Just bought a motor home have questions

[Ldwebster65]

We just bought a 1992 Tioga Montera and we have a few questions.

First of all on the dashboard driver side there is a round silver spring loaded button that we have no idea what it is for. When my husband pushed it, it caused a voltage drop and the blinkers quit working. But if you hold in the button the blinker works. Does anybody know what the button would be for? There is no owner's manual.

Secondly the last owner forgot to winterize it and the water heater cracked. We are buying a new water heater but to have it installed it's over $200 in labor alone. Is the water heater easy to install where we could just install it ourselves and is there somewhere we could get instructions on installing it?

This is our first motor home and would really appreciate any advice or help with this.

Thanks so much,
Lisa

["007"]

Welcome Ldwebster65 to irv2.
Congrats on your new RV many safe travels for you.
The button your referring to could be the emergency start button in case your engine battery discharged. It connects your house batteries into your engine starting circuit.
If you have ordered correct WH you can go to RV SYSTEMS & APPLIANCES FORUM and download water heater manual for installation spec's.
You may have one with new WH.
Shut off LP Gas and 12V power to WH and test for LP leaks before firing it up.
There will be many screws around perimeter of water heater and you will need new ribbon sealant around perimeter of new WH.
Enjoy the forums.

[okmunky]

If you google "rv water heater installation", you will find u-tube video instructions. It looks relatively easy if you have basic DIY skills. Also, search online for the wh. Prices vary quite a lot. I've found some great deals.

[texnet]

You can also purchase just the tank for most water heaters... i.e. no gas or electrical items included, just the tank. I did this on a previous MH and saved several hundred dollars.

[Bob N Deb]

replacing water heaters is one of the easier jobs I have done on my motorhome

[ksg5000]

In my 91 Fleetwood Jamboree there are two momentary toggle switches located near the drivers seat. One switch is an emergency power switch the other is a battery disconnect switch.

When you press the emergency power switch it connects power between your coach battery and your battery isolator solenoid - which in turn connects your coach and chassis batteries. This feature is there just in case your chassis battery (the one that powers your engine) goes dead - it essentially allows you to jump start your RV. When your chassis battery can't start your engine you keep one finger pushing on the emergency start button while you use the other hand to turn the ignition on.

The battery disconnect switch allows you to conveniently disconnect your coach batteries - it's used when you store the rig - effectively takes the batteries "off line".

[Ldwebster65]

Thanks everybody all of your suggestions have been very helpful. It's hard being a newbie with things that need fixed on a MH and I'm really glad I found this website. Everybody is so nice and soooo very helpful. Thanks so very much!!

[Tyler6357]

KSG is correct. The button or switch is used if the battery used to start the engine gets too low to start the engine. You can press that button and transfer voltage from the coach battaries to start the engine so that you don't get stuck somewhere.