Community Forums

smo99 · 04-29-2015, 08:03 AM

I have a 2008 Berkshire.

When I'm plugged in to shore power, I'm hearing the hot water heater even when the switch is off on my control panel. I don't have separate switches for LP or Electric, just one Switch which has a red light to indicate it's on. But when off, and I didn't have the water connected, I was hearing it boil the water in the tank (probably was low). Or so I thought.

Am I missing something here? Or did they (FR) assume if you were on shore power, you would be on shore water and power up the HWH automatically?

When I do switch on the HWH on the main control panel (inside), it does fire up the HWH using LP.

I'm just worried about burning out the element if I'm not pumping water.

Any experience, thoughts or advice is much appreciated!
Thanks!

mel s · 04-29-2015, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smo99

I have a 2008 Berkshire.

When I'm plugged in to shore power, I'm hearing the hot water heater even when the switch is off on my control panel. I don't have separate switches for LP or Electric, just one Switch which has a red light to indicate it's on. But when off, and I didn't have the water connected, I was hearing it boil the water in the tank (probably was low). Or so I thought.
Am I missing something here? Or did they (FR) assume if you were on shore power, you would be on shore water and power up the HWH automatically?
When I do switch on the HWH on the main control panel (inside), it does fire up the HWH using LP.
I'm just worried about burning out the element if I'm not pumping water.
Any experience, thoughts or advice is much appreciated!
Thanks!

smo99
IMO, your electric WH element should NEVER be ON when WH switch is OFF, (if it is something needs fixing).

BTW, when the WH tank is full the electric element will not be damaged. (whether you are pumping water or not).
However if your water heater was ON when the WH tank was empty, (or low), I suspect your electric element may already be burned out.

Mel
'96 Safari

RWeigant · 04-29-2015, 09:16 AM

Take the switch out. Lose one of the leads and see if that works. If so, the switch has a short. Replace the switch.

smo99 · 05-03-2015, 06:35 AM

Just had my rig into the shop for a few things including a faulty power transfer switch (which btw was recalled by Monaco but not FR...mine was actually sparking inside the box and would sometimes switch over and sometimes not--arg!).

Anyway, back to the HWH. It turns out that FR in their infinite wisdom, hard wired the HWH to always be ON UNLESS you turn off the breaker or flip the switch outside in the HWH access panel. If I was on shore power, it was on.

The switch on the control panel just turns on the LP. Those with two switches on their control panel use a different make of HWH (Atwood if I remember what the mechanic told me correctlly).

It's no big deal to flip the breaker, but really, it seems that FR could have had a second switch on the control panel...I have blanks that weren't used for crying out loud.

Last tip, the mechanic said that the switches inside the HWH tend to break very easily and recommended that I not use that switch, but use the breaker.

Hope this helps the next guy buying a used rig like me. Thanks for your replies guys!

Gordon Dewald · 05-03-2015, 06:45 AM

We have an electric tank on the 5er. The electric is controlled on the tank itself. There is a small rocker switch located beside the burner. If that switch is on the electric is on!

The switch on the wall controls the propane.

tomwalt · 05-03-2015, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smo99

Just had my rig into the shop for a few things including a faulty power transfer switch (which btw was recalled by Monaco but not FR...mine was actually sparking inside the box and would sometimes switch over and sometimes not--arg!).

Anyway, back to the HWH. It turns out that FR in their infinite wisdom, hard wired the HWH to always be ON UNLESS you turn off the breaker or flip the switch outside in the HWH access panel. If I was on shore power, it was on.

The switch on the control panel just turns on the LP. Those with two switches on their control panel use a different make of HWH (Atwood if I remember what the mechanic told me correctlly).

It's no big deal to flip the breaker, but really, it seems that FR could have had a second switch on the control panel...I have blanks that weren't used for crying out loud.

Last tip, the mechanic said that the switches inside the HWH tend to break very easily and recommended that I not use that switch, but use the breaker.

Hope this helps the next guy buying a used rig like me. Thanks for your replies guys!

Thanks for the feed back - mine works this way too so it isn't just FR.
P.S. In my case the WH electric was wired up after delivery (Tiffin didn't connect the electric I assume because it is only a 30 amp RV, but the water heater contained all the elements/thermal switches).

no3putt · 05-04-2015, 12:44 PM

Have a 2009 Berkshire, the toggle switch inside with red light is for the propane operation. There is a toggle switch on the outside of the water heater that controls the electric part of the water heater (small black toggle switch) behind the tubes. Also you can make sure your electric is off, turn off the WH breaker under the bed for the water heater. make sure you WH is full when using the electric mode or you will burn out the element.