Water Heater

When my wife and I attended the big RV show in Tampa this past January, the propane side of the water heater wouldn't work. Since it got pretty cold there, we kept the generator on the whole time and used the 110v side and didn't have any problems.

Last week as I was getting the coach ready for our upcoming vacation, I blew out the flue tube with some compressed air and got the propane side working again. An easy fix. But the electric side wouldn't work. I checked the breaker, the light on the switch was on, the connections all looked good, but it wouldn't work. So I took it to my mechanic who was doing a couple of other repairs for me and asked him to find out what was wrong.

He called me yesterday and told me there are four parts that need to be replaced on the electric side. I remember him saying the element was one of them because that's what I suspected had gone bad. Other items he listed meant nothing to me and I now can't remember what they were. The long and short of it, though, is that he said they went bad simply from age - 13 years old - and nothing I did or didn't do regarding maintenance. He said that because of the age of the unit, he suspects I will continue to throw money into parts as they go bad and suggested installing a new water heater instead. Much more expensive, but we'll know it's new and will last for several years. I agreed and will pick up the coach this afternoon with a new heater. He was talking about charging around $700 to replace the parts, while the new heater installed will cost roughly $1300. He's replacing it with what was already there - an Atwood 10g with DSI - unfortunately one of the most expensive they make.

What I'm wondering is this: is this normal for a water heater to last 13 years and then begin to go bad? In your home, the residential water heaters usually last between 7-15 years, so if comparing it to that, this seems to be a reasonable assumption. However, the water heater in your house is being used all the time, while the heater in your coach is being used a few weeks out of every year. Do they go bad simply over time, or should usage be considered? I guess I'm trying to determine if my mechanic is leading me in the right direction or just trying to take my money. Any thoughts or opinions or personal experience will be welcome.

The original Atwood water heater in our previous 1995 Coachmen Class A is still working fine, with the only repair having been a new ignitor board in 2006 that cost $85 and took about 15 minutes. Our current 2001 coach also has the original Atwood water heater and this past winter in Florida, the ignitor board failed in that one as well, and cost about the same for a replacement from a local Camping World. In both cases the repair was simple and the cost nominal. A friend of mine did have to replace the electric element in his heater, but no other parts, after he accidentally turned on the electric side with the heater dry.

There's not much that can go wrong in these water heaters. There's the control board, the gas plumbing, electric heat element and the heat exchanger from the engine cooling system (if you have that feature.) What can happen after a number of years is the buildup of minerals ("crud") being precipitated out of hard water. If you've never flushed your water heater, it could be half full of crud.

Replacing the water heater seems like a rather drastic solution but maybe your RV tech knows something you aren't aware of.

My 10-gallon Atwood dsi water heater sprung a leak at 7 years. That was seven years & 50,000 miles of full timing. Cost to replace was a little over $1,000 at that time.

Matters are getting worse. The shop called me to let me know the manufacturer sent them a 6 gal instead of a 10 gal. I told them to put the old one back in so I can pick up the coach because we're leaving Monday morning on a month long vacation and I'll just use the propane side. They said they can't put it back in because there is a leak on the propane side of which I wasn't aware, but did notice my propane level seemed to have gone down since its last use. They said they checked every repair facility, 20 of them, in SW Florida and no one has this model in stock so best case scenario is having the mfr send another that will arrive Monday at 1PM and put it in then. We had planned on finishing our prep of the coach this weekend, load it and then leave Monday morning around 8AM. Now, it appears we won't hit the road until 6PM at the earliest and drive all night. I don't like driving after dark, especially with the toad, but if I want to stay on schedule and make my reservations, I don't have much of a choice.

I had another appointment with an awning specialist who was going to replace one of my slide toppers as soon as I got the coach out of the shop that I had to cancel.

I'm beginning to wonder if this trip isn't jinxed.

And now I'm wondering if having to get a replacement water heater at this age isn't a bit premature. John, I think the parts that supposedly went bad were the element, the thermocoupler, thermostat and shoe. I didn't even know these things had feet.

Sorry, but I think your mechanic just likes to replace things. Thousands of 15+ year old Atwood heaters function fine.  None of the things mentioned age to any notable degree, and replacing an entire water heater merely on suspicion is crazy [IMO].

He probably could have ordered a new one an Amazon and had it next day.

As Gary said... In 50+ years of multiple RV ownership, I've only replaced two water heaters. One because I knew when I bought the trailer that the heater tank had been left full and split during the winter, and another that was missing the front panel and had badly corroded fittings. The second one was likely fixable, but it was a good excuse to upgrade from a standing pilot to a DSI heater anyway. 

I appreciate the candor, gentlemen. Gary, you're probably correct and this guy likes to take the expensive road in replacement of units rather than repairs. His reasoning behind it is to save me money in the long term because he thinks more and more parts will continue to go bad. But after reading the comments others have made on this thread, it sounds like there really isn't that much that can go wrong with these units. If that's the case, I've been snookered. This is why I asked the question. This mechanic seems good; quite expensive, but good with his repairs, and is rated at the top of the rv repair reviews website. His labor rate is the lowest in town at $135/hour, something I find ridiculous, but something you just have to live with if you can't do the repairs yourself. If I knew anything about water heaters, how they worked and how they were installed, I would have either fixed this or replaced it myself and saved the labor charges. When you're ignorant about repairing coaches, you're at the mercy of the repairmen, and in this area, there aren't that many good ones that can be trusted. I learn as I go, but the first time something breaks down, I'm going to be lost until I see a repair being made. Then, I can duplicate it if necessary at a later date.

