Bonehead Mistake Atwood Water Heater

[RUSSELL5000]

So, did the bonehead mistake of not recognizing that the water heater was bypassed.

Arrived late, did not think, turned power to water heater on following minimal set-up, showered in campground bath house, and went to bed.

No hot water the next morning; instantly realized the water heater was bypassed.

Turned water heater off, changed bypass valves, turned water heater back on. Water heater worked fine on gas, but was leaking.

I hope that the nylon drain plug was deformed due to the hot tank when no water; that is where water was leaking from.

I have the six gallon Atwood gas electric dsi model number GC6AA-10E.

Did I hopelessly ruin this water heater or is there a chance it will be ok?

Thanks!

[trail-explorer]

dave17352 wrote:
I doubt the leak from the plug has anything to do with the electric element burning out.

Ditto.

Leaking drain plug, easy fix. Tighten it.

[Redterpos3]

Thanks for posting, and the final fix! Happy Camping!

[RUSSELL5000]

Thought I would add a follow-up.

Drove to campground Friday night, 06/17. Replaced plug; used new plug with a couple of wraps of Teflon tape in a thread or two. No water leak.

Water heater works fine on propane; will use on propane only until this trip is over.

Will then replace electric heating element, go over all the rest carefully.

Seems I got lucky.

[RUSSELL5000]

Thanks, guys.

I am back at work and the family is using the shower in the bath house at the campground and a trip to the bath house for a jug of hot water to wash dishes. An inconvenience, but not substantial.

I have assembled my tools and parts and will be at the trailer this weekend.

This gives me hope that I did not destroy the unit.

[stevemorris]

our electric water heater has an on/off for the electric supply right next to the propane switch, so we make sure BOTH are off when travelling

a previous electric/propane heater had the electric switch outside behind the metal cover, dumb imho

[DutchmenSport]

At least you didn't do the bone-head thing that I did! We went to South Carolina in March for a week. I did not run Pink Stuff on our return home, (couldn't find any), but did blow the lines out. I had the water heater on by-pass.

In late April we went out again for a 3 day week-end. I forget about the by-pass since I blew lines out and did not have to flush the pink. I flipped on the electric, and after a while, only cold water.

I thought something might be wrong, so flipped on the gas. A few hours later, no hot water.

Then I realied... THE BY-PASS!

I filled the tank with water and expect no electric, element burned out for sure. But was diappointed when ZIP happened with gas.

And the bath house at the camp ground was under renovation (closed). Arr.

Anyway, long story short, took it in for repair. Electric element burned out and the thermostat shot! Got both fixed and been happy camping ever since.

To answer your question ... as stated above, your electric element should have burned out within a few seconds, not allowing the tank to get hot enough to do any damage. (Gas on the other had will continue to heat, even without water .... so I learned).

So if your plug is leaking, its not a big deal. Replace it. Simple solution.

[dave17352]

If it is just leaking from the plug no problem at all. The electric heating element would burn out in a couple minutes. I know from experience.:) I would pull out the plug and put a little Teflon tape on it a put it back in. Thats what I do so I don't have to tighten it up to much. I doubt the leak from the plug has anything to do with the electric element burning out. You can go to a big box store and buy a new element for about 10 bucks (instead of 30 bucks at a rv store. Very easy fix. They also sell a wrench to remove the element for about 5 bucks. All though I could not get the wrench on the element good enough to remove the element. It is a 1 and 1/2 socket. The socket needs to be ground down to get in the tight spot but works perfectly to remove the element. Many of us here have done the same bonehead thing!