Hot water heater wiring

[The Dad]

1st post in this forum. Hope you all can assist. I've got a 2004 Jayco 19h hybrid. The hot water heater went out on it last season. I've replace everything but decided to replace the electric heater in the tank as well (it's a dual heating unit). To do so, I removed the entire rank from the side of the camper. The problem is that I've been picking away at this over a few weeks and have 2 wires with connectors left. My pictures were all up close and don't show them. I'm thinking they went to an option I don't have? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
**In the pics it's the white and green wires with yellow connectors. These are under the seat for the dining table where the access is for the water heater.

 

[The Dad]

Ttt

Bump

 

[bankr63]

There are some significant differences between our vintages of 19H (they were much cleaner with the wiring in '04). I see wires going to the 12v control on your heater, but are the 120v wires hooked up to the heating element? Based on the location those two look like they would plug right into the heater element on the back of our WH? But again, our wiring is just a rat's nest and has none of that lovely plastic conduit.

 

[Route 66 Traveler]

ALWAYS take photos of anything you are taking apart…speaking from experience!

The water heater is both 12v dc and 120 volt AC. The electric water heater switch is 12 volts. It activates a relay at the water heater that then turns on the 120vac to the heating element. Never work on the water heater when connected to shore power or on generator power.

 

[craigav]

My best guess (somewhat an educated guess).

You have two wires going to each connector, that isn't done when supplying power to an endpoint, therefore the wires are part of a daisy chain (which is common with the 12V light wiring in an RV). The wires are not very large so they don't carry a lot of current so based on the size and colors I would expect that they are 12V. Being 12V I would suspect that the white wire is the ground and the green wire is the hot wire. (different wire colors are often just to identify its purpose, green for 120V ground but not for 12V systems).

With all that in mind, I give myself an 80% probability rating (lol) that the wires go to a light (whether you have one installed in that area or not). I would use a voltage meter (or 12V test light) and see if the wires have voltage and green is 12V +, if not then turn on all the light switches and see if they have voltage then, if they already have voltage then turn off all of the light switches and see if there is no more power (in correlation with the switch(es). Some RV's light wiring is hot all the time and the light itself has a switch so if the above testing doesn't reveal a switch relationship then I still suspect it would be for a light especially if it has 12V power all of the time.

I would also carefully inspect the spades (magnifying glass if you have one handy) as usually when connectors like these have been attached to a switch or a connecter (light), there will be a few lines of tiny bright scratch areas where the two metal pieces rubbed when connected. If there are no shiny areas then that would lead me to believe that they may have never been connected to anything and simply part of the wiring Jayco used (especially if there are no lights nearby).

In any case, I suggest the voltage and light switch testing as that may reveal for sure what those wires are for.

If you still don't have a conclusive answer, I would attempt to follow the wires and see where they go (originate). ~CA

BTW, Welcome to the Jayco Owner's Forums (JOF)

 

[The Dad]

Everything you said sounds 100% where I'm thinking. I don't know why I didn't think go. Heck for voltage. You're correct that their not solid wiring and are daisy chained. So def not high voltage. I fired up the water heater and it works so they're definitely not affiliated with it. An addition light or something makes sense. I did peek at the connectors to see if they've been rubbed on or signs of use and they look new. So your theory is probably correct. Thanks much! Now I'm still curious if anyone has a similar model and what light or option these did go to. Maybe I could add the option myself. Thanks again!

 

[The Dad]

Sooooo I usually do. Lol. This time I focused on water heater wiring in my pics for reinstall. These were separate I guess bc it seems to work fine. And you're right on the power off while working on it... my arm still hurts from a quick jolt. I'm used to working on cars 12v... it was my fault. I had power off but forgot when I was running ac to cool the camper down. I didn't turn it back off. Anyways I survived and the water heater seems to be operating correctly.

 

[The Dad]

There are some significant differences between our vintages of 19H (they were much cleaner with the wiring in '04). I see wires going to the 12v control on your heater, but are the 120v wires hooked up to the heating element? Based on the location those two look like they would plug right into the heater element on the back of our WH? But again, our wiring is just a rat's nest and has none of that lovely plastic conduit.

These do not plug into it. I sources all appropriate wires for the water heater and these two have their own loom. It's funny you said it's cleaner under here from my older model. I figured they tighten up on new campers. Thanks for the info though!