Need help w/2002 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage Water Heater

[ChaosAgent]

The Atwood Gas/Electric water heater in my friend's recently purchased 2002 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage has never worked in electric mode. It works fine on gas.

According to the Atwood manual the electric side has a manual reset button on the back of the heater, along with the thermostat and the heating element.

However we can't figure out how to access the back of the heater. It's mounted at the bottom edge of the chassis and can not be accessed from inside the coach.

If I slide under the coach all I can see is the input/output hoses going into the area that holds the water heater.

There is a panel above the water heater that we have removed the screws from, but it is sealed/glued down and won't come off.

The only thing we haven't tried yet is to remove the screws around the edge of the heater and pull it out.

Is this what we need to do?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Hi Chaos and welcome to RV Forum.  Glad you (and your friend) found us!

RV manufacturers have an unfortunate habit of blocking access to the 120vac side of water heaters. Pulling it out may be a solution but that only works if there is enough slack in the hoses. Frankly, I'd rather try to loosen the panel you mentioned above the heater. Use a stiff putty knife or scraper blade and work it under the panel to loosen the sealer.  Since the bottom of the heater seems to be open, they no doubt caulked that tightly but it should work loose.

A call to Winnie Customer Service may get you some info on whether that panel will give you the access you need and a tip on how to remove it.

 

[afchap]

When you say "never worked" I presume you mean since your friend bought the coach?  Also, not sure which floor plan you are dealing with ...could be some small differences. To get to the rear of my WH tank, I removed a panel inside the access door and directly above the WH. Then I could get the upper half of my body across the top of the WH and arms/eyes over the back.

You cannot pull the WH out without disconnecting the gas line (on left front?), plumbing and engine coolant exchange hoses on the rear. I definitely would want to know for sure that both 12v and 120v power are getting to the WH before I pulled it out as there is no way to test it once it is disconnected and out. If it has 12v but not 120v power, it will work on gas but not on electric. Is there a 120v breaker tripped somewhere ????  If you do pull it, you will need to be prepared to plug or clamp off the engine coolant hoses. When you were under the coach trying to see the rear of the WH, the two black rubber hoses you saw are engine coolant hoses, NOT water hoses. All the water plumbing is visible only from inside. Since it works on gas, it does have 12v power going to the ignitor at least.

On my '03 40e, the switch inside the coach that turns the electric on/off is a 120v switch. The original water heater (and most likely the one you are dealing with) is an Atwood 3A. I replaced mine last year and the 3A is no longer available ...the replacement is a 4A, designed to have a 12v switch inside the coach. We had to get a 12v switched line to the WH to make the new 4A work. On both models, there is both 120v and 12v power to the WH, the difference is in which line is switched. If I were having the problem you are having on my coach, I would be checking no only the switched line (120v in my case), but also the 12v line we tied into (which in my case happens to be switched also in a somewhat hidden location). You should be able to read the WH model number on one side of the framework when you open the access door. If the model number ends in 4A, and you have a 120v switch inside the coach, that WH is not original and you need to find out where the 12v line is and ensure it also have power.  I also have read about the reset button on the rear of the WH, but I don't believe my original 3A model had the reset button on the rear.

I believe I would talk to both Winnebago owner reations and Atwood before tearing much apart ... they should have some suggestions on what to look for. Winnebaro OR is at (800) 537-1885 -- you will need the coach s/n to get accurate information.

 

[RCtime]

I had the same problem when I st bought my coach.  (Journey)
I had a mobile rv guy come out to look at it, at a campground I was in, TT/N.
It was no more than then the overtemp. button had to be reset.
He crawled under my coach and removed a round plastic panel on the back of the WH.  He reset this button and it has worked fine now for over 2 yrs.
My WH is the 10 gallon, Elect./propane system probably the same as yours.

 

[JLModer2]

the others all had good points, but having learned the hard way on many things, including this issue, I give you my KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) check first...

When we bought ours (used) we couldn't get the electric to work either...  And after checking everything from the resets to breakers to almost going to pull it because I was certain the element was bad... I checked for power (120v) when I was started to disassemble to pull it, I used a clamp on amp meter and saw I was getting current draw...  WTF I thought...  Sure enough 20 mins later we had hot water...  Well How could that be, I had the switch off...  Oh yeah...  Winnie Installed AND Labeled the 120 volt switch upside down.  Ok, How did the last owner not catch this?? I assume they knew about it and just lived with it... nor did we or the dealer catch it on the walk through...  It was a simple fix, and just might be your problem too...

I Know I am wondering off topic now, but too add to this, we replaced the switch altogether with a digital timer switch, it seems to save us quite a bit when we have to pay electric costs.


John