Water Heater Repair/Replace?

I have the Atwood GCH10-3E. 10 gallon gas/electric and heat exchange.  The tank started leaking yesterday.  I have found I can get a replacement tank, it has the insulation 'blanket', now a styrofoam style vs. the fiberglass and cardboard old style.  Has all the electric stuff on the back.  A little less than 1/2 the cost of an entire new replacement.

The replacement water heater is an AT94023. like I said just a little over double the price. 

Has anyone here done the tank replacement?  Considering the tank is 21 years old, my concern is separating the tank rom the rest.  Is the task worth more in hassle than another $350?  For the most part either way I need to remove the entire water heater.  Repair will then involve separating and reinstalling.  I like saving money, but even more I like doing the job right.


Thoughts?  Experience?

Just found a youtube vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRfkuivFpVE.  I think I made up my mind. 

PancakeBill said:

I have the Atwood GCH10-3E. 10 gallon gas/electric and heat exchange.  The tank started leaking yesterday.  I have found I can get a replacement tank, it has the insulation 'blanket', now a styrofoam style vs. the fiberglass and cardboard old style.  Has all the electric stuff on the back.  A little less than 1/2 the cost of an entire new replacement.

The replacement water heater is an AT94023. like I said just a little over double the price. 

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Does the replacement include the engine heating coils?  I always liked having hot water upon arrival at a destination.

Yes it does.  The existing heater is a GHC. HC for heat exChange, and the new one is as well.  It stood up to 21 years, I salute it.  Found one for a really good price with free fed=ex shipping, should be here Thurs or Fri. 

Ironically, the water heater in the cabin I am working in was do a when we got here, just finished fixing it. 

This morning I drained and disconnected the heater from water system, connected them so we at least have water till new one arrives. 

We are taking care of the Queen!

Oh as a followup,  replace wins out over repair.  On the old one there is still the controller, the igniter, the eco and temp thermostats, over pressure valve and Elec element that could go.  Together the parts would have been more than an entire new unit.

UnitedRV is where we found it, shipping out of TX should have by end of the week.  $599 with free shipping, retail is about $950.

Followup.  New water heater was supposed to be here on Friday be end of business.  Only got too Billings.  Monday now, delivered, had Jolene empty her closet so I could get to the back of old one.  Unboxed new unit.  Wrong one!  I figured, oh crap, ordered wrong, checked invoice, nope the right one was on there, the wrong one was sent.  The company was very nice about it and promised to send out a proper unit, 2nd day.  Can't be shipped till tomorrow, s second day ought to be Thursday, well, I hope so, cuz we have no hot water and the overnight lows are 35.  Pretty refreshing water out of the faucet.  Fortunately, we do have a private shower we can use. 

We could have installed this one, it just didn't have the heat exchange feature, but we like that feature.

PancakeBill said:

  We could have installed this one, it just didn't have the heat exchange feature, but we like that feature.

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I was going to ask, since most all RV water heaters are the same size.  but I see you answered that question.. Thank you for doing that.

Well, the size for capacity yes.  But the 6 gal vs 10 gal are different. 

Thinking everything was good, I have the old one ready to pull out, and unsealed around, then we get about 5 days of rain, so had to stuff the opening to prevent water intrusion.

To conclude this adventure,  isn't anything RV related or plumbing related an adventure?  Combine the 2 and hold onto your hats.

Well, it wasn't that bad, but.  First,  supplier sent wrong water heater, I ordered a heat exchange model, they sent next model down.  They did a good job, and got me the right one out with 2nd day air...It came in yesterday, too late to start anything plumbing related, so started today. 

The old one had all the screws out, had cold-in hot-out connected together we at least had running water.  (No bypass kit on it). Just had to disconnect propane, electric and heater hoses.  Got heater hoses pinched off and disconnected, AC was easy, and got it pulled.  Reinstall is just reverse of removal, right?  Mostly,  AC connection, easy, plumbing connections easy, propane, ewww, Trying to get to to line up was a small but overcome issue, then the control wires.  3 wires from old, now 4 on new.  Here is where it got real interesting.

Google is your friend, turns out the old stye just sent the AC to the unit, with a service switch, but the new unit has a 122v trigger line to activate a relationship to switch on the AC.  OK, Under the closet, where can I find 12v.  Ultimately found that 12v was coming down from ceiling to some light switches, so pull switch, ID 12v in, tap into and attach wire, then drop wire thru to exit a hole I could only feel the 3/4" hole!  Fished thru. caught it with a sacrificial wire coat hanger, cut and bent for the task.  From that point it was pretty easy, just route it across and over to the white wire. 
I had already tested the lp heating and it worked great.  I guess this one ought to last as least as long as the original unit installed in the building of the coach on 1999.

  Long post, thanks for hanging in with me.

Glad you got it taken care of, Bill. Enjoy.