Water Heater

[gator67]

My wife wants the water hotter when she does the dishes. The Suburban manual says the thermostat is set at 130 degrees and is not adjustable. A household water heater is often set at 140 degrees. A thermometer shows the water coming out of the faucet at 115 degrees. I don't think a 15 degree drop is reasonable (outside temp is 70 degrees). Is the thermostat bad? Is this normal? Has anyone else dealt with this?

[gator67]

My wife wants the water hotter when she does the dishes. The Suburban manual says the thermostat is set at 130 degrees and is not adjustable. A household water heater is often set at 140 degrees. A thermometer shows the water coming out of the faucet at 115 degrees. I don't think a 15 degree drop is reasonable (outside temp is 70 degrees). Is the thermostat bad? Is this normal? Has anyone else dealt with this?

[Rick M]

Hi Jerry

I assume this happens when using propane to heat water?
We had the propane totally fail in our '06' - but before failure, the burn was irregular with colder water - the propane flame was fluctuating.
Guaranty Indio tested it and replaced computer module - also keep burner tubes cleaned.
Have you tested the water heater on electrical?

[richardcoxid]

Gator67

Both your gas and elect. hot water temp is controlled by NON-ADJUSTABLE "snap stats"�.

These are small silver colored thermostats, about ½"� in dia and about 3/8"� thick. They have a hold down tab (ear) on each side of the body with two "push on"� terminals for electrical connections. The gas stat. is usually on the gas burner side of the HWH and the elect stat is on the elect side close to the elect heating element. Be careful this is 110V when hooked up to shore power! Both are usually covered/attached (held in contact with the HWH) with a piece of 1/8"� thick of black foam rubber. The only way for you to increase the elect hot water temp is to remove the elect stat, take it to an electrical shop, have them cross-reference the part #'s and provide a "hotter one"�. I think that they are less than $5.00 ea.

I think that most of the household and RV HWH'r manufactures over the last few years have been using lower temp stats in the interest of safety and reducing energy consumption.

In my specific case I have replaced the gas stat with one that cycles "on"� about 10* lower in temp than the elect one. Why? When plugged in to shore power the elect stat comes on first for just a small amount of hot water use or to make up for normal heat loss. Only when hot water usage is so great that the elect element can't keep up with it does the gas burner cycle on. IE I would rather use "their"� electricity that use "my"� propane.

BTW- When using the RV I always have BOTH the gas and elect turned "on"� at the same time.

Richard

[Bob King]

Gator67
I'm just a lurker here, but just yesterday I was watching an old RV Today show at the following link
http://myoutdoortv.com/show/rvtoday/index.html (Sorry I don't know how to make it clickable but you can copy and paste)click on "Watch this show"
In the index of Shows, pick {RV Today, Idaho Round 2, Part 1} they show how to replace the fixed thermostat with an adjustable one. Hope this helps.
Bob

[Ray,IN]

Hello Bob! Welcome to the irv2 family. my dial-up will not allow me to watch your linked show, but you did post it correctly. I'll keep it bookmarked anyway.

["007"]

Bob King welcome to irv2.
Works fine for me.
Thanks for your interesting first post Bob, DON'T just be a lurker you may have other info of interest to RVers.
Enjoy the forums and DO post often.

[gator67]

I called Suburban and talked to a tech guy. He was great. He said the water in the tank should be 130 degrees... plus or minus 5 degrees. Well, checking the temperature of the water coming out of the overflow valve, it was barely 125 degrees. It seems to drop a bit more by the time it gets to the kitchen sink. He gave me the part numbers for the 140 degree thermostat for both the gas and electric module and explained to me how to change it out. I ordered the part (electric only) and will change it out.

[EngineerMike]

Gator- Might want to change out the anode & flush the tank while you are in that deep, if that hasn't been done in a while.

[Donna & Chuck]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by richardcoxid:
Gator67

BTW- When using the RV I always have BOTH the gas and elect turned "on"� at the same time.

Richard </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

When we had our Alpenlite 5th wheel, we were told never turn both gas & elect. on at the same time because that would burn up the connections. So we are very careful not to turn both on at the same time...apparently that is no longer correct?

Also, Chuck changes the anode in our system at least once ayear.

dj

[Louie & Linda]

Several years ago I purchased from a local RV shop, 140 degree t-stats. I have moved them from several prior Rv's that we have had and they are currently on the 05 Alpine. If I remember correctly, they were cheap and they are very easy (10 minutes) to remove and install. You need both the 110 and 12VDC units to do this.