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Desert Man · 11-27-2021, 05:41 PM

The electric side of the water heater is not working. Two tech’s thought they fixed it in different shops. Service Repair in California is sad. Replaced the thermostat on the back of water heater. Voltage good heating element good?

Jim_HiTek · 11-27-2021, 06:38 PM

Sounds like you have the ol' mysterious often overlooked outside shower head valve OFF and the hot and cold mix in the valves because they are open. So elsewhere in the house, you get luke warm or in the winter, cold water out even though the hot valve at the faucet is on.

That can also happen with the main inside shower. The shut off at the head is set off, but the valve(s) are still on. Some drip, some don't.

So, check those two things. One or both are likely set wrong. Both the shut off in the head, AND the shut off valves below must be off. My inside shower did that to me for a while until I noticed. It has the single handle faucet and I was leaving it on when I shut of the head. And one time 15 years ago that happened with my outside shower.

RKins · 11-28-2021, 04:27 AM

Not sure what brand WH you have. If it's a Suburban make sure the outside on/off switch (bottom left after you remove WH door) is on. I have to turn on that switch and one inside to turn on the electric portion.

Desert Man · 11-29-2021, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKins

Not sure what brand WH you have. If it's a Suburban make sure the outside on/off switch (bottom left after you remove WH door) is on. I have to turn on that switch and one inside to turn on the electric portion.

Thank You, it is a dometic. When I was traveling a shop wired it to work until I got home. He said to get a thermocouple for it. But that was on the propane side which quit working. The electric side works on and off. The shop I went to didn’t really fix the problem. John

RKins · 11-30-2021, 07:47 AM

Seems you have an Atwood (Dometic purchased Atwood), so what I posted is irrelevant.

jacwjames · 11-30-2021, 08:08 AM

Do you have an Intellitec type EMS system which sheds loads when hooked to a 30 amp circuit.
I have this type of system. The electric hot water switch is actually a 12 volt switch which controls a 12 volt to 120 volt relay. The whole circuit is wired through the Intellitec system.

A while back I was having an electrical issue and saw a 6X6" electrical box behind my main service panel, hard to get to but I removed the cover and found 2 relays, one for the water heater and one for the block heater. One of the relays terminals had been hot. The block heater had never been used (extension cord still zip tied in the engine compartment, so I knew the relay that showed signs of getting hot was for the water heater. I redid the connection but did order a spare relay.

This year I had another electrical problem and since I had access I checked the water heater relay again. The wiring again showed a heat issue so I replaced an entire length of wire which was a lighter gauge.

The Intellitec board could also be a problem. To test you can completely bypass the board and wire the water heater so the load doesn't shed and then run the water heater. If it works it's the Intellitec board.

Desert Man · 12-01-2021, 10:56 AM

I replaced the thermocouple and the wiring that was disconnected by a tech. I got a good shock through my arms from the converter because of the mh being connected to the shore supply. The fridge is working fine now. Thank you all for your help. John