Water heater 101?

[az350x]

I think I just repaired my water heater, but have a question. It was dead- wouldn't work on gas or electric. So, I did some troubleshooting and found that the electric element was bad. I replaced it, and now have voltage to the element as I should. So, I filled the hot water tank, TURNED OFF THE LPG TANKS, because I wanted it to work solely on 120V to make sure my problem (electrical side of it anyway) was fixed.

So here's what I don't understand. I ASSUMED that on 120V it would heat through the element I just replaced, and that's all. WHAT HAPPENED was (again, with both LP tanks turned OFF), when my wife hit the "ON" switch by the kitchen sink for the water heater, the red light came on for a minute and then went out. I was outside by the heater, and it was blowing flame down the tube and heating. HUH? Should it do that at all on electric? Especially with both LP tank valves cranked OFF?

I'm confused. But at least I have hot water.

[az350x]

Yes, but it was already hot from electric. It seemed to light fine- red light went out promptly.

Entire heater seems to be working a-okay now.

[Old-Biscuit]

az350x wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Wife turned the wrong switch ON (gas) and it lit......BUT it went out or you had wife turn it off BUT it won't relight......Correct????

Do you have 2 switches on panel where light is?

Just one switch?

Is there another switch in outside compartment??

Which Brand WH......Suburban or Atwood??

The electric and gas are two separate heating sources......turned ON & OFF by separate switches.

Just a guess.....you have a Suburban with an ON/OFF switch in outside compartment that is ON and electric element burnt out due to WH tank being drained and RV was plugged into AC power source.
No indication of electric working, being ON except for hot water when AC power is available.

Suburban. So yes, I guess I understand now that switch inside kitchen with light next to it is gas switch. Outside, on the heater itself is a black rocker switch that I guess is just for turning element on/off.

Correct..Suburban electric ON/OFF switch is in outside compartment (has its usefulness but an inside switch would be nice also). And the gas one is inside.
So make sure the electric switch is OFF anytime you drain WH. Empty tank and hooked up to AC power electric element will burn out very quickly.

Have you valved in the LP cylinders and tested the gas operation?

Need to drain/flush WH and inspect anode rod at least twice a year.
Down here in AZ we have hard water and scaling will build up quickly.

Element burnt out due to being ON and tank empty.
Scaling will just affect heat transfer.

[ScottG]

The switch inside is indeed for gas but the light that comes on is a fault light. If it comes on and stays on then the gas portion has failed to light for some reason (or at least it thinks it has failed).
That light is a bit of an enigma. When everything is working right it may or may not come on for a short time.

[az350x]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Wife turned the wrong switch ON (gas) and it lit......BUT it went out or you had wife turn it off BUT it won't relight......Correct????

Do you have 2 switches on panel where light is?

Just one switch?

Is there another switch in outside compartment??

Which Brand WH......Suburban or Atwood??

The electric and gas are two separate heating sources......turned ON & OFF by separate switches.

Just a guess.....you have a Suburban with an ON/OFF switch in outside compartment that is ON and electric element burnt out due to WH tank being drained and RV was plugged into AC power source.
No indication of electric working, being ON except for hot water when AC power is available.

Suburban. So yes, I guess I understand now that switch inside kitchen with light next to it is gas switch. Outside, on the heater itself is a black rocker switch that I guess is just for turning element on/off.

She turned on switch I told her to- I didn't realize that was just gas switch.

Anode was completely gone, so,I guess minerals went after element next. It wasn't corroded through, but had a large deposit of minerals at base. Must have been burned out like you said- it was open across terminals when I tested it with multimeter.

Is there a way to rig a drain valve into these suburban heaters without having to pull the anode out?

[Old-Biscuit]

Wife turned the wrong switch ON (gas) and it lit......BUT it went out or you had wife turn it off BUT it won't relight......Correct????

Do you have 2 switches on panel where light is?

Just one switch?

Is there another switch in outside compartment??

Which Brand WH......Suburban or Atwood??

The electric and gas are two separate heating sources......turned ON & OFF by separate switches.

Just a guess.....you have a Suburban with an ON/OFF switch in outside compartment that is ON and electric element burnt out due to WH tank being drained and RV was plugged into AC power source.
No indication of electric working, being ON except for hot water when AC power is available.

[diazr2]

When mine is on electric you don't get a red light. There is just as toggle switch on the outside of the water heater that you turn on then its on till you turn it off. If you want propane then you need to push the red button inside the rig and you get lp heat.

[fpresto]

On mine the red switch is for gas and there is a separate switch for electric. You could get a flame from the gas still in the lines, especially if the heater is far from the tank.

[MFL]

It may take a short while with the tanks shut off, for the propane to empty from the lines. Thus, the burner may light for a bit.

You can run gas and electric at the same time, if you choose to do so.

Jerry