WATER HEATER GAS/ELECTRIC

[Larry-P]

I've been told that the water heater in the Monty's can be run on both gas & electric together to speed up the heating process & recovery during use.
Is this so & how can this work??

Larry P

[bw2]

You have a switch on the tank outside under the cover and generally the switch will have a cotter pin thru it. Turn this switch on and the tank will use the electricity when plugged into the post (110v). Inside there is a switch, generally with the buttons for the pump and buttons to check the status of the water, gray and black tanks. Turn this switch on, there is a little light that should light (red in my case) this light indicates the propane is in the process of igniting, the light will go out when the propane has ignited. At this point the water tank has electric and propane heating the water.

[kdeiss]

We Run H W Heater on both 120 Volt and Propane all the time tank will recover quickly.
We also use an Oxygentic shower head we can take back to back showers with no problem

[H. John Kohl]

I use electric but when dishes and showers run together I will turn on the propane to help the heat recovery. Once all hot water demands are done I turn off the propane and let the electric do the job.

[WeBeFulltime]

quote:Originally posted by kdeiss

We Run H W Heater on both 120 Volt and Propane all the time tank will recover quickly.
We also use an Oxygentic shower head we can take back to back showers with no problem

I can't imagine 2 people taking "back to back" showers in a Montana. Doesn't it get crowded?

[PackerFan]

We keep the electric heater on all of the time and only turn on the gas heater when we need extra hot water quicker.

[DQDick]

We keep the electric on all the time and haven't ever had a problem with not enough hot water. Maybe we have it set too hot?

[bw2]

Dick

I take long hot showers so my lovely wife has to wait for the recovery and running both really helps the recovery time. We also shut the propane off after the recovery. I also added a switch inside on the 110v power lead to allow us to shut the electric off inside. I have a 2006 3400RL and there was only the little switch outside on the water tank.

[1retired06]

We have never found it necessary to run both at the same time. I know that with ours, if the tank has hot water from the element, the propane will not kick on because of the thermostat control. Dont know if the reverse is the same.

[BB_TX]

We always run ours on both at the same time. Noticed early on that if on propane only, it would cycle on/off periodically during the night. And being near the bedroom window on ours, you could easily hear it. But on electric and propane, apparently the electric keeps it hot enough that it does not cycle on propane. And no more nightly WH noise.
And on both, never a problem running of hot water when showering.

[Metamorphosis]

Recently we had a burning electrical smell in the RV, near the water heater under the rear kitchen sink. Determined that we a bad electrical connection for the water heater on our 2013 3000RK. Took it in to the authorized Keystone dealer and they repaired and replaced the poor factory wiring job. We were lucky the RV didn't catch fire and that we were home at the time. While the electrical portion of the water heater was down for the count, we were at least able to use the Gas portion and avoid any cold showers!

[brooksider]

We are the smae as H.John Kohl.Our switch for propane renains light as long as it is on. As far as adding a switch to turn off the electric in side, way not use the circuit breaker.
joe

[bw2]

While in our Florida winter location we pay for our electric. We turn off the electric and propane during the day to conserve on the $. Do not want to over-use the breaker

[emdavis]

I did the same as bw2.Installed a switch inside the trailer. The switch has a pilot light so I know when it is turned on.
Eldon

[Ozz]

quote:Originally posted by brooksider

We are the smae as H.John Kohl.Our switch for propane renains light as long as it is on. As far as adding a switch to turn off the electric in side, way not use the circuit breaker.
joe

Joe, a person should not use a circuit breaker as an on-off switch, they are not designed for that and will fail quicker that way.
As cheap as they make these that we have, it is an even worse idea.
They design them to fail on a current overload and for heat increase, but not as an off-on switch.

[Ken Ralston]

Thanks Ozz I have been using the Breaker Too so I guess I will just go back to Propane. Wife has been watching the pennys so they are both off till we need it. I never thought of using the Breaker as harming it but it makes a lot of sence. Kb

[racerjoe]

I too have put a lighted switch inside, I removed old switch,ran wiring inside installed lighted switch. Now we use electric more than propane. I switch to gas when I notice park power voltage dropping during heavy use. Just a simple plug in volt meter gives you early warning .

[brooksider]

Thanks for the advice on the C/B. I onlyb use it when in storage. Thanks Ozz.
Joe

[mazboy]

YES.

[bw2]

To clarify my earlier post, the lighted switch remains lit throughout when operated. Right between the propane switch and the water pump switch there is a small "dot", this is the lamp/light that will glow 'red' (in my unit) while the igniter (?) is operating to light the propane. When the propane is burning, this little lamp/light extinguishes.

Having had the control board go bad, I have downloaded the manual for the hot water tank and system, where I learned of the lamp and what it is to do during the igniting process.

I hope this has clarified my earlier post.