Suburban Water Heater Electric Cutting Out

[tim43]

The electric side of my Suburban water heater has started to cut out. Gas is fine. Yesterday when I turned the heater on from the inside switch, no water heat. Went outside and cycled the on/off switch on the heater itself and the used the reset buttons. The electric side worked. This morning, the electric side is once again out. Suggestions on fixes please.

[rmthelen]

The switch on mine went bad, bypassed it and no problem since.

[BB_TX]

My guess would be the thermostat/hi limit switch. If you are comfortable troubleshooting 120 vac and have a volt meter, it would be pretty easy to find out where the break in power is located.

schematic

[WeBeFulltime]

Both of the above suggestions are good and would be the first things to check but there is one more I know of if those don't solve the problem. Mine was doing this and it was the common (white) wire in the metal termination box on the side of the W/H. This box is NOT visible/accessable from the outside of the W/H. The unit must be partially removed from the camper. The box is on the top left side. Make sure the power is off and remove the cover from the box and check all connections. Nothing on mine looked troublesome but the common wires were not making good connection. I reworked the common connection and was back in business.

[tim43]

Found the two T-stat hi-limit switches by part # on Amazon Prime and after I have a friend in the park check the electric side will order. Anyone have a URL link depicting the replacement of said switches? Thanks

[BB_TX]

There are two; one 12 volt for the propane and one 120 volt for the electric heating element. You should only need to replace the 120 volt one. They are surface mount devices. Two wires and a nut. Just make sure shore power is disconnected.

[Rondo]

We lost our electric heater completely and so we checked everything and even replaced the heating element thinking it had gone bad. NOPE still nothing. took it into the dealer upon returning from AZ and they dug into it and started at the water heater and worked their way back. Well, they found it and it was at the switch and it was one of he wires that was loose. Check those out also because I could be as simple as a wire being loose! Let us know what you find out.

[BB_TX]

David and Ron bring up good points. When you mentioned you used the reset button and it worked temporarily, I may have too hastily jumped to a conclusion that the hi limit cutout was bad. There have also been problems with the switch(es), loose wiring connections, and of course the heating element itself. Although a heating element normally does not fail, work again, and fail again. But the friend should be able to determine where there is voltage and where there is not.

[h2ojocky]

My switch outside at WH went bad. Got a replacement at a hardware store. Very easy and inexpensive to replace.

[tim43]

Been going strong since the reset yesterday morning, knock on wood, but will still order the hi-limit switch to have on hand.

[cpaulsen]

I added a lighted switch for the electric side and leave my outside switch on all the time.