Trying to plug into shore power, popping house GFI

[MudDog]

Sounds like you had the refridgerator fan on.

When the TM is folded down, the heat from the fridge (when on) can't escape out the normal vents, so if you need to run the fridge while you are in transit, you need to run the fan which draws the heat down and out the bottom.

The "Refridgerator Fan" switch is on the status panel under the sink.

You may also want to check the knob on the 3 way switch. There are 4 positions - off, gas/LP, battery, and electric.

Running the fridge on battery will drain the batteries pretty quick unless the batteries are being re-recharged (from the tow vehicle for example).

To recap and maybe add something...

The water heater works on either 110v or propane or both at the same time. It doesn't work on 12v. The propane switch is on the front panel under the lip of the sink. The electric switch is outside on the water heater itself. The outside switch is a simple toggle switch with a cotter pin in it to prevent accidental on/off (I find it easier to insert or remove with a pair of long nose pliers). One of the first things I do when I set up is to run some hot water through the sink. When the gurgling stops I know the hot water heater is full and I will not blow out the heating element no matter how incompetent I might be!

The switch for the refrigerator fan is also on the panel under the lip of the sink. This fan is to remove heat from the outside refer compartment when the TM is down. Otherwise heat would build up between the walls and there would/could be a nasty fire! This can also be used when outside temps get high to try and increase the efficiency of the refer. This switch is always hot as it needs to be. It is important to remember to turn it on whenever you close the TM if the refrigerator is still on. There is a light on the inside switch, but since everything is new it would be easy to miss. If you did leave the fan on over night without being plugged in to 110v your batteries could take quite a hit. The only time you will use your refrigerator on 12v is when you are traveling, so remember to turn on the fan when you change the refer to 12v. This will eat up your batteries within a few hours at most, so you need to have an external source of power when you do this, either plugged in to 110 or from the tow vehicle.

Hope this helps...it is all very confusing but you will get it figured out quickly. Keep the questions coming. Also, if you join as a full member it will give you access to quite a bit of helpful info in the archives. Highly recommended.

The exhaust fan in the fridge area is designed to be run primarily when the fridge is on and the TM is closed. ( ie packed and ready to go with fridge running on shore power or running on 12V or propane during travel). The switch for this is on the panel under the sink. It runs even with TM closed if switch is turned on.

Scott and Joyce -- I'm so new, I didn't even know there was a paid option. Couldn't figure out why I was a trial member. Just joined --- well worth the price of admission already!

Check out "TrailManor Information You Won't Find Anywhere Else" on the main page list of forums. There is a serious wealth of info here, everything from check lists to descriptions of how stuff works. It is really an invaluable resource. Welcome to the forum, it is always good to meet a new TM owner!

So DH got the part and the tool to install and now we're stuck. Is there any trick to disconnecting the big copper piping unit that runs in from of the black cap (where we presume the heating element goes)? Does he disconnect all of this stuff?

Thank you
Trish

[Bill]

No, there is no trick, but it also not obvious, so I'm not surprised he is asking. My apologies to you, I intended to put together a photo tutorial, and just never got to it. So let's see if this helps. Start by disconnecting shore power and draining the water heater. You'll need a 7/16 inch open end wrench and a Phillips screwdriver.

Then, refer to the photo found here
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...2&d=1247934925, which you have probably already printed.

First, look at the lower left corner of the photo. You see the silver tube that is snaked around, and goes into the large brass burner tube? Using an open end wrench, carefully back off the nut that is right where the silver tube joins the brass tube. (Don't touch anything inside the square opening that is cut into the burner tube - I am talking about the brass nut that is way over on the left.) Don't pull anything apart yet - just back off the nut until it comes off the connector.

Next, look at the right end of the brass burner tube, after it has made the 90-degree bend near the red wire. Protruding from the bottom of the tube is a threaded screw with a nut on it. Again using an open end wrench, remove that nut and set it aside.

You can now gently jockey the right hand end of the brass tube upward until the threaded screw comes out of the hole, and the brass tube comes free of the holder. Pull that end of the big brass tube toward you just a little until it is free.

Once you have done that, move the entire brass tube gently to the right until it slides off the small silver tube - the snaked-around one that you initially dealt with. Try not to bend the snaked silver tube, though you may have to flex it slightly to get the brass tube off it. Set the brass burner tube aside in a place where it won't get dinged, dented, wet, etc.

Now you have access to the black plastic cover. It is held in place by three screws, two of which are easy to get at, and one of which will fight you a little bit. Remove those three screws and take off the black cover. At this point you are looking at the electrical connections to the heating element. YOU ALREADY DISCONNECTED SHORE POWER, RIGHT??

Unscrew the two electrical screws, move the wires out of the way, and use the new water heater wrench to unscrew the heater element. It comes out reasonably easily. Note that there is a rubber washer or gasket on the threads of the element. When you install the new element, make sure that the old rubber gasket has been removed and discarded, and that the new one has the new gasket in place.

With the new element screwed securely in place, re-attach the electrical wires - it doesn't matter which wire goes to which screw. On mine, the wires were really short and it was hard to reattach them. If one wire won't reach, it may help to tighten the element an eighth of a turn to reposition the screws. Once the wires and the black cover are screwed on, reassemble the brass burner gently, again striving not to bend the silver tube.

That should do it.

Bill

Dear Bill,

Many, many thanks for the detailed instruction! DH was able to fix it and we have hot water and power. Hooray! I'm thinking we won't make that mistake again. Thankfully, it happened when we had plenty of time to deal with it.

Thanks again for your insight and guidance,
Trish and Mike.

[Bill]

You're welcome Trish. I hope it doesn't happen again, but if it does, you'll find that you can deal with it in a quarter of the time it took you today.

Since your TM is new, I didn't want to muddy the water with an extra step, but it may be of interest to others who are in the same situation. When the old heating element has been removed from the tank, you can shine a flashlight into the opening and inspect the inside of the tank. You can see how much mineral crud has collected in the bottom of the tank, which tells you if you need to try to flush it out - that was the subject of a separate discussion a year or so ago. And you can inspect the anode rod, to find out if it needs changing.

By the way, you may wonder how I knew the steps for accomplishing the task? Yup, after years of being careful, I popped mine a couple months ago, and so I had the opportunity to figure it out first hand. Glad it went well for you.

Bill