Water Heater Gas only no electric......Help

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limechild

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Joined
May 23, 2014
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10
I have a 2004 29ft StarCraft Homestead travel trailer.  Last season the water heater circuit breaker kept tripping whenever we tried to use it.  It works fine with propane.

Any ideas on what could be wrong?  The campground we stay at has electricity. Be nice not to have to use gas.

Thanks,
Ethan C
 
It sounds to me like possibly your heating element is toast. Did you at anytime prior to this problem, turn on the electric element with the tank empty? Drain the tank and check the electrical element for continuity. You should be able to purchased the same element at Home Depot or Lowe's.
 
You would need a meter to check if electricity is passing through the heating element.  Without a meter you could remove the element and check to see if it is pitted or broke.  Elements do wear out and as long as you have it out, I would just replace it as they are quite cheap and can be bought at most hardware stores.  If it still doesn't work then look at breakers to make sure they are not tripped and finally the circuit board.
 
one of the most useful tools in my kit is a test lamp.

Find the wires going to the heat element
Find terminals where you can connect test light

Set unit to ELECTRIC with cold water in the tank

If the light comes on, the element is bad
If the light does NOT come on.. some other issue.

Even a simple neon lamp tester will do.

Or you can disconnect the element and measure resistance, The resistance of a 1200 watt element is very low, (may look like a short) but if it is open, it's bad.
 
John go the testing right on.  8) So at this point it would just a matter of turn the water off and draining out the water heater and replace the element. I kind of wonder if a normal hardware store element will fit?  ???

 
Most RV water heaters since 1996 use standard water heating elements with a 120v, 1400 watt, rating. There are a couple styles, screw-in vs bolt-in, so take yours along to match. At the hardware store you will probably find  other "standard" sizes as well, e.g. 240v/2000 watts, so make sure you get one with the same rating as yours.

Prior to 1996 Atwood used a 1500 watt element, but the current Atwood replacement part is still a 1400 watt, reducing the amp load a bit. You can use the 1400 watt element in either older or newer Atwood heaters.
 
Thanks for all the posts guys. Im at camp and im going to try and figure this out.  Just need to find a fellow camper with a test light or meter.

Thanks again,
Ethan C
 
OK guys here's what I found.  The element was toast. New one installed and still nothing.  Found a tester and realized that there was no power to the element.  Behind a black box with 2 reset buttons I found this overload/fuse thing that is blown.  I need to know what it is so I can order a new one.

Here are the pictures.

Thanks again,
Ethan C
 

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Make sure you fill the tank back up before you toast another element. Bleed all the ir out of itnthrough a faucet.
 
To get the correct part it might be good to know the exact make and model of the water heater. That is the first question you will be asked. The part is probably the same for quite a few models but......
 
Your heater will have both a thermostat and an emergency cut off (ECO) to control the electric. Older Atwoods have a separate thermostat for the electric heater but newer ones share one thermostat for both modes. There is a seprate ECO for each.  I'm confident that a 2004 is the shared thermostat type, which means there is a switching relay controlled by the heater's main circuit board. The relay switches 120vac power on/off when the board gets the "heat needed" signal from the shared thermostat. Note that you must have 12v power to the heater circuit board to enable the circuit board to activate 120vac heating. Make sure that you have 12v power and the circuit board is working before you decide the relay or ECO is bad.

As Alfa says, you need to identify the heater make and exact model to get the right parts. Many control parts are shared among several models, but not all of them.
 
Where do I find the make and model of the heater?  Its in an 04 StarCraft Homestead 29BHS.  I purchased the camper used with no manuals. Here is a picture of the heater.

Thanks,
 

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Mine is on a paper label on the right hand side of the box shown in the top picture.  YMMV!!

Is nothing shown on the top few lines of those instructions printed in on that metal plate????
 

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