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07-13-2014, 06:32 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3
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New owner, need help with water heater
Hi Everyone,
This is my first post, I'm a brand new owner of my first RV, a 2005 Flair 34F. We just took our rig on a weekend trip to a nearby campground to get a feel for things, and we feel pretty confident with all of our systems, except for the hot water heater.
My main problem is that I have no idea how to turn the water heater on and off. The switch on the panel inside my rig was in the "off" position all weekend, but it was still pumping out hot water, and we could hear it working and feel the heat coming off the exhaust.
Is it possible that it was running off of the 30 AMP electric we were plugged into? And that it runs when we're plugged in even when we have it switched "off" inside? My manual is severely lacking in details on how to use any of my systems, but if I understand correctly it did say that some models run on both propane and electric. So I'm hoping that now that I unplugged, it's no longer trying to run, but I have no idea (it sure sounded to me when I listened to it that it was running on a burner, and not an electric element).
I also tried to look at the controls and instructions inside the exhaust panel, but those might as well have been written in Greek. Would anyone be able to tell me if I'm missing something here? All I want to do is be able to make sure it's off so I'm not wasting propane and so that I can empty the hot water tank when I'm not going anywhere for a while.
Thanks in advance for any advice. And I apologize if this has already been addressed here. I looked but couldn't find an answer for my specific question.
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07-13-2014, 06:43 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Powell River, B.C.
Posts: 31,269
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Welcome to iRV2.
Your water heater will have two sets of controls , one for propane operation , which from your description is on. Small black switch 12v rocker is normal , usually on a board 2" square with an led light. Then a 110 v switch which is probably the one you have in the off position.
If you can post a brand name , maybe we can find you a complete operators manual for the heater
Attwood or Suburban are the usual heaters.
__________________
99DSDP 3884, Freightliner, XC, CAT 3126B, 300 HP /ALLISON 3060
2000 Caravan toad, Remco & Blue Ox.
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07-13-2014, 06:57 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 381
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If your feeling exhaust heat, them it's probably running on gas. Depending on your setup, you should have a rocker switch inside adjacent to a red light or a switch with the light built into the switch. The switch/light should turn red when switched on and then go out after the heater lights. This switch should control your heater on gas. Now the electric mode could have an additional rocker inside also. My past 2 suburban brand heaters had electric switches inside but also had a switch on the water heater under the outside panel bottom left of the unit.
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07-14-2014, 11:01 AM
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#4
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3
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Well I may have solved the mystery. I looked unsuccessfully for a second switch as Skip426 suggested, so I went back and looked at the switch on the main control panel again. It turns out the switch doesn't have any of its own "on" and "off" indicators, and I had been judging the switch to be "off" based on an on/off label for an adjacent switch. So I just flipped the switch in the other direction, and I'll go back and check tonight to see if that did the trick.
By the way it's an Attwood.
Thank you all for your help.
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07-14-2014, 11:11 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Vintage RV Owners Club Fleetwood Owners Club Mid Atlantic Campers Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Salem, NJ
Posts: 337
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnKimball
... I went back and looked at the switch on the main control panel again. It turns out the switch doesn't have any of its own "on" and "off" indicators, and I had been judging the switch to be "off" based on an on/off label for an adjacent switch.
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Ain't consistency grand? My Bounder is the same way - the rocker for the water pump, and the adjacent rocker for the water heater are opposite - press the pump switch DOWN for ON, and the heater switch UP for ON. I ended up dymo labeling them, even though the heater switch has a red light when ON, and the pump makes noise, the DW kept asking "which way do I flip the switch for water?" and I got tired of saying "the way that lets you hear the pump run..."
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Always remember, you're a unique individual - just like the other 7 billion people on the planet...
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07-14-2014, 11:12 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Gulf Streamers Club
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cincinnati
Posts: 19,925
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If you note the make and model of various systems in your RV, you can often find their owner/operator manual on line. I keep PDF files of all my system manuals in my laptop that travels with me.
If your WH has an electric heating element, it probably has two switches to turn it on/off. One inside the RV might look like a regular 120 v light switch, perhaps with an indicator light. The second switch is often inside the WH outside access panel. That switch is to be turned off when the WH is drained for storage. It prevents accidentally turning on the heating element when tank is empty.
Happy travels!
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Bob & Donna
'98 Gulf Stream Sun Voyager DP being pushed by a '00 Beetle TDI
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07-14-2014, 12:01 PM
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#7
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: In a lawnchair
Posts: 11,993
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JiminJersey
Ain't consistency grand? My Bounder is the same way - the rocker for the water pump, and the adjacent rocker for the water heater are opposite - press the pump switch DOWN for ON, and the heater switch UP for ON. I ended up dymo labeling them, even though the heater switch has a red light when ON, and the pump makes noise, the DW kept asking "which way do I flip the switch for water?" and I got tired of saying "the way that lets you hear the pump run..."
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Ours are pretty consistent...but for any wires/switches that aren't labeled, we got out the trusty label maker and got busy!!
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07-14-2014, 12:08 PM
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#8
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Community Moderator
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Point Pleasant Beach, NJ
Posts: 31,248
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Don't you just love it when you try to figure out what a switch does. Then you try to figure out which way is on and which is off. Is it that hard for the manufactures to label the switches?
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Tony & Ruth........... FMCA#F416727
2016 London Aire 4519, Freightliner chassis, Cummins ISX, 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Blue Ox Avail with AF1. TST 507 TPMS
No amount of money can buy you an extra second of time.
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07-14-2014, 12:19 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Centennial, CO
Posts: 406
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My water heater switch was upside down as well...I took apart the panel and turned the switch over, now they are all the same! My switch for the outside light and the inside lights were backwards - the inside switch turned on the outside light and the outside switch turned on the inside lights - I took the switch off the wall and reversed them and reinstalled the switch. OCD? Mebbe...
Tim
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2002 Holiday Rambler 30RKD
2000 F250 diesel extended cab short bed
2014 Demco Autoslide 18K
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