the answer on what kind of toilet paper to use. :h

[jplante4]

Well, my experience is from working at an RV service center and I'll stand by my statement (which was a general statement about new RV owners that the OP just happened to be one).

I've been biting my tongue on this thread because of all the systems that you must have an understanding of, the water heater is close to the top. Mismanaging a water heater has expensive and possibly deadly consequences. You owe it to yourself and your family to operate your unit in a safe manner. There are thousands of YouTube videos and at least a dozen How To RV sites you can go to to figure out what's going on.

There are Newmar owners groups on iRV2, Facebook and Yahoo that can answer specific questions about your specific model because they own one.

It is not incumbent upon the dealer to educate you. It is incumbent on you to learn about your rig.

[dougrainer]

obiwancanoli wrote:

jplante4 wrote:
I am constantly amazed about how little people know about their $200k motor homes.

When you enter into the lifestyle having had no experience with it, it is incumbent on the dealer/seller to advise and instruct, knowing full well they cannot cover every issue for lack of time (or interest). I asked a great many questions, and did much research on my own, but as with any discipline, it's difficult if not impossible to ask questions about a subject of which you already know little to nothing to begin with. In short, you don't know enough to ask the RIGHT questions...

YOU were inexperienced once, yes? And if you upgraded, you no doubt had a learning curve as well, knowing as little as you accuse me of, most likely, learning as you went, and asking fewer and fewer questions. But, maybe I'm not as smart as you...

Lighten up... I'll get there.

Here's the deal. YES, EVERYONE is Ignorant on things when they first get them. EVERYONE on this forum was ignorant until they learned all the various things they needed to know. BUT, YOU decided to go to a Public forum. That's OK. BUT, why not
1. CALL or go to your dealer to get your questions answered?
2. Call Newmar. They have great Customer Service reps on the phone to get you your answers.
3. Regardless of what you stated, Newmar has great Owners manuals and in that LARGE bundle is the brand of your Water Heater and how it operates. There is the Newmar generic owners manual and then there is a large packet of all the appliances owners manuals. Doug

PS, What you have asked for is like calling the police and telling them your car was stolen and all you can tell them is it was a 2018 Chevy. NO OTHER INFO you could give them. So, you think they will find your car:h

[Old-Biscuit]

Once again.........brand/MODEL

It is listed in your RV somewhere.
In the manual, pamphlet, data sheet etc

Your confused and can see it, have manual and we are suppose to let you know how it works W/O seeing, touching, reading about it cause you haven't been inquisitive enough to find/post the brand/MODEL

Take time to find that info...post it and you will get DIRECT answers vs guesses

Sorry to come across a bit strong but dang how can anyone post real information when you haven't provided answers.
Even a couple of pictures would be helpful :H

[Heisenberg]

Most of US are here to help.

[obiwancanoli]

jplante4 wrote:
I am constantly amazed about how little people know about their $200k motor homes.

When you enter into the lifestyle having had no experience with it, it is incumbent on the dealer/seller to advise and instruct, knowing full well they cannot cover every issue for lack of time (or interest). I asked a great many questions, and did much research on my own, but as with any discipline, it's difficult if not impossible to ask questions about a subject of which you already know little to nothing to begin with. In short, you don't know enough to ask the RIGHT questions...

YOU were inexperienced once, yes? And if you upgraded, you no doubt had a learning curve as well, knowing as little as you accuse me of, most likely, learning as you went, and asking fewer and fewer questions. But, maybe I'm not as smart as you...

Lighten up... I'll get there.

[jplante4]

I am constantly amazed about how little people know about their $200k motor homes.

[Bruce_Brown]

Maybe the noise he was hearing was the oil burner?

[dougrainer]

The Newmar manual states you have an Oasis System. Which uses 120 and DIESEL, not LP. Are you positive the unit is an LP appliance? Doug

[Bruce_Brown]

If you can post a picture of the panel in question it may be helpful.

In the mean time, this is my best guess;

The one with the red light is, as noted, for propane. Flip it on it goes to work.

The other switch would be for electric. Like a properly wired light switch, up is on, down is off. The reason you don't hear anything is they tend not to make much, if any, noise when on electric.

Try this;

When plugged in, turn the propane off, then flip the other switch up, or on. Let it sit for a few hours and see if you have hot water.

[obiwancanoli]

dougrainer wrote:
Newmar has the best Collection of Owners Manuals that come in the Motorhome. Do you not have those owners manuals? Doug

Yes, Doug, I do, but these manuals aren't as user friendly as they could be. They don't go into the nuance of actually discussing or providing directions for each operation, each button or switch, for example. Much of it is intuitive, and given this is my first RV of any kind, there is much I still have yet to learn, apparently by trial and error...

[dougrainer]

Newmar has the best Collection of Owners Manuals that come in the Motorhome. Do you not have those owners manuals? Doug

[obiwancanoli]

Nope" that's not it

[dougrainer]

obiwancanoli wrote:

Ductape wrote:
In our Newmars, the switch with the red indicator is the propane burner. Down is on. Red light means a failure to ignite. It may come on briefly but should go off when ignited.

The black switch in the three gang is the 120v heating element, up on. There is probably a secondary switch inside the exterior door of the water heater that must also be on.

Thanks, I’ll check that, though it’s not a door with hinges; one must unscrew the corner bolts to gain access.

You have a Demand Water heater. Yours may be the suburban brand. It operates on LP only. Click this link and see if the external door is like yours. Doug

https://www.airxcel.com/suburban/products/water-heaters/nautilus-iw60-on-demand-water-heater