Can't figure out this water heater...

[lauravanb]

We have an Atwood water heater, model G6A-8E. I can get it to run perfectly well off LP, but when we are hooked up to power I'd like to use that instead. I believe this model can run off of either but so far we have been unable to get it going with electric. To start it on LP all I do is turn the LP to "on" on the indicator panel, no switches to switch, it just does its own thing and fires up. There are two toggle switches that we suspect have something to do with engaging the electric, but flipping them has no effect on the water tank. One is on the unit under the sink, and one is on the side of the cabinet. The dealer said the latter was to use electric but alas, it does nothing. We have considered that we may need to replace the coil, but there does not appear to be even an attempt on the machine's part to start electrically. Pics of switches below:

[Chris_Bryant]

I would bet the tank has been replaced- when you buy a replacement tank, the lp/electric tanks come with all of the electric side installed new, with a very small increase in price (for a while, gas electric tanks were cheaper !).

[lauravanb]

DOTLDaddy wrote:

John Wayne wrote:
It may be an after market heating unit. If I look at the picture I see an electrical connection on the drain plug that is not connected...

LOL! :B I never thought I spend my day talking about somebody's old water heater!:B

When I look at that same picture, where you see a disconnected wire, I see a drain pet****. Actually, I've never seen one on an RV water heater like that before, but I guess why not! :C

I hope the OP clears up the serial # question, BTW. :@


ON EDIT: Seriously, RV.NET?:@ I can't use an old plumbing term?:S:B How about "petkock"?:B

The serial number is right on the unit.. Here is a pic. I too saw that it says its an LP only model, but the fact that we have that switch and we were told by the dealership it was electric/LP is part of why I'm confused! Here's the pic:

[Gene_Ginny]

deleted .... wrong info

[Darryl_Rita]

Thanks, Chris. I totally missed that, even after seeing the switch. Doh! I blame the screen size on my phone earlier today.

[John_Wayne]

Dotladdy your right my bad

[DOTLDaddy]

OK, you win. :S:B

Like I've always told everybody, I hate plumbing anyway! There is no such thing as a "small" mistake in plumbing. 😛

[Chris_Bryant]

This photo:

clearly shows the factory rear enclosure for the factory electric option. The limit switch reset hole is right behind one of the vertical pipes, and the element is under that cover.

[DOTLDaddy]

John Wayne wrote:
It may be an after market heating unit. If I look at the picture I see an electrical connection on the drain plug that is not connected...

LOL! :B I never thought I spend my day talking about somebody's old water heater!:B

When I look at that same picture, where you see a disconnected wire, I see a drain pet****. Actually, I've never seen one on an RV water heater like that before, but I guess why not! :C

I hope the OP clears up the serial # question, BTW. :@


ON EDIT: Seriously, RV.NET?:@ I can't use an old plumbing term?:S:B How about "petkock"?:B

[John_Wayne]

It may be an after market heating unit. If I look at the picture I see an electrical connection on the drain plug that is not connected. Pull the drain plug (now would also be a good time to flush the tank) and see it that is a heating element in the plug. Check that it is not burned out reinstall and see if you have power at the o ring connector in the picture that is not hooked up.

[Chris_Bryant]

DOTLDaddy wrote:
Uh . . . . I hate to be redundant, but according to the model#, that water heater is LP only. 🙂

Except that you can clearly see the switch and enclosure that was on the GC model- he just gave the wrong model number, because that is clearly a gas electric model.

[DOTLDaddy]

Uh . . . . I hate to be redundant, but according to the model#, that water heater is LP only. 🙂

[csamayfield55x]

Darryl&Rita wrote:
Does anyone see an electric element in the first pic? I must be missing it.

Almost looks like the electrical element is in the back of the heater under the switch cover.

Chris

[TakingThe5th]

Electric water heaters use enough power that they may have a dedicated breaker on the electric panel. Chris mentioned that breaker - this might mean you actually have three "switches" to check.

[Chris_Bryant]

There is a limit switch behind the metal cover on the rear- it has a small hole to access it. Turn both other switches off and try resetting it, then both switches must be on, as well as the breaker (and the red light should come on when the cabinet switch is turned on).
Behind that metal cover is the thermostat and heating element.