Suburban SW10DE hot water tank question

[SMOKESKULL]

Our RV is now over 10 years old and has been used every season. Last year the water tank fault light would come on occasionally. I discovered resetting the switch would make it work. Then in the fall when I winterized I blew out the combustion chamber and there was a fair bit of rust came out. I suspect the rust was sitting on the burner area and causing the unit not to light. Anyways we use propane almost exclusively on the tank due to other high load electrical devices. My question is how thick is the combustion tube area of a Suburan water tank? Or should I not even be asking and buying and installing a new one without question? I plan to get a new one without the 110V option as we never use it anyways. Can that cause any install issues? I plan to swap a SW10DE with a SW10D. Thanks for any assistance.

[SMOKESKULL]

Waterheater still working great. I had to clean the igniter a few times this year. It was getting sooted up i think it was something in a new propane bottle i was using. Thanks again for the great advice.

[cpaulsen]

Check PPL Motorhomes.......when I bought my WH there..it was 395.00 plus 10.00 shipping.

[Chris_Bryant]

As long as you have replaced the anode rod when needed the tank will be fine.

[SMOKESKULL]

So i have used my waterheater another 3 full 5 month seasons and its still working great. I did have to remove the igniter pincers and clean them once this season as occasionally it wouldnt light. It would spark and had gas but not light. I readusted them to spec and its worked flawlessly ever since. This tank has give good service as its had a lot of use. Thanks old-biscut for your wise advise. Had i panicked and replaced mine it would already be 3 seasons old.

[SMOKESKULL]

Our site only has a single 30 amp supply. Between the fireplace, Microwave toaster and TV stuff we can blow the breaker in the trailer and at the outside box too. I would love a way to use the campground power for the water heater.

[ScottG]

We run a separate ext cord out to the pedestal and plug the WH into the 20A receptacle. Now it doesn't pull the power form your rig anymore.

[SMOKESKULL]

Wow thanks a million, I was hoping to not have to buy a tank right now as our dollar is poor. THey want $800.00 locally for a new tank, I said "THank you very much I am just price checking" I can get one shipped to the border for free for $340.00 US. Anyways thanks again for the input.

[Old-Biscuit]

No reason to fix what ain't broke.......:B

Until the tank leaks why replace a perfectly good water heater.

Surface rust is not unusual. The combustion chamber is a heavy walled 'U' tube.

Swapping from a SW10DE to a SW10D will be easy....no 120V AC to connect (just tape off/secure and leave AC CB off----tape over it for notation).
Still have to connect DC wiring and propane gas line.

Of course when you do replace it with a propane only......it won't work on propane and then you have no AC option.

That's one thing I like about Suburban vs Atwood. Separate t-stats/controls for AC & Gas where Atwood uses same t-stats for both.
So if problem is t-stat neither options work.

I like options!