How do I get the electric water heater on (vs propane?)

[Allthatcangowrong]

Howdy my fellow risk taking amigos,
It's been a while since I hollered here.
Happy to report that my 2001 Kountry Star is still in one piece, after being in storage and largely resting for most of these past three years, I finally decided to take it West, away from NY and towards Cali. On this first REAL trip, two peculiarities have surfaced, both of which have stumped myself (easily done) as well as the previous owner (to his credit, it's been three years since he sold it to me and is a saint with my noob questions. Paying full asking price has it's rewards!)

1) I have a switch on the control panel labelled "water heater" that has a light up indicator light on it. There is an unlabelled rocker switch on the water heater unit itself that does have on/off markings. Putting both of these to the on position yielded no hot water after a 30 minute wait. Is it possible the electric heating element is very slow to gain momentum? And that even if tied to shore power, propane is the way to go if one expects an actual hot shower?

2) The kitchen exhaust fan seems to be sentient and doesn't want to work on command. I checked the fuse, futzed with the controls, set it to manual and back, then gave up on it. Halfway through dinner, it whirls on like it's possessed. Checking on it this morning, it started up like what happened yesterday was all in my mind.

Anyone else have an experience like this? Gremlin in the lines? Sudden and unexpected (untimely) function of an appliance? Poor wire contact, perhaps?

Thanks,
AllThatCanGoWrong

 

[Sealyn]

Is the circuit breaker on in your 120 vac breaker panel?

 

[Allthatcangowrong]

Ya know, good question. I hadn't checked the breakers. I will check those and report back this eve. Currently banished from the rear of the unit for reasons. (Apparently suggesting to one's lady friend we should wrap up our conversation in favor of prepping to get on the road, where we'll have EIGHT HOURS to debate the finer points of blah is grounds for pouty mcpout face to make an appearance. RVing forums should have a section on do's and don'ts for relationship maintenance, bc I tell ya I don't know what's worse, no hot water or no peace hahaha. Thanks for the tip )

 

[Neemer]

After you check the breakers, the next thing to check is to see if there is 120v at the heater element. If yes, then your heating element needs replacing. You can get a new one at Home Depot or Lowes.

Anytime you empty the tank, turn that on/off switch on the tank off, and don’t turn it back on until there is water in the tank. If electricity hits the element with no water in the tank, it fries. Turning that switch off will ensure that you don’t mistakenly hit the control panel switch and energize the heating element with no water in the tank.

 

[Scooterfan]

After owning boats most of my life, I've found that motorhomes are similar beasts. They like (need) to be attended to regularly. Use them and "fix" the little things and you'll avoid having to fix a big thing. Read the manual on your water heater and you find out what you need to know. Enjoy your trip to CA...when you get here there's plenty of advice to be had on this forum (where to stay, eat, what to do, etc...) Blessings

 

[Allthatcangowrong]

The wealth of knowledge here is impressive. Thank you all! I checked the breakers, they are ok, but I do suspect that with the age of the coach, the heating element can and should be replaced, as the odds it was lit up without water, by yours truly or any number of previous owners makes me think that is the lowest hanging fruit and worth chasing. NEVER would have figured that out on my own. Y'all are brilliant. Thank you.

 

[fluffywhitedogs]

Are you sure the heater is gas/electric? My last trailer had a propane only water heater. My current one has both, and has a separate switch for each.

 

[Russellvh]

My 5th wheel has an electricity switch at the heater and one at the inside panel. If I switch one it’s on if I switch both it’s off. Like a room with two light switches. The panel, also, has a gas switch. I turn it on if I want quicker recovery time.

 

[DennisT]

The one on the panel with the light should be the propane side of the water heater.

On our Forester we left the outside switch off and the breaker for it off until we had it filled with water and were plugged in. This was a little safety so we didn’t smoke the electric element.

When we first got hooked up I would use propane to get the water in the tank hot then switch to electric to keep it going. Starting it up with electric only would take a bit to get the tank hot compared to the speed of propane.

No reason you can’t use both at the same time for a little faster recovery time if you desire.

As mentioned above, the electric element does not last long if turned on with the tank empty.