Electric Water Heater in 2955

[MuddyPaws]

Hmmmmm, the specs on the website say it has one but the manuals I received with my 2955 make no mention of it. I swear I've looked everywhere and found nothing! As she says, I must be looking with 'man eyes'......

How difficult is it to add a hot rod to the water heater? Anybody done it?

Thanks,
Russ

[sreigle]

Russ, open the outside door panel to the water heater and see if you find a black rocker switch. It's kind of buried behind some other things but a little twisting of the ole neck and you should see it if it has one. Might be behind the propane lines or that general area right on the face of the heater panel.

It's a pain to turn off and on at that location. In our 3295, one of the breakers has only the electric element of the water heater on it. Our breaker panel is quick and easy to open so we just use the breaker for on and off.

[dersequim]

Ditto to what Steve said. We use the breaker panel also. The dealer usually shuts off the 110 heater outside so that when you get home and hook-up, you don't burn up element before putting water in unit.

[padredw]

Since I have the 2955, I'll jump in here. Steve is exactly right about the rocker switch. I only turn it off when we are in "home port" or "dry dock". When we are on the road, I just leave the elecric switch on as the default (much like the refrigerator). When I "plug in" the water heater is on; when I disconnect the electric water heater is off -- no switch, no breaker to set. The only time I might use the gas is when we might want hot water faster after first hookup, or after heavy use of hot water. That's not based on science, just observation that the gas heats more quickly. I'll be glad to be corrected if my practice is unacceptable.

[Montana_2230]

If you gonna to leave it on all the time, just make sure you have water in the heater before plugging up. I will always empty my water heater if my Montana is going to set on my home pad for a while.

[VanMan]

You really have to look for the switch - it's in the lower left hand corner behind something that blocks your plain view. Here's a link with it shown (if it's the same model). Scroll down to the exploded view - its part # 39

http://www.marksrv.com/swwaterheater.htm#swparts

You won't need it, but FYI - I've read that the addition of a Hot Rod heater will void the manufacturer's warranty.

We also leave that switch on and use the breaker if we want to turn the water heater off.

padredw - it's also an acceptable practice to have BOTH the electric and gas on for a VERY fast recovery time.

[sreigle]

To add to what others have already said, if you turn that switch on with no water in the tank it will burn out the electric element in a matter of a couple of seconds. That's not covered under warranty.

One reason the Hot Rod is not recommended in a Suburban water heater is that it replaces the plug/anode rod. The sacrificial anode rod is there to protect the lining of the heater from corrosion. The Hot Rod replaces that but does not act as a sacrificial anode. Thus you remove the protection of the heater and shorten its life. Some folks have done it anyhow. It's up to you.

We run electric only in Spring, Summer, and Fall, when it's relatively warm. In early Winter we'll run both electric and gas. In Winter we run gas only. I'm talking about cold weather Winter, not Florida winter. Our water tank is in a far rear corner of the coach. In cold weather there's too much heat loss for my comfort in the run from the back corner to the bathroom. The gas heater does a much better job of getting the water really hot. During the really cold weather we run electric heaters (not water heater) to supplement the furnace and keep propane usage down a bit. We have to be careful or we start popping breakers. So we turn off the electric water heater as it seems to have a pretty healthy draw when it kicks on.

[Northstar]

Thanks for the great post. Good info to have. Happyrving.....

[MuddyPaws]

Found it, used it, and turned it off from the circuit breaker.

I'm thinking of adding a switch right above the breaker panel. Has anybody already done it?

Thanks,
Russ

[sreigle]

Someone added a switch back by the water heater itself but I haven't heard of anyone doing that by the breaker panel. There's no reason I know of you couldn't do that, though. On the other hand, we've been using the breaker for a long time with no problems. But ours has only the water heater on that breaker.

[NJ Hillbilly]

I added a lighted switch under the sink, but that's relatively close to my heater.

John

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by padredw

Since I have the 2955, I'll jump in here. Steve is exactly right about the rocker switch. I only turn it off when we are in "home port" or "dry dock". When we are on the road, I just leave the elecric switch on as the default (much like the refrigerator). When I "plug in" the water heater is on; when I disconnect the electric water heater is off -- no switch, no breaker to set. The only time I might use the gas is when we might want hot water faster after first hookup, or after heavy use of hot water. That's not based on science, just observation that the gas heats more quickly. I'll be glad to be corrected if my practice is unacceptable.

Padredw, your method should work just fine. When we were weekenders, the only reason we shut off the breaker when breaking camp was I feared I would decide to drain the water heater and forget to turn off the breaker. Next time we connect, with water heater not yet refilled, the heater element would be destroyed. That element will burn out in seconds if not covered by water. So turning off the breaker was my way of avoiding that screwup. Others probably don't have that problem.

[MuddyPaws]

A Lighted switch is a great idea. Was it a rocker type switch that's illumincated when it's on? How much current does the switch need to carry? I see a trip to Radio Shack in my future......

[jimc]

The circuit breaker will work fine for turning the water heater element on/off, but I still had the problem of forgetting to turn it off so that the heater didn't come back on as soon as I plugged in at home. So, I went to Home Depot and got a switch with a neon light that glows when the switch is on. On my 03 2955, I pulled out the two drawers and you can see the top of the hot water heater. The 110V cable runs across the top and goes into a junction box. I got a metal junction box, cut the cable and put the ends in the box. I then ran another cable to the new switch mounted below the tank level panel. I also ran another black wire to the new switch for switching the hot lead. Wire nut everything, seal the junction box, and use Liquid Nails to attach the junction box to the top foam on the water heater. Now just leave the outside switch on, and the new switch tells you when the electricity is on to the element thermostat.

2003 Montana 2955
2003 Chev 2500 HD Duramax/Allison SB EC
Go to Top of Page

[Virgil]

My 2003 2955 RL has a tiny hole drilled in the rocker switch with an equally tiny snap pin through it.