Hott Rod water heater conversion kit

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Slow compared to an Atwood with factory electric too. A 400 watt heater is going to take a lot longer than a 1440 watt factory heater. But it will "git 'er done".

Just for clarification to others reading this thread

Atwood OEM electric element is 1400W
Suburban OEM electric element is 1440W
Both are 120VAC

Other than Atwood/Dometic....had to find a 120VAC 1400W element
*1440W can be used in Atwoods

Rheem does have a 120VAC 1440W for replacement of Suburban element (Home Depot, Lowes ACE etc) $12 vs Suburban OEM (Amazon) $14-$17


Both Atwood and Suburban used 1500W elements years ago but lowered the wattage due to 15A CBs being used

[ArtJoyce]

I thought about installing the kit on several of my old campers. But I always came back to after heating season I never re-fill my propane tanks, unless it was very low. On those campers I used the propane for the fridge traveling, stove top, oven and water heater. I had 20 lb tanks and did my 20 to 40 nights from june to mid sept. So I was using less then $15 of propane to run the 4 appliances. How much woul I save for just the water heater???

[charliez]

If you haven't done this, or are thinking about it, don't buy the hot rod kit.



Instead, buy a hot rod kit replacement element. Then go to Lowes or Home Depot and get an upper water heater element for an electric water heater. It's rated for 220 volts and will be more then sufficient for 120. It's just a switch and if you get the right one, it's adjustable for the temp. This is what I did. My wh is right beside my panel so it was easy for me to add a breaker for it. I also added an inline switch so it has two switches to turn on for safety to help prevent someone from turning it on when the wh is empty.


To use the thermostat, simply cut back a square of styrofoam wrap wherever you like the fit, and simply tape the whole thing down. The temp sensor is just the back surface so all it has to do is touch the tank. Mine works perfect. I spent about $30 for all of it.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by charliez

If you haven't done this, or are thinking about it, don't buy the hot rod kit.



Instead, buy a hot rod kit replacement element. Then go to Lowes or Home Depot and get an upper water heater element for an electric water heater. It's rated for 220 volts and will be more then sufficient for 120. It's just a switch and if you get the right one, it's adjustable for the temp. This is what I did. My wh is right beside my panel so it was easy for me to add a breaker for it. I also added an inline switch so it has two switches to turn on for safety to help prevent someone from turning it on when the wh is empty.


To use the thermostat, simply cut back a square of styrofoam wrap wherever you like the fit, and simply tape the whole thing down. The temp sensor is just the back surface so all it has to do is touch the tank. Mine works perfect. I spent about $30 for all of it.

Shouldn't that be 'thermostat' not element?

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by ArtJoyce

I thought about installing the kit on several of my old campers. But I always came back to after heating season I never re-fill my propane tanks, unless it was very low. On those campers I used the propane for the fridge traveling, stove top, oven and water heater. I had 20 lb tanks and did my 20 to 40 nights from june to mid sept. So I was using less then $15 of propane to run the 4 appliances. How much woul I save for just the water heater???

Atwood water heater.......
8000btu/hr run time for 6 gal
10,000btu/hr run time for 10 gal

Suburban water heater....
12,000btu/hr run time 6&10Suburban water gal

One gallon of propane has 91.600btu

[charliez]

Yes you are correct. Doh.

Get an upper water heater THERMOSTAT

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by charliez

Yes you are correct. Doh.

Get an upper water heater THERMOSTAT

Hey....my fingers can't keep up with my train of thought either
Course I only type with 2 fingers and an occasional thumb

[Mudfrog]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Slow compared to an Atwood with factory electric too. A 400 watt heater is going to take a lot longer than a 1440 watt factory heater. But it will "git 'er done".

No doubt the 1440 is gonna heat faster than the smaller wattage Hott Rod. But as I mentioned above, it works fine for our usage. We turn it on when we set up camp and it does the rest. Except for maybe testing it about once a year, the propane side is never used.

One of the other things I like about the smaller element is that it can be energized at the same time as the A/C and microwave oven and not cause an overload on my rig's 30 amp circuit.

[Duster73]

Well I just placed an order for the conversion kit. I will get it in a week and install it when I get time.

[Mark_T]

Been using a hot rod for nine years. No problem whatsoever. Just remember not to turn it on without water in the tank. It will instantly burn out.

[Duster73]

Just installed the kit and waiting for it to heat up. The kit itself is super easy and comes with everything you need. My motorhome is just a pain in the butt to get it installed to my standard.
But less then 2 hours with doing electrical work.