Water Heater not working on electricity - Montana Owners Club

doc · 01-22-2007, 04:20 PM

We purchased a new Montana 3400 in April 2006. We had only used the water heater on propane until this winter. I decided to switch to electricity to heat the water the other day and it would not work. Both the breaker and on/off switch were on but it still would not work. Upon investigating the problem I discovered the wires under the kitchen island by the water heater were not hooked up. That's right, there were two hot wires laying on the floor, luckily not touching each other or any thing else that would cause a spark. I shut off the breaker and connected the wires to the water heater. Now we have hot water on either propane or electricity. I'm glad it was a simple fix but feel it was something that shouldn't have been overlooked by either the factory or the dealer. We also feel lucky that we didn't have a fire.

EagleRunner · 01-22-2007, 05:19 PM

Doc,
Glad to hear you found and fixed your hot water problem and you did not have further problems. You might want to check the wire connections in the breaker panel to ensure the buss strip screws securing the return and ground wires are tight. If they left two wires hanging it is anyone's guess what you might find next.

Enjoy your new Monty!

Tom

ragdoll · 01-22-2007, 05:20 PM

Glad you found the problem and able to fix it. This will alert new owners to check the electric to their hot water heater and avoid potential problems or disasters. We use electric unless we happen to be at someones house then run on propane for frig and water heater - we do use the gas as a boost when on the electric if we need more hot water.

Safe travels.
Lorraine

AZCampinfool · 01-22-2007, 05:22 PM

Wow!! Pretty scary...glad you were able to find the problem and correct it before you had real problems. Mine would not work on elec. at first either. Turns out the dealer fried the elec. element when he turned it on during my initial walk through. He thought there was water in the tank and didn't realize the bypass valve was turned keeping water out of the tank. I discovered it wasn't working on elect the next day. Luckily that was an easy fix also at the dealers expense.

BillyRay · 01-22-2007, 11:22 PM

glad it was an easy fix!

doc · 01-23-2007, 04:07 AM

Tom,
I did check the wires in the breaker box and found a loose neutral. Checked all the other wires while I was at it and found no other loose wires. This may be a good thing to check on new units.

Doc

SKOOBDO · 01-23-2007, 01:17 PM

now you guys just added something to my to do list...dag gone it

On The Road Again · 01-24-2007, 01:04 AM

The water heater on my '04 Monty is not working on electric. How can I determine if it's the element or the switch that's gone bad...other than just replacing the element and see what happens...any thoughts from you guys.
Thanks...

H. John Kohl · 01-24-2007, 01:17 AM

If you have a volt, ohm meter and are comfortable working around electricity you can measure the resistance on the element and determine if it is open.
REMEMBER TO TURN OFF THE SHORE POWER BREAKER FIRST
If it shows a short it should be good then you have to measure for 110 VAC across the two connection post for the heating element.
Please be careful if you are not comfortable working around household voltages get someone who is to do it.

On The Road Again · 01-24-2007, 01:31 AM

Thanks John for the reply, however, even though I do have a volt meter I'm not sure how I'd check it out....perhaps I need a professional to check it out...although it may be just as inexpensive for me to just replace the element...and see what works.

patodonn · 01-24-2007, 07:05 AM

Just two measurements to take...if you aren't comfortable doing it, there should be someone around who can assist.

AC power off to begin, disconnect the two wires at the element, check element resistance (see posting above) If shows continuity, reconnect the wires, turn on the AC power and check for 110 volts across the connection. If AC is not ~110 volts, recheck switch and CB positions and check again. Also try the "Reset" buttons on the water heater panel.

Did I get it right, John??

Best,

On The Road Again · 01-24-2007, 09:28 AM

Thanks, PJ, Nan &Scooter...I'll be trying that in the next week or so..at least as soon as possible...seems I'm more busy since retirement than when I was working.....there are times now when I can't figure out how I found time to go to work.

Marshall

bsmeaton · 01-24-2007, 10:33 AM

Doc -

Good find and happy no fire! I watched someone spill a soda on the floor at a friends new stick house that did not come with a dishwasher, but did come with the wiring powered up and laying on the floor under the cupboard. Once the soda ran under the cupboard - pop-bang-flash and a mushroom cloud! Scary is right.

Also learned that there are two reset switches with rubberized covers above the hot water tank AC power switch. I need to look it up in the manual, but I believe they pop (or are supposed to) if they sense overheat of the tank (like it's empty). One is for the gas valve 12V and the other for the AC 110V.

kmh3212 · 01-24-2007, 10:36 AM

Another water heater issue. Check the small ground wire that grounds the galvanized chassis. This ground is the return for the spark control. It is on the inside of the water heater on the top of the four flange screws that hold inside to the outside. Because it is flange mounted to the fiberglass/wood siding the ground wire must be connected to the spark control box at the back hot water heater flange. Green wire I think. They are known to get corroded or loose. I tightened mine good and coated it with battery anti corrosion stuff.
It turned out that the $100 spark control box was bad.

richfaa · 01-25-2007, 05:31 AM

The above grounding issue also applies to the igniter on the fridge.

AZCampinfool · 01-25-2007, 06:09 AM

Marshall, I know when my w/h is running on elec. I can stand outside next to it and hear the elec. element making a real faint buzzing noise. When my element was out, it made no noise at all. Might be an easy way to for you to check to see if it is working.

On The Road Again · 01-25-2007, 10:20 AM

Thanks, I agree that you can hear the hot water heater from the outside....when it is heating, however, mine makes no noise and when it was on elec I had no hot water. I only use my propane for faster heating of water...and now when it isn't heating on elec.
Thanks for all the inputs and feedback.

Marshall

Dean A Van Peursem · 01-30-2007, 06:38 PM

Oh Boy, we have a late 2006 3400 RL and I didn't even know the W/H would run on electricity. We have an w/h on/off switch in the stairwell to the bedroom but I though that only turned the w/h heater on and used propane. I'm totally embarrassed. How does one run it on electricity?

JH Sechelt · 01-30-2007, 07:49 PM

Dean,

On Our 2006 2980 you pull the cover off the hot water tank on the out side of the trailer.
On the bottom left side there is a small rocker switch with a clevis pin through it.
It says off & on.
Pull the clevis pin out and trip the rocker switch.
this is the on/off switch for the hot water tank on electricity.
DO NOT turn this switch on without water in the tank. you will burn out the heating element in seconds if you do.
I always turn this switch off and put the pin back in when we are finished camping.
Hope this helps.

J&D

kmh3212 · 01-31-2007, 06:56 AM

I hate to nag on this one but..... ALWAYS make sure water heater is FULL of water before turning the electric switch on! You will fry the hot water heater element! When I get to camp I put the plug back in the hot water heater then hook the water up and clear out the pink stuff first and then fill the hot water tank before I plug into shore power. Filling hot water tank does apply to propane as well. We camp all winter down here so we must go through that ritual during the coldest part of winter.
I had to replace several elements before the training took on my helper!

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