When I reconnected battery on Keystone Cougar 31SQB after winter storage I mistakenly put the white wire for electric tongue jack light on white terminal after about 5-10 seconds it started smoking I quickly disconnected the wire but the terminals on battery as well as wire were melted, everything on RV works fine except the light on tongue jack (no big deal) & here is the problem the Hot Water Heater will not ignite/work. I did not replace battery for a month or so because other then the Water heater not working (which I originally thought had nothing to do with the battery) I have checked the circuit breakers from what I can tell they look good. I have started to research causes but have not really been able to find much. Any suggestions ?
dumb mistake, battery wire connected backwards
- Thread starter T4C
- Start date
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Rene T
Site Team
Welcome to the forum. Can you give us the make and model of the water heater?
So everything else works like the fridge, furnace and 12 volt lights.
So everything else works like the fridge, furnace and 12 volt lights.
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
There will be a load panel with 12V fuses somewhere, often with the AC breakers.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
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I did that .
Yes everything (as far as we notice) else works. Water Heater is a Suburban 5240A
Rene T
Site Team
So is it gas fired and 110 volt electric.? If it is, does it work off electric?
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
In a picture online I see some 'Push To Reset" buttons. Probably thermal switches but worth a check.
Does the control panel switch have a light or other indicator?
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Does the control panel switch have a light or other indicator?
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
It is gas fired & electric. Does not seem to work off of either I had googled in regards to if it needed a little bit of juice from the battery.
This is what I found
Gas-fired RV water heaters need a bit of 12v power from your RV batteries to operate the switches that automatically turn the flame off once the water is hot.
So this is what made me start thinking it was due to the battery issue.
I have not tested any of the wiring from battery into RV .it has the Polar feature so not able to view under the trailer
This is what I found
Gas-fired RV water heaters need a bit of 12v power from your RV batteries to operate the switches that automatically turn the flame off once the water is hot.
So this is what made me start thinking it was due to the battery issue.
I have not tested any of the wiring from battery into RV .it has the Polar feature so not able to view under the trailer
I pressed the reset buttons and to be honest it does not feel like it does anything.
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
What about fuses? Check all of them, you don't know which one the water heater control may be sourced from. After that, check right at the water heater control board to see if power is making it there.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
I checked the fuses and circuit breakers. I have yet to check the Water control board , would that be located on the water heater . I was planning on using a VOM to see if there is power running from battery to automatic reset circuit breaker then from that is where it gets tricky since I have a Polar option on bottom of camper
uchu
Well-known member
It should look like this; check if power is getting there:
I don’t have anything like this as far as I know. I just have the switch to turn water heater on gas or electric as well as the pump. They all light up when turned on however I do not hear water heater ignite on either gas or electric or both.
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Arch Hoagland
Well-known member
Show me somebody who never makes a mistake and I'll show you somebody who never does anything.
