Question about Suburban SW6DE water heater...

[cannesdo]

My neighbor has this water heater and can't get it to work. It's a new trailer for her, on line info says it works on both gas and electric but looked in literally every nook and cranny in her trailer today, inside cupboards...and there is no water heater gas switch. Could some of these heaters only work on gas even though it says they should work on either? There is just an on-off switch on the water heater and it doesn't do any clicking as it normally would trying to ignite when you turn it on. I turned it off for several seconds then back on and still, nothing. There doesn't seem to be anything sticking out to push where the reset button is. It's covered with rubber There is hard ring under it but nothing sticking out from the middle of it, and it won't budge.

Anyone who has any knowledge of this model who may know more...any help would be appreciated.

Also, how long does it generally take the coils on a Dometic fridge to warm up once you plug it in?

Thanks...

[Lynnmor]

cannesdo wrote:
Ok, tested with one wire off and the water heater off on the 200 ohms setting. It started high, about 60ish I think and started rising. I pulled the probes off at about 180. That can't be good. Can an abnormally high result mean the element is shot also? Did I do it wrong?

The element is spent, they are cheap and available at any hardware or home improvement store. Get the cheap socket made especially for the element if you need one.

video

[cannesdo]

Bump...

[cannesdo]

Ok, tested with one wire off and the water heater off on the 200 ohms setting. It started high, about 60ish I think and started rising. I pulled the probes off at about 180. That can't be good. Can an abnormally high result mean the element is shot also? Did I do it wrong?

[Lynnmor]

cannesdo wrote:
Actually...RobWNY...in the video he was holding the element removed from the heater without any wires on the screws when he tested it. Do I need to remove the wires and remove the element before testing it with the multi-meter?

Remove only one wire, then test.

[RobWNY]

cannesdo wrote:
Actually...RobWNY...in the video he was holding the element removed from the heater without any wires on the screws when he tested it. Do I need to remove the wires and remove the element before testing it with the multi-meter?

I'm not sure if the element needs to be removed to test Ohms. I've only checked mine after taking it out. It's probably a good idea to do that anyway. While the tank is empty, you can also look at the Anode rod to see if it needs to be replaced also.

[cannesdo]

Actually...RobWNY...in the video he was holding the element removed from the heater without any wires on the screws when he tested it. Do I need to remove the wires and remove the element before testing it with the multi-meter?

[Old-Biscuit]

poof

[cannesdo]

Thanks all! Ok, update -- we found the water heater button inside and that's the "gas on" button. It turns red when pressed. And yes, it's by the other water buttons between the range and the kitchen sink and labeled "HTR" but it didn't look like the buttons in the manual. We should have looked more closely. Anyway...the water is heating up.

*Now* we are trying to figure out why it won't run on electric. The breaker and outside switch on the heater itself were both on for hours and the water didn't heat up. Any ideas about that? There is water in the tank. We don't know if at any point there was no water in the tank while the WH was turned on but I do have a multimeter. Can you walk me through how to test the element? Thanks sooo much. 🙂 (UPDATE: Disregard. I found a youtube video. Thanks so much for the link to the right element!

[RobWNY]

Check inside the trailer where the other switches are (Water Pump, Tank Levels etc.) and see if there's a switch for the Water Heater. There has to be one somewhere. It will be red and light up most likely when in the ON position. You use that when you are going to use Propane to heat the water. Turn on the propane at the tanks, turn on the red switch and if someone is outside by the access panel, they should hear the spark igniter clicking and then the propane lighting. If it doesn't, there could be spiders or some other blockage preventing the propane flow. The switch on the Water Heater itself is behind the access panel on the outside of the trailer. It's in the lower left corner area. That's for the Electric Heating element. There will be no noise or clicking with that. If that switch has been turned on even for a couple of minutes without any water in the tank, it will need to be replaced as it will be burned out. You can test that by taking an Ohms reading with a multimeter. If it needs to be replaced, this one is the correct one for the Suburban Water Heaters. Heating Element

[cavie]

My WH gas switch has a red lighted handle. It is lit when in the on position. Right next to it is a small red light that comes on when the gas goes out. I get 3 small clicks from the heater and the small light goes out. Heater is on gas. My electric switch is outside behind the vent cover. Bottom left corner. Small black on off switch I leave the electric switch off. You can run the heater on both gas and electric if you wish,

[SidecarFlip]

The switch controls both the gas solenoid and the ignition sequence but you have to leave it on for about 30 seconds for the sequence to activate. There is no 'gas switch or valve.