Water Heater Upgrade

You can buy what is called a hot rod. Basically a heating element that replaces the drain plug you then simply plug it into 120vac and your done. I do not believe they are too expensive.

Apparently it is not all that involved adding the Electric Element to a RV water heater.

This is 120VAC 400WATT HOTT ROD Electric kit for a 6-gallon RV Hot water heater.... Looks like an easy install that screws into an existing hole. Available from AMAZON $108



HOTT ROD ELECTRIC KIT

I may be looking into one of these to run from an INVERTER from my battery bank for camping off the power grid.

Also some folks like to use the electric element along with the propane heat to get more hot water.

NOTE: Don types faster than I do hehe...

Roy Ken

stevemorris wrote:
our 15 yr old tt has a propane only WH and we would like to have electric heating too

is it worthwhile to add the stuff needed to a 15 yr old tank or should I just get a new tank?

the tank is in good working order but the burner gets blown out when its windy!!

Here is a link for the Hot Rod mentioned above: Hot Rod

Now I have a question haha... If this HOTT ROD Electric Element screws into the hole the anode rod is using does this hurt the hot water heater operating without the anode rod?

I have the Suburban model 6-gallon Hot Water heater that uses the ANODE ROD..

NOTE: I did find this question on the AMAZON site. This was one of the answers to the question:

"That is the only real down side to this brand. An anode rod is needed to avoid damage to the shell of your water heater. The heating element in the Lightning Rod brand conversion kit (also available on Amazon) does also act as an anode, which also means that it has to be cleaned after about six months of use. I use CLR or LimeAway."

Since I have been checking my ANODE ROD every season when draining everything for the winter months I guess I can just clean the HOTT ROD Element as indicated here??? Interesting...

Roy Ken

My 15 year old Atwood G6A-7 does not have and anode rod. Instructions say it has a clad aluminum tank and does not need an anode. They warn you not to stick an after market electric rod into the tank using the drain valve hole, for several reasons. The problem is even if I did that getting power to it would be a real chore. Has anyone used the drain valve hole for the Hot Rod?

At 15 years old and with a standing pilot light, I would replace the water heater with a new model with electronic ignition.

WA7NDD - James - On my Suburban hot water heater I pull out the anode rod and let it drain. I was thinking this is the only available hole to use the HOTT ROD Electric Element kit...

Maybe I need to look my Suburban unit over again for additional available ports to use. Every season end I pull the anode rod out to inspect it and drain the Suburban Water heater for the winter months... This is my best spot to drain being on the bottom of the heater.



Guess there is always a catch to everything you may want to do.. Thanks for the info...

Roy Ken

Fixing the cranky pilot light probably involves some cleaning and maybe a pilot flame adjustment. In some cases shielding the flame area while traveling is also necessary but do you really need hot water at every rest stop?

I've looked at the Hottrod and Lightning Rod aftermarket elements and it is a cheap way to get 120v to heat the water. They are rather low in wattage so heating a whole tank from ambient to 120f is going to take awhile. Yes, some of these have an anode on the rod to replace your original anode rod.

The advice to replace the whole heater has some merit. If shopping carefully for a heater, the dual source heater could run into $400 or so. Compared to the $100 for the aftermarket kit, you're getting a lot more for the additional money and will have DSI ignition as standard.

westend wrote:
Fixing the cranky pilot light probably involves some cleaning and maybe a pilot flame adjustment. In some cases shielding the flame area while traveling is also necessary but do you really need hot water at every rest stop?

I've looked at the Hottrod and Lightning Rod aftermarket elements and it is a cheap way to get 120v to heat the water. They are rather low in wattage so heating a whole tank from ambient to 120f is going to take awhile. Yes, some of these have an anode on the rod to replace your original anode rod.

The advice to replace the whole heater has some merit. If shopping carefully for a heater, the dual source heater could run into $400 or so. Compared to the $100 for the aftermarket kit, you're getting a lot more for the additional money and will have DSI ignition as standard.

some additional info, we light the hw tank in the evening strictly for showers, so its on for maybe an hour a day. we do a lot of camping along the east coast of Canada where its quite windy, blowing the burner out a lot(not just the pilot). we don't run the pilot at all, relying on manual ignition each evening. propane usage is negligible even after 7 weeks on the road and actually we'ed use the electric heating function far more than the propane

WA7NDD wrote:
My 15 year old Atwood G6A-7 does not have and anode rod. Instructions say it has a clad aluminum tank and does not need an anode. They warn you not to stick an after market electric rod into the tank using the drain valve hole, for several reasons. The problem is even if I did that getting power to it would be a real chore. Has anyone used the drain valve hole for the Hot Rod?

Previous owner installed one in the drain plug and it works fine. Only problem its a little more work to drain the tank as the rubber cap for the power and the gas works is a tight fit.