RV Water Heater Not Fully Heating on Electric - Failed 130 Degree Thermostat
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2020
- Part Replaced - Suburban T-Stat/Limi 232306 Standard 130 degrees - Electric (120 VAC) - amzn.to/352wTDK
See More LYRV Water Heater Related Videos - www.loveyourrv.com/?s=water+h...
Disclaimer: Working with LP gas and electricity is dangerous. The following repair I describe should be performed by a qualified RV technician. Doing it yourself may void your RV warranty and insurance. This video is for entertainment and educational purposes and should not be taken as instructional. I accept no liability. - Ray
Last week my wife complained that the hot water ran out during her shower. I blew her off, thinking it was due to the groundwater getting cold as we hit the fall season. Later, when I noticed my dishwater was only lukewarm, I sheepishly apologized and admitted she was right.
I set to work troubleshooting the problem. The Suburban SW6DE water heater worked fine on gas. However, in electric mode, the water heater intermittently failed to heat the water to its rated 130F degree temperature. Most times, it conked out at around 100F.
This led me to suspect a faulty thermostat. I opened the outside access panel and removed the thermostat cover. With a quick test using a multimeter, I had my answer. The 130F thermostat switch was not holding to 130 as it should. With a little tapping on it, a could even get it to cut on and off.
I check the manual and found the part number Suburban 232306 and ordered a replacement. The install is super simple, just one nut and 2 wire connectors to deal with. For safety, I completely turned off the gas and electricity before working on the water heater. Once it had the new part installed, I also did a gas leak test with a gas sniffer device and liquid gas leak mix looking for bubbles.
Success! I tested the hot water with a thermometer and it showed 134.5F after the heating cycle. My wife will be happy. :)
Gas Sniffer Review - www.loveyourrv.com/testing-ou...
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Хобби
Good video I have the same heater. Always wondered what was behind black door number 2. Now I know.
This is good information. I had not seen this part of the water heater taken apart before. Thanks for sharing the video. Stay healthy and warm this winter up North.
Funny " Not Certified" haha! Could of Fooled me! Learned alot about RVs and their parts from you over the years! I am not Certified either but I was head tech on Navy Warship fixing boards under microscope to rebuilding 300 lb values while the ship went up and down! ha
I am like you, save that labor and fix it myself!
This sounds exactly like the problem I am having. Heats great on gas but only Lukewarm on electric. Thanks for taking the time to post this video Ray!
You're most welcome. :)
I am one of those who just discovered I had electric water heating capacity on the same type of heater this weekend. I only thought the heater ran on propane! Newbie, used trailer, rookie mistake. Your article was timely. Thank you!
We are going to miss our Canadian brothers and sisters this winter in Arizona.
We sure will miss visiting as well.
Thank you so much for your video. We have been losing temperature for awhile now and have been kicking on the propane to get adequate hot water. Thanks to your info, I ordered a new t-stat ($20 total) and replaced the old on today. Plenty of hot water again on electric!
Glad it helped
I'm a polymath and I've had three travel trailers in my near 60-revolutions around our Sun. When I'm bored, I watch youtube videos "for fun." Man, there are some inaccurate DIY videos on youtube. I like your video! When you "can opened" the 120-volt thermostat, I thought, "He seems intelligent, I wonder if he understands/knows about bimetal switches" and then you used the term, so, Bravo! If you ever need any advice, I'm full of information and willing to share, but too lazy to make videos. I've seen several other videos on SW-6 gallons with DE posted by "experts" and the other guys ain't as "smart" as you, but they sure add a lot of extraneous/inaccurate crap. Again, Bravo, Sir! :+)
Thanks Ray. This video came out at the perfect time! Had the same issue with our water heater (started about a week ago). I was going to pull the heating element and replace it. Purchased a spare when I watched your video on servicing the water heater. $17.00 out the door from D & J RV Center, Sierra Vista, AZ. Staff is very friendly and helpful. One of their Techs told me I could check the resistance of the element with it installed. Checked good (same reading as the new one). Saved a lot of time!
Ray, I really like how detailed you are on repairs and additions to your RV, I've learned a lot from you thanks
Happy to hear. Cheers, Ray
Glad to know what that switch is for. So there are two switches to turn on the electric mode of the hot water heater.
I just changed the anode in my suburban hot water heater. There was a lot of rust that came out 😞. I’ll have to get a probe and look inside.
Thanks for another great video.
I hope you don’t get a new RV anytime soon. As yours gets older and you do more repair/maintenance I and so many others get to learn from your experiences 😁
Hi Ray exellent knowledge love the fact you break open parts to find out what failed with them.This is the way you gain extra knowledge of most things plus you'r natural figuring things out. 👌
I’m glad you do repair videos, our trailer is only a few years old, but I know at some point stuff is going to start to go wrong and i can refer back to your repairs. Thanks
You're welcome, I sometimes find myself looking back on them to refresh my memory. :) Makes a good diary of repairs.
great video Ray I love it how you take things apart to see how it works I do that all the time
Another great diagnostic video! Thanks!
Great information Ray. Thanks
Great video. It's like watching a Sherlock Holmes mystery and you solved it. Thanks for the video. My trailer has an 1986 water heater so it's really simple. You light with a flame and that's about it.
Nice clear video as usual. I like the 140-degree option. Uses less hot water for the same tap temp. I could see where the change could be an issue if you're used to the same faucet settings over time. Was hard to tell on the video but be sure your sniffer is in clean air during its start-up. That's a pretty slick little unit. Thanks for posting.
Yes, even forgot to take the dust cap off, oh well was just showing what a person could do to check for leaks. :)
@@LoveYourRV Didn't notice that. Ours have red caps on them just for that reason. Good idea and demo anyway.