This guy told me the propane side of the system was shot completely because it had a leak. The leak was coming from the valve not closing all the way due to build up from the propane. He said the build up is sticky, like nicotine, and won't allow the valve gate to close, which could cause the flame to never extinguish and possibly catch the coach on fire. Is this legitimate, or more horse hockey?

A leaky gas valve is possible, but most use a dual solenoid valve so there are redundant shut offs. The most common valve failure is an open solenoid coil. In either case, the valve is not very expensive and easily replaced.

I personally think the LP leak story was some hoopla - you would have smelled that from a mile off.  I think he was already invested and wasn't going to let you say no.  R&R - remove and replace approach to all problems.  Saves not having to figure it out. 

But, what are you going to do now.  Might as well take the lump and move on.  Better things to do with your weekends.

I just checked the on line prices for the parts

Thermostat  $15.20
Electric Heater Element  $18.23

There isn't a thermocouple, he may have meant the thermal cut off  $18.99/package of 2

Propane Solenoid Valve  $89.78

All these parts can be replaced in at most two hours, depending on access to heater element.

This guy told me the propane side of the system was shot completely because it had a leak. The leak was coming from the valve not closing all the way due to build up from the propane. He said the build up is sticky, like nicotine, and won't allow the valve gate to close, which could cause the flame to never extinguish and possibly catch the coach on fire. Is this legitimate, or more horse hockey?

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Well, nobody can argue that a fire in the RV wall is not a disaster, but I am more than a little skeptical of his diagnosis.  I don't think he knows any more about gas water heaters than you do.  That said, he is not unusual among RV repair techs. Far too many of them are parts swappers rather than diagnosticians.

Sounds to me that the mechanic understood your predicament, and took advantage, like many do.  Good luck, If you miss or are late to your first reservation oh well, life happens.  Not worth starting your vacation off, pissed.  Safe travels

LOL!  When the mechanic is spending Other People's Money, there is little reason not to be a technical purist.  "Change the oil in that engine? No Way!  Replace the engine!  It's already worn and dirty, and might fail soon!". 

I've only needed two mobile RV service guys in 120,000 miles of using our Horizon, both were good experiences. Had the propane furnace quit, bad control board. The other service was #2 high dollar potty decided to break an unobtanium cable while I was getting radiation treatments in Houston. I was in no shape to do any work so we had that potty replaced by a mobile tech.

I've found RV park offices usually know who to recommend for maintenance, wash/wax jobs, etc.

Sorry I haven't responded to everyone's posts for the past few days. Since hitting the road late on Monday evening, we have had little or no wifi and cell service, even in campgrounds that are supposed to have them. This is the first chance i've had to be able to load a webpage.

My mechanic showed me the water heater he took out of the coach. The gas plumbing - flue and mix chamber - was completely corroded because the flame never went out after I shut off the heater the last time I used it and didn't go out until I shut off the gas at the tank. He said he could smell the propane before getting close to the coach when he began working on it. The electric element was dead and located at the rear of the heater, meaning the heater had to be removed before changing it out, meaning a lot of extra labor to repair a 13 year old unit. He justified getting a new one because he was within $400 of the cost of a new one if he repaired the old one. The only thing that worked was the engine heat exchanger.

The unit he installed was still not the correct one because his distributor sent the wrong one the second time. This one was the correct size - 10 gallons - and had DSI, electric and propane, but was missing engine heat exchange. He put the unit in because he knew I had to get on the road, even though he would not be able to exchange it when the correct one comes in. He may have jumped the gun on suggesting a new unit, but I don't think he is inherently corrupt or else he wouldn't have offered to take the hit on this water heater when it is returned. I told him after two days on the road that I would be willing to live with this one if the difference in price was good enough because we really don't need the engine heat exchange. He offered a $325 discount and I accepted.

One reason I am not too upset with paying for this new unit is because after it was installed, I realized how weak the old heater was by comparison. I just assumed that RV water heaters didn't put out much heat because our water never really got that hot. It was warm enough to take a shower, so we never thought twice about it. Now, we have water so hot, the mix has to be 75% cold and 25% hot or we'll burn our hands when washing them. Apparently, the element was going bad for some time and we seldom used the gas side.

I don't like paying a mechanic a drastic markup on parts, but this guy won't allow me to bring in my own. Part of that is due to wanting to make more profit; something I don't like, but at least understand. Part of it also, is because he guarantees all his work and cannot offer the guarantee if the parts don't come from him. Just a good excuse? Maybe. Amazon has this heater for $465. After his discount is applied, I will pay $555 for the one he installed. That's really not that bad of a markup.

Thanks for all the input from the various posters. It gave me a lot of insight.

Thanks for the follow-up, it certainly does sound like your heater was a basket case. In all of the years I've hung around here, I've never heard of one with such an accumulation of significant problems. Based on your story, I agree your tech made a good decision for you.

Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do John Wayne said once!  But man would I miss that Motoraid engine heat.

I was faced with a bad transmission in a pickup/5er once while on vacation.  4 weeks to get repaired and 3 weeks vacation in front of me with the family.  Looking back, I did the right thing, I traded in the pickup and was on the road in 8 hours.  Sure I missed the old pickup, but man was that new one a much better towing machine with all the new technology.

Living without the MotorAid shouldn't be that hard to take with a $325 discount. It's nice, but with a new more efficient water heater you probably won't miss it.

Sounds like he is a competent and honest technician. We all like the lowest price, but until you've been on the other side of the sale one doesn't understand all that has to go in to the margin of the selling price. Things such as cancelled orders, unrealistic expectations of some customers, changes and refunds and etc.