Community Forums

mike367 · 02-21-2020, 06:44 PM

I have a 2004 American Tradition and I am looking for the switch that turns the water heater from electric to propane. I’m not sure it has this switch but I suspect it might. The only switch I can find is the switch above the sink.

aether_one · 02-21-2020, 06:47 PM

If that's the only switch you have and it's an Atwood water heater then you don't have the electric option.

If it's a Suburban water heater then the switch is behind the outside cover to the lower left. It's kinda hard to see.

mackwrench · 02-22-2020, 05:22 AM

The switch in the bathroom is the electric switch. You should have a switch in kitchen for gas. It maybe located next to a water pump switch.

Try turning the electric switch off, wait a few minutes, and you should walk out to heater and hear it come on with propane.

timjet · 02-22-2020, 10:25 AM

On my '06 Tradition the water heater propane switch is part of the multiplex system located as part of a 6 switch panel in the kitchen. There should be a red light next to the switch that illuminates if the switch is pressed and the water heater does not ignite after the 3rd start attempt. Make sure propane valve is on and lines purged of air.

mike367 · 02-22-2020, 10:33 AM

Thanks for the replies, it looks like the switch in the kitchen is the only switch and it switches the heater between gas and electric. I think I will add the dual switch to be able to turn both off if necessary.

Gary RVRoamer · 02-22-2020, 04:46 PM

You don't switch between gas & electric. You have two switches, one to turn on the gas mode burner and one for the electric mode element. You can operate both at the same time if you like for faster heating. Turn on one, the other, or both.

The [multiplex] switch in the kitchen activates LP gas mode. There is a wall switch in the bath that activates the electric mode. In my '04 40V, it was inside the cabinet under the vanity sink, high on the right side. Other floor plans may have a slightly different location, but usually inside a cabinet. It looks like a 120v wall switch, but it actually just turns on the 12v solenoid at the heater that switches the 120v power to the heater element.

mike367 · 02-22-2020, 07:05 PM

Thanks for the education Gary, the switch was exactly where you said it would be. In the bathroom vanity cabinet on the right side.
I will have to do some troubleshooting, I’m pretty sure the electric portion is not working. I had the coach plugged in for a week with the tank empty. Lesson learned.
Mike

timjet · 02-23-2020, 05:19 AM

Yes, you may have burned out the element, easy to check with an ohm meter.
The electric portion on mine did not work and I found I had to reset the multiplex system to get it to work. Unplugging the power connection to the multiplex module in the battery bay will reset the mulitplex system.

Gary RVRoamer · 02-23-2020, 10:02 AM

There is a circuit breaker for the heater element in the load center but the switch in the bathroom is 12v. The heater itself uses a 12vdc solenoid to switch the element 120v on/off, so it also needs 12v to function in either mode.

The wiring harness and switch in an '04 Tradition is a holdover from the earlier days when Atwood water heater elements had direct 120v power and required an external 120v switch for on/off. Later models revised the wiring harness and I suspect timjet's '07 uses the multiplex 12v for heater control.