Attwood hot water heater problems

[lx22f/c]

Got up to our seasonal site yesterday and dewinterized it. Got all the air out of the water lines and turned on water heater to electric. A couple of hours later i use it and no hot water!
Checked the breaker it was fine.
Checked for power to element no power at heating element.
Turn on switch for gas and it still doesnt come on.
Shut off all switches and breakers and start unplugging connections outside at heater and replugging.
Reset breaker and turn both gas and electric switches on still not working. When i wiggled the wires and a fuse looking wire it all came on. what is eco in the picture is it something that is replaceable? One wire looks like it has like a fusible link or something.
It worked fine for showers last night but this morning when i turned on the gas switch it didnt kick off till i wiggled those 3 wires again.
Thanks Robert

[Grumpy]

Emergency Cut Off. It's the safety thermostat. If you need to replace the thermostats they come together as a kit.

Sounds like you had a little corrosion on the connections.

[John LLRV]

sounds like there is just a buildup of corrosion on the terminals. The item in the pic is replaceable. That is your thermostat assembly. I would be kinda concerned with the burner assembly. There should be an adjustment screw in the small slide hole, and move the vents back to the original position. From that picture, it seems that the flame is not getting enough oxygen to burn.

[lx22f/c]

Good catch John. I didn't even notice the screw gone! The burner had a good blue flame from what i remember. Is the fusible link replaceable? I think i might pick those up this week. We leave on friday for spring break and 7 nights of camping. Momma needs hot water!!!! Lol
To replace the thermostat do you just peel back the black cover???
How does it attach? Is part of it in the tank? Thanks

[Grumpy]

The black cover comes as a part of the kit. You just disconnect the wires remove the black cover pop out the T stats pop the new is ones in, peel the cover off the adhesive backing on the black cover, stick it on and hook up the wires. The T stats are external.

[lx22f/c]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

The black cover comes as a part of the kit. You just disconnect the wires remove the black cover pop out the T stats pop the new is ones in, peel the cover off the adhesive backing on the black cover, stick it on and hook up the wires. The T stats are external.

Thank you

[TCNashville]

The fusible link is called a Thermal Cut Off. If that was bad, I don't think the heater would work at all. Of course, if you can wiggle it and it works, you might be "connecting" it. You can buy the Thermal Cut Off at any CW or Rv part store. If your water heater ran through it's full cycle and shut down like it's supposed too when the water got hot, I doubt it's your thermostats. Atwood recommends periodically cleaning all connections with a pencil eraser. Sounds like you have a bad connection somewhere. Also check all the grounds on the unit. Adjust the air shutter so that it's open approximately 1/4 inch. Looks like yours is not open quite enough.

[RedHorse1]

Here's a YouTube video dealing with replacing the thermostat and cutoff assembly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYzqP2BFrMk

[lx22f/c]

Thanks i had just watched that yesterday. Went and picked up a set of new thermostats at lunch. Will install them this weekend. When i asked the guy at the rv shop about the thermal cut off link he said just to remove it that it isn't needed.

[TCNashville]

Originally Posted by lx22f/c

Thanks i had just watched that yesterday. Went and picked up a set of new thermostats at lunch. Will install them this weekend. When i asked the guy at the rv shop about the thermal cut off link he said just to remove it that it isn't needed.

There's a way to bypass the TCO, not sure but I don't think you can just remove it as it completes a circuit.

[lx22f/c]

Originally Posted by TCNASHVILLE

There's a way to bypass the TCO, not sure but I don't think you can just remove it as it completes a circuit.

The tech said to remove it and replace the connector and hook the wire straight to terminal instead of to link. I don't know what the purpose of the link is?? He also said attwood is the only company that use them.

[TCNashville]

Originally Posted by lx22f/c

The tech said to remove it and replace the connector and hook the wire straight to terminal instead of to link. I don't know what the purpose of the link is?? He also said attwood is the only company that use them.

Yeah, I think I saw a video on how to do it but it was just to test to see if the TCO was bad. The TCO is a safety feature that I would not remove, if it were mine.

[lx22f/c]

Update....
Replaced the thermostats and all is great again.