New 2024 Nexus Viper 27 Dometic gas/electric water heater has never worked

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We bought the new RV mentioned above. Including our trip to Missouri to pick it up, we had not been on a trip where we required hot water. Admittedly, this was somehow overlooked in the PDI, and I have no one to blame but myself. We are having LiquidSprings installed, and have made the trip to the installer. We spent three nights, and much to our disappointment, the Dometic gas/elecrtic 6 gallon water heater never offered to work. I have a multimeter, and checked the switches, the power at the heater, and the continuity of all of the temperature and pressure failsafes. Everything tested correctly in regards to volts at the heater, and continuity of the overheat and high pressure sensors. I also checked the 2 amp fuse on the control panel, and the part that fails and turns off the unit if heat escapes into the housing. Everything tested fine. Obviously with voltage delivered to the control board, the breakers were not tripped. I did cut all power to the unit to see if it would reset, with no luck there either. I also removed the panel to confirm the heater bypass was not involved, and there was a sticker in that area showing the proper orientations of the valves to shut off the bypass. That was all in the positions described for normal operation as well. I had read about the issue of the outdoor shower possibly left on at the knobs causing a mixture of the hot and cold water, but the knobs were off. The propane tank was on. We were connected to shore power. Neither the gas nor the electric heating will become active. Our previous motorhome had an on demand water heater, so this is a new animal to me. Does anyone have any further suggestions?

 

[DennisT]

If the electric side was turned on with an empty tank it may have “smoked” the element. They aren’t happy when turned on and just air around them.

Ours was suburban, so probably different, but we had a switch inside for propane (also had to ensure propane was working - open the tank valve too fast and it tripped the high flow). If propane is working other places that is probably not the problem.

Electric side we had a breaker inside and a switch on the tank to get it on that source.

 

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If the electric side was turned on with an empty tank it may have “smoked” the element. They aren’t happy when turned on and just air around them.

Ours was suburban, so probably different, but we had a switch inside for propane (also had to ensure propane was working - open the tank valve too fast and it tripped the high flow). If propane is working other places that is probably not the problem.

Electric side we had a breaker inside and a switch on the tank to get it on that source.

I was concerned about the “tank bypass”, but after removing the panel it was behind, there was a sticker that showed the proper orientation of the valves for use, and unless someone put those valves on backwards, it is the way it is designed to operate. We definitely have propane, and I checked the cooktop burners to see if they would light, and they did, so to me that eliminates a propane regulator type issue. It is under warranty, so there is that. Warranty didn’t make the wife enjoy cold showers though. I should have made them fire it up during our delivery. This is our first water heater with a tank, and we never had an issue with our on demand water heaters in the past. Lesson learned. Now we play the game of how long will it be until it is fixed.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Does it click?

 

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Does it click?

No, the electronic ignition does not click.