Rpod 179 hot water
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11526
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Topic: Rpod 179 hot water
Posted By: manitobamike
Subject: Rpod 179 hot water
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 7:40pm
| So my wife and I took our 2017 rpod 179 out to our seasonal site, after dealer de-winterized it. The pod was purchased last year June 27,2017. This is our second season. We got to the seasonal site and hooked up to the breaker, and hooked up to city water. We waited for the tank to fill,purged the line using sink tap. Then I went outside to the hwt and turned the switch from off to on. Nothing happened. No pilot light. What am I doing wrong. |
Replies:
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 7:56pm
|
Nothing. There is no pilot light. If you have power hooked to the 'Pod and if you have the breaker turned on and if you turned the switch on (after making sure the tank was full), you may not see anything but you will have hot water. That is, unless your dealer did not turn the bypass valves and you purged the water lines but no water was going into the water heater. First, check at the water heater to make sure water is in there. Use the pressure relief valve on the heater to make sure the tank is purged. If water comes out when you open the valve (be careful as it might be hot, although you should be able to feel if it is hot before you open it), then you can be fairly sure the tank was filling. It takes a few minutes for the tank to fill once the valves are set properly. Once you get water and not air from the relief valve, you can be sure the tank is full. If by some chance the valves were still set to bypass and the tank was empty, you probably burned out your electric element. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 8:00pm
|
The hot water heater can work on propane and/or 120v electricity. The switch outside is only electric. It has nothing to do with propane and of course won't light a pilot. It has a breaker inside in the fuse panel.) Both the outside switch and the breaker need to be on, and you need to be hooked up to shore power. Totally independent, the propane switch is inside and should be clearly marked. Turn it on and leave it on as long as you want hot water. It works just like a home hot water heater, either gas or electric. It will turn itself off and on to maintain the water temp. The propane pilot does not stay on; an electronic spark reignites it as needed. It works on 12v battery power to tell a control board on the water heater to ignite the propane pilot, and once it's confirmed that it's on, it fires up the main propane flame to heat the water. Propane needs to be turned on at the tank, of course. You can use either propane or 120v to heat water, or for extra fast recovery, you can use both. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 8:14pm
Thanks for filling in the rest of the story. 
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: manitobamike
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 8:47pm
| I believe I have the answer. My dealer winterized the pod and de-winterized it. It is quite possible that the tech doing the de-winterization forgot to set up the bypass valves. Is this an easy fix or does the dealer need to do it. I am already setup at the seasonal site and it would be a pain to have to tow back into the city. |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 9:22pm
|
If that's it and you tried to turn on the electric element you probably burned it up. But, yes, it is a very simple fix. You have to get to the WH bypass valves, on the inside of the pod right where the water heater is on the outside. You may have to unscrew a kick panel or take the plywood off above the WH. You'll see 3 valves. For summer, the outside valves need to be turned parallel to the pipes and the one in the middle should be perpendicular to its pipe. The water heater will still (only) work on propane if you burned out the electric element. You can replace it (the element) with a new one from an RV store. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: manitobamike
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 6:47am
| This is my first time with a travel trailer and my first time using HWH. please forgive my ignorance. I need propane to run stove? But everything else using shore power? How do I know if I have burned out my coil? |
Posted By: Tom A
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 7:18am
When you say that the propane switch is totally independent and inside, are you talking about the switch in the bathroom that is in the same plate with the pump switch?
------------- 2018 Sequoia--2018 RP 190 |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 7:25am
|
Reread my first post in this thread. The stove is propane only. The water heater is propane and/ shore power. The fridge is propane or shore power or 12v DC. Regarding the water heater, you could test it with a volt ohm meter but if it's turned on and not working the element is probably blown. Make sure you have water in the WH tank. Stephen's methed is sure fire. You can get water out of the hot water faucet if the winteriazion valves are in their winter positions because the flow of water bypasses the WH. Turn on the water; either from your onboard tank or from a municipal supply and open the pressure relief valve on the outside of the water heater. It's something that looks kind of like a faucet with a little lever. Lift the lever. If air rushes out the tank is filling but not full. If nothing happens the bypass valves are in the wrong position. Check your fuses/breakers. With some luck you flipped a breaker instead of blowing the WH electric element. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: manitobamike
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 7:36am
| Thanks TT |
Posted By: manitobamike
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 7:45am
| Thanks so much everyone for your help. After going over it in my mind I believe I turned on the switch to the hw before the tank was full and before I purged the lines |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 9:38am
|
Now that you know the problem, you can fix it. These things are not intuitive. There is a definite learning curve. In my case, I filled the water tank but could not get water from the faucets. I just got air. I finally found the winterization valve for the water pump and found it was left in the position to draw RV antifreeze through the stub hose. Once I figured that out, the pump worked fine. I remember being shown the water heater bypass valves during the walk-through but the water pump winterization valve was not shown or even mentioned that I can recall. It was a learning curve for sure.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: manitobamike
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 2:47pm
| Okay so I took my multimeter plugged into the a wall socket reading was 121.went outside to the water heater and switched it on... Reading 121...coil fried. Can s point me to step by step instructions for installing a new one, I already purchased coil and wrench. Thanks for all your help. |
Posted By: john in idaho
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 2:59pm
| I do not know how to replace the coil, but before you start poking around , make sure you are completely unhooked from the 120 v power source. Un-plug the trailer. Then recheck with the volt meter just so you know. |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 3:26pm
|
YouTube is your friend in this case. Here is a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBwrOO1h_E0 - video showing how to replace the element .
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: manitobamike
Date Posted: 07 May 2018 at 3:55pm
| Thanks Steven for the link. I had just found the video |