Hot water heater switches.

RChadwick · 03-17-2021, 12:13 PM

I've got a Jayco x23b 2011, and it has switches for gas water heating, as well as electric water heating. Unfortunately, I don't know what HWH I have, as the camper is all wrapped up for the Winter. I wanted to replace the panel that has those switches on it, and wanted to replace the two switches with a single switch. I was originally going to use a relay powered by AC, so if there is AC power, it uses the electric, otherwise it uses gas. Do I even need a relay? What happens if I switch both the electric and gas switches on? Do they both come on at the same time? Or does the system prefer electric, and use gas if electric isn't available? Does anyone know what HWH came with ths model?

Jagiven · 03-17-2021, 12:49 PM

Curious why do you want to setup the WH with a single switch?

My 23B also is put to bed for the winter. All I recall it is an Atwood 6 gallon water heater.

You can turn on both the gas and electric heating elements at the same time. This will give you a much quicker recovery time.

The power at the lighted switches does not appear to come from the water heater. So I suspect there is a relay somewhere in the mix, but I have never looked. You can contact Jayco with your Vin number and ask for your wiring diagram.

Sometimes I run the water heater on gas when I am connected to shore power. Most of the time it is due to running the AC unit or electric heat, so I do not trip the main breaker.

Grumpy · 03-17-2021, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Curious why do you want to setup the WH with a single switch?

You can turn on both the gas and electric heating elements at the same time. This will give you a much quicker recovery time.

The power at the lighted switches does not appear to come from the water heater. So I suspect there is a relay somewhere in the mix

X-2 and if you use both it is almost the equivalent of a 10 gal wh. Also there are no relays involved it is all done through the circuit board using 12 volt control voltage just like a fridge.

Cavie · 03-17-2021, 01:31 PM

You have to leave the switching alone but you can run both gas and electric at the same time for faster recovery. The operation is 12 volt DC and gas. OR 120 volt AC/12 volt DC OR both.

SmokerBill · 03-17-2021, 02:15 PM

You want a automatic mode on your water heater, like an RV refrigerator auto mode setting.

The potential problem I see with that setup is that if you ever run a generator it would switch the water heater to "Electric" mode.

That would be a large draw on a small generator.

I always keep my water heater on "Gas" mode when running my 2000 watt Honda. Any other large load would trip the generator breaker.

Interesting idea though.

RChadwick · 03-17-2021, 03:23 PM

Thank for all the replies!
Since we don't use the shower, I'm not too concerned about recovery time. My old camper was gas only, but since I got this one, I haven't used gas at all. At campgrounds, electrcity is free, gas costs money. I wouldn't be opposed to using supplimental gas, if it prioritized electricity use (Only used gas when there was a sudden and deep drop in temperature, or no electricity). My motivation for replacing two switches with one is that I'm replacing my tank level panel with a Seelevel panel, which has one less switch.