Hot Water Heater, Refrigerator, Gas and Electric "on"

travelingjw · 02-19-2017, 07:09 PM

We are on our shake-down trip in our 23MRB. It is storming outside, we are watching the storm and loving it. Have a newbie question. Our water heater and refrigerator are gas and electric. When I turned on the water heater switch on the control panel; there is one for gas and one for electric. When I only turned on the electric switch we got no hot water. The manual says nothing about that I must have both switches on. So, do I need to have the gas on to operate the water heater and refrigerator if I am connected to shore power. Sit down and have a cup of coffee before you die laughing at this question...Thanks in advance

Magnolia Tom · 02-19-2017, 07:30 PM

You can pick either to power your water heater. You must make sure the water heater is filled with water first before you turn on the electric heating element or else you'll burn it up and need to get a new one. Most folks will get the water hot with gas first (to avoid burning up the element), then switch to electric.

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Vaquero · 02-19-2017, 07:46 PM

Give it about 20 minutes.
You can run both electric and gas at the same time on the water heater to expedite recovery time.
I find the gas to produce a lower temperature water than the electric.

Happy camping.

oldmanAZ · 02-19-2017, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

You can pick either to power your water heater. You must make sure the water heater is filled with water first before you turn on the electric heating element or else you'll burn it up and need to get a new one. Most folks will get the water hot with gas first (to avoid burning up the element), then switch to electric.

What Tom said... plus it takes a L-O-N-G time on electric to heat up the water. Propane is much faster.

You could verify the water heater is working on electric by heating the water tonight on propane. When you go to bed, switch it over to electric. If you have HOT water in the morning, then your electric water heater is working.

suzieshome · 02-19-2017, 07:52 PM

Can I ask what you had before you bought the23mrb? We have an x23b hybrid and are thinking of buying the 23mrb as we are finding it harder every year to lower and raise the bunk ends

TCNashville · 02-19-2017, 08:00 PM

Yep, it takes quite awhile to heat the water on electric. Plus, you won't hear it working. Heat it on gas, then maintain the temp with electric.

travelingjw · 02-19-2017, 08:03 PM

The MRB was our first TT ever. We love it because we have an 87 year old Mother-In-Law; it has a large bathroom, and a Murphy Bed. It gives us all some privacy yet there is a lot of living space with the bed up.

travelingjw · 02-19-2017, 08:04 PM

Thank you, that is an awesome idea. We waited an hour with electric, but what you all are sharing makes so much sense.

travelingjw · 02-19-2017, 08:05 PM

Great advice, thanks!

Grumpy · 02-19-2017, 08:28 PM

Depending on which water heater you have some have a switch on the lower front corner that also needs to be turned on.

Jrvette · 02-19-2017, 09:34 PM

Also check to make sure the water heater is not bypassed. I had a similar issue on my first outage.

edatlanta · 02-20-2017, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

You can pick either to power your water heater. You must make sure the water heater is filled with water first before you turn on the electric heating element or else you'll burn it up and need to get a new one. Most folks will get the water hot with gas first (to avoid burning up the element), then switch to electric.

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I just make sure I have water running through my water heater and then turn on whichever fuel I want. I see no point in heating the water up initially with my propane when I'm on already paid for electricity. As long as there is water in the tank the element will be fine. Running an empty water heater on propane will destroy the tank.

edatlanta · 02-20-2017, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

What Tom said... plus it takes a L-O-N-G time on electric to heat up the water. Propane is much faster.

You could verify the water heater is working on electric by heating the water tonight on propane. When you go to bed, switch it over to electric. If you have HOT water in the morning, then your electric water heater is working.

A quick way to determine if your water heater is working on electric is to plug in one of the cheap volt meters that a lot of us have in any of your electrical outlets and look at the voltage. Then turn on the water heater on electric. If you see a voltage drop of several volts the heater element is on and drawing power.

edatlanta · 02-20-2017, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Depending on which water heater you have some have a switch on the lower front corner that also needs to be turned on.

Agreed, but it can be left on all the time. I haven't turned mine off in 7 years except when replacing thermostats which I have done a couple of times. Just use the on/off switch inside.

Wireman · 02-20-2017, 08:29 AM

How long did you have the electric heating side on and still didn't have hot water?

Make sure the AC breaker is on for the water heater. Have someone with knowledge, check at the water heater to make sure you have 120VAC.

As others have said ,the bypass to the heater is not letting it fill and you could have burnt up a heating element.

Something the dealer should have made sure was in the correct position during the PDI.

I would start out with a cold tank of water, turn on the electric side only, and then see if the water gets hot.

trailer virgin · 02-21-2017, 11:41 AM

How to you verify there is water in the water heater prior to turning it on?

oldmanAZ · 02-21-2017, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailer virgin

How to you verify there is water in the water heater prior to turning it on?

With 'city water' connected and turned on, or water in the fresh water tank and the water pump on, turn on a hot water faucet. If you get a solid stream of water, then the air in the hot water tank is gone and the tank is full of water.

Hoppy220 · 02-21-2017, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

With 'city water' connected and turned on, or water in the fresh water tank and the water pump on, turn on a hot water faucet. If you get a solid stream of water, then the air in the hot water tank is gone and the tank is full of water.

Only if you are 100% positive that the hot water tank is not bypassed. The only way to be certain that you have water in the hot tank is you crack open the pressure relief valve. You will get full flow at the faucet if the tank is bypassed but the tank will remain empty

Wireman · 02-21-2017, 12:23 PM

Only open the water heater relief valve with cold water in the tank, not hot water.

NVGun40 · 02-21-2017, 03:06 PM

x2 on what Hoppy220 said. If the water heater is in bypass, you will get a normal water flow from the faucets. The water heater tank would still be empty in this case. Turning on the electric heating element or propane could result in damage to the element or tank.

You can "carefully and slowly" open the pressure relief valve just enough to see if either:
Nothing comes out: which means your water heater is in bypass and there is no water in it.

Air (you can hear or feel air or spitting water and air) comes out: which means there is some water in the tank but still a lot of air.

Water comes out: Which means all is normal. Careful though this water could be very hot.

As has been said; if you are plugged into shore power both your water heater and refrigerator can run on 120AC. The water heater will take a bit longer to come up to temperature running on electric.
If you are not plugged into shore power and running on batteries, (unless they have changed something in the last year or so) your water heater will not work on electric, only gas (even though the electric switch lights up).

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