Water Heater Questions

[kieranmullen]

Is the water heater electric as well as gas? Where do you switch? Why did they make it where you have to light it on the outside yet everything else is lit on the inside?

When I plug the trailmanor in I hear some sound coming from a back vent. I only assume it is the water heater but I have no idea. No hot water is coming out so I may have the RV shop look at it. I ran the air out of the rest of the lines and the pump works fine. So if it I would think that it running is a bad thing.

Ideas? Thank you!

[rvcycleguy]

What year model TM do you have? Most TM's have an electric switch located outside behind the vent cover. It's mounted on the lower left side behind some other parts. Hard to see. It's a rocker style switch. It should always be in the OFF position until you intend to use it. The noise you hear may indicate that the switch is in the ON position. If so, when you plug in the TM with the power cord, you've just energized the switch and started heating the element. If the tank is empty, the heater element will burn up without water surrounding it. Takes only seconds to do that....

If the water heater works on propane, meaning you have hot water running at the tap, then most likely the heater element is bad on the electric side.

TM owners will always make sure there is water in the tank first before using the WH on electric. How do you do that?, you hook up the water hose to the fitting on the outside and turning on the source first before plugging in the electrical cord to the TM.

[kieranmullen]

It is a 97 King. So you are saying it is gas and electric or one or the other?

[countrygirl]

Do you hear the slight hum near the rear bed? I think in all TM models that is the where the converter is. If this is the case then you should hear that. Eventually we got where we no longer noticed it. The converter is located at the end of the bathtub and there is usually a brown metal vent that covers it. It is floor level and is located in the hall at the end of the tub and just before the bed.

[rvcycleguy]

Originally Posted by kieranmullen

It is a 97 King. So you are saying it is gas and electric or one or the other?

From my memory when I had a 1997 TM years ago, yes the WH is electric and also gas. You choose the source you want it to run on. The gas switch is inside under the sink counter and the electric is located outside behind the cover/vent for the WH. When you say you have to light it on the outside, are you saying you have to light the gas pilot? Again, from my memory, there is a gas light switch with a small red indicator on the front trim piece of the sink.

[rvcycleguy]

Originally Posted by kieranmullen

It is a 97 King. So you are saying it is gas and electric or one or the other?

As Country Girl has mentioned, when you plug in the TM with the 30amp park cord, you will hear a humming sound from the converter located down the rear hallway past the bathroom door near the floor. It has a brown vent cover that hinges down for access to all the 12v fuses and 110a breakers. I believe there is a small cooling fan associated with it as well. That might be what your hearing.

As your question was associated its the WH, I assumed your hearing the WH pressure up during the heating process on electric. You can reach under the sink counter in the lower cabinet and check fittings, and electrical lines.

[kieranmullen]

OK thank you for helping me determine what that humming was. I opened it up and I did not see a breaker for the water heater (or is was not labeled properly) I would think that if I did have an electric, then there would be a breaker for that.

Although there is a place to light the unit at the back, there seems to be a styrofoam container under the sink (perhaps the hot water tank) Although I did not find a switch there (pictured) as well as outside where I light the heater (also pictured)

I believe that the TMP valve is leaking so another trip to home depot!

Link to photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/1015893...eat=directlink