[beeje]

Went camping over the memorial day weekend. Upon set up (with water heater full) I turned on the 120 volt heater switch and left it on.

On sunday, I smelled something strange but could not figure out what it was. Got up Monday morning to take a shower and no hot water. Thinking maybe someone turned of the switch, I looked, its still on.

I go outside and pull the little black switch out and check for power, no power present.

I go inside and take apart the cabinet consealing the heater. Found a junction box whitch is mounted to the heater case from the outside. Just barily touched it and got a small fireworks show. To remove the cover the box has to come off.( Bad design )

I Turned off the power at the panel and removed the box and its cover and found a burnt of mess.

In the box is a 12 volt relay that switches on the 120 volt heater from the switch panel.

Unit still worked on propane so I said I would fix it when I got home.

I decided to abandon the 12 volt switch in the switch panel and hard wire it to the bathroom wall by the sink. I used a pilot lighted switch so you can tell it is on.

Had to cut a few access holes in the underbelly to do it.

Wired it so the little black switch still functions as a fail safe and must be on for the wall switch to power up the heater.

Just a guess, but I think a loose conection from heating up and cooling down over time was the cause. ( another bad design IMHO ). Tried to post pics, but cant figure out how to.

Not saying you all should tare your unit apart to look but be aware of any odd smells and act quickly before disaster happens