Trifter

The water heater is the most complicated appliance in the motor home. I hope we can clear that up for you. The large diesel motor homes have heat exchangers instead of water heaters. I will not be covering the heat exchanger in this article.

Most water heaters are the LP type. The models are electric; LP gas/electric and add-on’s like Hotrod (electric added to a LP gas water heater). The water heater has a start switch mounted in the motor home for remote starting of the water heater. The older model water heaters are started from the outside. The water supply to the water heater is the same in a house. Cold water flows into the water heater, heats it up to temperature and maintains the setting. One thing you want to do is insure that you have water in the water heater tank before starting it. The way you do that is to open the hot water faucet and if water is flowing out of it, then you know there is water in the hot water tank. You can now start water heater.

If the water heater does not start with the pressing of the button then make sure the LP is turned on. If the LP is on and the water heater will not start listen for the sparking noise made by the igniter board, which starts the LP to burning for the water heater.

The water for the water heater is supplied by the city water line or the fresh water tank and water pump for the RV motor home water system. You do not want to run your water pump if you are connected to the city water line hose. The pressure from the city system is 125 pounds of pressure and the RV motor home water system operate on 40-60 pounds of pressure. You will need a pressure reducer valve on the water coming in to the coach; the valve is set for 45-60 pounds of pressure. You can also get an adjustable valve too.

The Hotrod add on is an electrical heater rod for a gas (LP) water heater. It is used as a backup system in case you cannot run your LP or are out of LP. It is also a way to switch from LP to electric. You may have trouble with the igniter board and the cost of the broad is $143.95 and the Hotrod is about the same. If you go with the electrical water heater “Hotrod” and not have gas, it will limit the purpose of the motor home for dry dock camping.

You should clean out the water heater tank, if you are starting to notice a loss of hot water. There is a cleanout tube built for washing out the minerals in the water heater tank. It is designed to allow the washing out of the tank throught the drain plughole in the water heater tank. Please make sure you relief the water pressure before opening the water heater tank plug. New water heater $347.00 straight gas 6 gallon, $428 gas/automatic 6 gallon, $494.00 electric/gas/automatic 6 gallon.