Another fantasist repair education for Ray, thanks Ray, I will have to check my water heater. RR
Hello Ray, from Ouray (Colorado.....a poet and didnt know it)!! Thank you very much for this awesome DIY educational video!! We have a 10 gal Suburban heater. It is only 2.5 years old, so we haven't had any problems with it. But, it is great to be able to troubleshoot so as to prevent from wrecking a trip.....or for it to cost $300 to repair.
QUESTION: Do you carry any spare hot water heater parts with you regularly?
Awesome video, Hope this solves my problem.
I have the same model propane detector. It works fairly well. However, your detector will work better if you took the dust cap off the sensor probe. I replaced my thermostat when it failed with a 140 degree unit to get more (mixed) hot water since I am the only one living in my 5th wheel. The 140 stat is not suggested when young children may be using the water.
haha, yeah!
Thomas, Ray warned us he was not a certified RV tech
Our gas works fine to heat the water, but the electric has never worked right. We have tried different combination of switch positions with no luck. I guess I'll have to try some of what you did. I hate to take it in for something easy. They always rip you off. Thanks for the insight.
Great multimeter you got there! 👍
An oldie but a goodie. :)
Great video! One question, however, how did you remove the left-hand screw from the cover? I'm having trouble getting access to it. Thanks!
Oops....just read the comments and I see you have answered the question already! Disregard!
If you are going to have a problem that was the better one to have. Your suburban hot water tank is similar to my Atwood brand. The suburban has an anode I think but the Atwood is aluminum and doesn’t need one. The Atwood has a very tricky drain cap to access when draining. Almost need a special tool to drain the tank. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, the Suburban has steel tank with some kind of coating inside and anode rod, got to look inside one when mine failed a few years back - ruclips.net/video/EY-rHSulMps/видео.html
I used a socket wrench 3/4 I think
Good info good fix Ray
Thanks. :)
Great info
Thank you for this, I learn new things from every one of your videos! Is it taken with the 4K? We can see everything so well.
No, its HD but the HD format on my camera has a higher bitrate than many so makes the video a little clearer.
@@LoveYourRV Thank you! I have never seen the video filming process, it would be cool to have a shot at you while doing the video. The artist at work :-0)
Hopefully I will remember this video if I have a similar issue. That looked like a relatively easy fix. Should I be able to electrically run my fridge, water heater and a 1500W electric heater all at once? Thanks for sharing.
At 120 VAC a 1500W heater draws 12.5 amps, the fridge 325W element will draw about 2.7 amps, and the water heater 1440W element about 12 amps for total of 27.2 amps. If you have a 30 amp hookup its very close, not much extra for other things. If you have a 50 amp RV then it has a 100 amp capacity so tons of extra.
In my 30 amp RV, I usually run a 600W heater and an 800W heater and the water heater and fridge and have never blown the 30 amp breaker, we just have to remember to shut off a heater when using the microwave, even if we forgot all the items would have to be drawing their max at exactly the same time, which would be rare since the cycle.
Problems can occur when the RV park power voltage sags due to being overloaded and the voltage drops, then some stuff like electronic power supplies in TVs and computers will tend to draw more amps than normal. Cheers, Ray
@@LoveYourRV Thank you for such a great explanation. I figured I would be close but I was unsure the wattages of the fridge and water heater. Mine are probably exactly same as yours and I only have 30amps also. We tend to have a couple computers, phones and tablets charging daily. I guess I will leave the fridge and water heater running off propane or choose one of them to run on electricity.
@@mjm3852 The other possible large draw is the charge converter, if the batteries get drawn down fairly low say you've been boondocking and just got back on shore power the charger can draw up to 1000 watts while it's recharging. Many surge protectors will have a readout showing you the total amps you are using like I have, but you can also install a relatively cheap amp meter like these things for example - www.amazon.ca/Current-Amperage-Voltmeter-Multimeter-Transformer/dp/B07JB9B2QL I may install something like this for this winter as we will be trying to max the 30 amp service and put it where Anne can easily see it so she can know when she needs to turn something off to use something else.
Can we use the gas and Electric of our water heater at the same time? Thanks! Bob
Yes
I understand the flexibility of having a gas and electric water heater. In a home system gas is cheaper, but you're using electricity. Is that because electricity is cheaper than bottled gas?
Electricity is often included in the price of a campsite. Where we are now it is. Pricing for LP gas locally is $3.49 a gallon filling my RVs 30 lb cylinders so the less I use the better and try to maximize my 30 amp power service provided.
How did you get the left screw out of the thermostat cover?
I just used a flat head screwdriver. I did find that the screw was sort of stripped though and would just turn so had to pry back on it a little while turning to get it to back out. Ended up replacing it with a little thicker square head screw.
You should show an install video.
Water heater install? www.loveyourrv.com/leaking-rv-water-heater-replacement/
How did you check for temperature on the thermostat? Did you use a one of those laser guns ?
I could have but I just measured the temperature of the water after the water heater had finished its heating cycle and the thermostat had switched it off. I actually use a small thermometer to keep track of the water temp for when I'm boondocking www.loveyourrv.com/2-simple-boondocking-water-tips-wh-temp-and-fresh-top-up/
@@LoveYourRV
Perfect thank you
How do you know the make and model of the heater? Where do I look for to find the info?
On mine there is a label with model and other information. It's located to the lower right when I open the access panel
@@LoveYourRV ok thanks 😊
Part Replaced - Suburban T-Stat/Limi 232306 Standard 130 degrees - Electric (120 VAC) - amzn.to/352wTDK
See More LYRV Water Heater Related Videos - www.loveyourrv.com/?s=water+heater
Seems like you just put that heater in but then I seem to have lost all sense of time lately :-)
January 2017 was when I put it in. :)
Amazoo description of products is very inaccurate .
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