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R pod water heater

Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10572
Printed Date: 30 Jun 2025 at 9:05pm
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Topic: R pod water heater
Posted By: forrest921
Subject: R pod water heater
Date Posted: 27 Aug 2017 at 12:49pm
Hello all
We have a new 2017 r pod 177, the water heater works great on electric but I cannot get it to run on propane, does anyone know the step by step to get it going? I am worried that it might not work at all!

Thanks! Forrest




Replies:
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 27 Aug 2017 at 1:30pm
Make sure the water heater us full of water.  Flip the switch on the wall marked Water Heater.  Wait.  The switch will light red indicating the water heater is lighting, then the light will go off, but the gas is still on.

Make sure you are getting flame at the stove, which will help purge any air out of the line, if that's an issue.  It may take a while for the water heater to ignite if there is air in the line.

TT


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2010 176
FJ Cruiser

Posted By: forrest921
Date Posted: 27 Aug 2017 at 1:35pm
Thanks TT should the switch on the heater also be on? Or
Just the wall switch?

Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 27 Aug 2017 at 1:43pm
The only switch I know of on the WH is the one on the outside that controls the electric element (along with a circuit breaker inside).  That switch has nothing to do with heating water with propane.  You can heat with both electric and propane for faster heating and recovery, or you can use one or the other.

TT


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2010 176
FJ Cruiser

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 27 Aug 2017 at 3:10pm
One thing to note, Elec, and Gas, have separate thermostats. more then one podder had a "WH won't run on Gas" situation, when the issue was, "water already hot, and WH doesn't light until needed" issue. 

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Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2017 at 9:21am
Originally posted by forrest921

Hello all
We have a new 2017 r pod 177, the water heater works great on electric but I cannot get it to run on propane, does anyone know the step by step to get it going? I am worried that it might not work at all!

Thanks! Forrest


Not sure if you have this resolved, but mine was the same way. First i had someone push the on switch from inside the pod as i watched from the back with the cover open. As i heard the series of clicks attempting to light the burner, i could smell propane, but there was no ignition. After a few attempts the switch will alarm (DSI Fault stays on). The ignitor has 2 electrodes that should cause a spark between them, it almost looks like a fork with only 2 tines. If they are to far apart they wont create the spark needed to light the burner. This "could" be your problem. When the heater switch is off, try using needle nose, or even just a screwdriver to close up the gap between the two electrodes a little, then have it switched on, and see if it lights. Dont be to close to the unit trying to see whats happening as it tries to light, if it takes a few clicks to light, enough propane will be there to cause a small burst of a fireball as it burns the excess gas. It will definately singe your facial hair. Ask me how i know this.


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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding

Posted By: forrest921
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2017 at 7:02pm
Thank you all I won't be able to use this info until the next trip in 2 weeks! All of this is great info

Posted By: Richand Cindy
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2017 at 7:25pm
On our second trip out the water heater stopped working on propane.  It had been working and there was water in the heater.  The DSI light next to the inside water heater switch would come on and then would stay on and not go off after a minute as it is supposed to.  We ended up going outside and opening the panel for the heater and flipping the switch to turn on the heater using electricity.  We brought the RPOD back to the dealer who made the repair but when we picked it up service dept went home and so I do not know what was wrong or how they fixed it.  So a water heater can break and work on electric but not propane, after you checked that propane is working (you can light the stove) and have water in the tank (let the hot water run from a faucet until it is steady flow).  When both work it is great to use both at the same time to heat the water faster but we usually turn off the electric as it is easy to forget it is on and if there is no water in the tank it can burn it out.  So we use the electric only when we need to take multiple showers or do dishes and showers.  Otherwise we only use propane.  This last trip we found out that we could turn off the heater altogether and when we return at the end of the day the water is still hot enough to wash our hands.  We just turn it back on after dinner and then shut it down at night.  We hardly use any propane at all doing it this way.  Very efficient system.


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OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel


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