Suburban Water Heater problem

[WeBeFulltime]

Let me start by saying that I purchased this Suburban 12 gal LP/Electric DSL WH in April 2015 as an exact replacement for the original one that developed a tank leak. I purchased it from Amazon, installed it myself, and it has worked flawlessly since installed. I realize it is under warranty but we are full timers and I'm trying to avoid taking unit into shop for repairs. We prefer to operate on the electric side whenever possible which is almost 100% of the time.

The last couple of days it has started working sometimes and sometimes not on the electric side. Works just fine on LP.

Every time I have checked it with a meter when the water is not hot it is showing power to the heating element and I have also replaced the High Limit Switch with a new 140deg. I have also removed the wires from the element and checked continuity of the element which appears to be fine.

Where can I go from here so far as troubleshooting? Looking for ideas from the experts!

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[jcurtis934]

As long as you reset the on tank reset button, it should work if the element is good. There is also a switch behind the water heater outside cover in the circuit and sometimes these go bad or the wires to it melt from corroded connections. And that 1440 watt heat element show read about 10 ohms on the vom if it is good. John

[jimcol]

Power to the water heater is not checking the element. You will need to set your meter to ohms and read the element. Don't remember what it should read. Think it is around 10 to 16 ohms on a 200 scale. Your surburban document should tell you the correct readings. Jim

[BB_TX]

When heating elements fail they are typically dead forever, not sometime good sometimes not. Sounds like you have already verified the element is good.

Sometimes works/sometimes not is often a symptom of a bad/loose connection. You have checked power to the element which would seem to verify the hot wiring to the element. But have you checked the wiring connections on the neutral side? I would disconnect from park AC power, check all neutral wiring around the water heater for tightness, and then go into your AC distribution panel and tighten all screws on the neutral bus bar. And tighten all hot and ground screws while I was there. I found several screws, hot/neutral/ground, on mine that were not tight a couple years after I bought it.
Also possible that a wire is broken inside its insulation. That can also lead to that problem and one that can be harder to find.

[WeBeFulltime]

Thanks to all who responded so far. This gives me something more to go with when the weather improves. Anyone else have something to add?

[mhs4771]

A part of that system that often gets overlooked is that relay box mounted on the rear corner of the Water Heater. It's controlled by 12VDC supplied by the lighted switch inside your unit and when energized it passes the 120VAC through to the element.
So it's possible for the 12VDC switch to be intermittent, or even the relay contacts getting burnt and not making good contact.

[jimcol]

My bad. I missed that you already checked for continuity on the element. Agree with BB, they normaly don't go bad to good to bad. Jim

quote:Originally posted by jimcol

Power to the water heater is not checking the element. You will need to set your meter to ohms and read the element. Don't remember what it should read. Think it is around 10 to 16 ohms on a 200 scale. Your surburban document should tell you the correct readings. Jim

[tweber502]

Just had this same thing happen to our water heater. I ended up performing a full service. The small rocker switch outside behind the exterior cover was the main source of the water heater malfunction but the heating element was in pretty bad condition so it got replaced as well. I also replaced the anode rod as it was nearly completely used up. Water is hotter than it has been in a long time now. I would recommend checking the switch. Tim

[rmthelen]

Switch went bad in ours also, melted the plastic and caused an open circuit. Removed and bypassed it, works great now.

[Ozz]

My money is on the thermostat, that would cause an intermittent failure, it's just a bi- metal operated electrical set of contacts, a popular name brand is Klixon, I have replaced hundreds of them in my HVAC business.
The old 'cheapest bidder' deal when making something.
Good luck on it, can be a frustrating event.
A cheap change-out if you are in doubt.
Ozz

[WeBeFulltime]

Again I say thanks to everyone. When the rain stops I will try in this order and since I have already replaced the thermostat one of them should clear things up:

1. Replace/bypass outside rocker switch.
2. Replace control board mounted on the WH (I already have extra)
3. Replace element even though it checks ok with meter.

If all things fail I still have the warranty/shop option but I REALLY hate having to take it in to shop. Will update when finished.

[WeBeFulltime]

quote:Originally posted by BB_TX

When heating elements fail they are typically dead forever, not sometime good sometimes not. Sounds like you have already verified the element is good.

Sometimes works/sometimes not is often a symptom of a bad/loose connection. You have checked power to the element which would seem to verify the hot wiring to the element. But have you checked the wiring connections on the neutral side? I would disconnect from park AC power, check all neutral wiring around the water heater for tightness, and then go into your AC distribution panel and tighten all screws on the neutral bus bar. And tighten all hot and ground screws while I was there. I found several screws, hot/neutral/ground, on mine that were not tight a couple years after I bought it.
Also possible that a wire is broken inside its insulation. That can also lead to that problem and one that can be harder to find.

Ding Ding Ding ! And the winner is BBTX.

Problem was a bad neutral connection in the junction box on the side of the water heater.

Everything with the WH is back to normal. Thanks to everyone who participated !

[BB_TX]

I'll be watching the mail for the check.

[JnSWells]

Same thing happened to ours replaced the rocker switch and Suburban 232306 130 Degree Thermostat ourselves working fine now. Switch was a couple dollars and thermostat was 13.00...

[Dmax07]

How do you bypass the switch outside behind the cover door. Wires too short to do anything with.

[jcurtis934]

The service switch in the water heater should have one wire in, one wire out. The switch just shorts the two together. Of course, you would have to pull the water heater partially out to get to that wiring. As a side...when I replaced my water heater this spring, the new one did NOT have the relay inside the 120vac junction box, so I had to take the one out of my old leaking water heater. John