water heater on 12 volt with gas

Just FYI, the electric is 120V and available only if on shore power or generator power.

rode2nowhere wrote:
I figured it out, the heater switch inside the trailer which I thought was just for main heater has to be on, soon as I flipped it I heard ignitor tring, turned gas on and after 2 purges it lit, yahoo......also tried heater to make sure it works too, no problem there. A note on how much hotter the water is when running gas too, was nice.

Temp of hot water should be same whether on gas or electric.
Same preset temp t-stats.

Electric alone...slowest recovery
Gas alone...faster recovery than electric
Electric & gas at same time...fastest recovery

I figured it out, the heater switch inside the trailer which I thought was just for main heater has to be on, soon as I flipped it I heard ignitor tring, turned gas on and after 2 purges it lit, yahoo......also tried heater to make sure it works too, no problem there. A note on how much hotter the water is when running gas too, was nice.

IF you have a switch like this:



The switch on the left operates the HW heater on electric, the switch on the right operates it on gas. This unit has electronic ignition, so it will light automatically when you flip the switch. If it fails to light, the red light in the middle will come on.

A single switch like this one is also for gas operation, and again the light comes on if the unit fails to light:



If you don't have a switch with a red indicator light like this, then the unit will be a manual light. In that case, open the cover on the HW heater from the outside of the trailer. Turn on the gas valve and light the pilot with a lighter. In this case it's also important to turn the gas off at this valve to extinguish the pilot after camping.

well I have never seen a gas switch, just on and off, I am going camping this weekend will try to look at it then

2011 model would probably have electronic ignition.

Light off stove top burners on high to get propane flow/allow LP regulator to react.

Then with water in water heater turn 'gas' switch to ON.

Should hear 'clicking' (ignitor sparking) and then 'whomp' when main flame lights.
20 mins later HOT water.

Do you have the model number for your water heater? Should be easy to look up with that. Or you could just flip the switch to turn on your water heater with gas (after making sure the tank is full) and listen for clicking sounds as it tries to light. If no clicking sounds you probably need to light a pilot manually.

I did not get one worth looking at, not much in it..

Perhaps something in the owner's manual.. provided you have one.

Depends on the water heater. Generally if it is a manual standing pilot you will need to go out and manually light the pilot. If it is a electronic ignition manual, then all you need to do is ensure you have gas flow at the stove burners, and flip the switch.