Mods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks: water tank and heater

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water tank and heater

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Forum Name: Mods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14967
Printed Date: 23 May 2025 at 8:50pm
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Topic: water tank and heater

Posted By: ColoradoAndrea
Subject: water tank and heater
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 2:28pm

Hello again

I cannot get the electric hot water heater to work in the RPOD 189. Any suggestions?

Replies:

Posted By: pedwards2932
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 2:38pm

Not sure what you have tried but there is a circuit breaker that has to be on and a switch outside in the water heater hatch. That is the one that is usually missed.....small rocker switch flip it to on.

Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 2:48pm

If the circuit breaker looks good and the switch on the water heater on the outside of the Pod is on, it's possible your heating element is burned out due to not having water in the WH tank at some point when you ran it on electric. It's a pretty generic part; just get a 1500W element at Lowe's or Home Depot. I think the length is 9" or so.

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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod"
2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4
Three cats

Posted By: ColoradoAndrea
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 3:17pm

Where is the circuit breaker? ( Are you referring to the switch inside the bathroom? I know where the outside switch is.

Also I have it parked in the yard and connected it to city water. I can't tell when the tank is full. ( I check the lights inside the bathroom but it continues to say empty.) what am I. doing wrong?

Posted By: pedwards2932
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 3:38pm

circuit breaker is in the panel below the TV. If it is on and switch is on you need to see if you are getting voltage to the heating element.....if you are then it probably a blown heating element. I think the switch in bathroom is for DC water pump.

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 5:06pm

To make sure the element is bad before removing you need a multimeter, which will be very handy to have in your travel toolkit. You can either check to see that you have 120Vac using the ac volts setting on the meter with the breaker and switch on or check using the ohms setting and the breaker off to see if the element is burned out. If it's burned out your meter will show an open circuit (infinite or very high ohms). A good element should be around 10 ohms or thereabouts.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Posted By: ColoradoAndrea
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 6:15pm

Thanks-- I think the problem maybe that we were trying to heat the water from the switch inside the bathroom. After reading the manual it looks like we just need turn on the electric switch outside when using city water. The water heater switch in the bathroom must only apply to when using the fresh water tank. That's probably why when I check the tank level inside the bathroom it shows as empty.

Sound right to you?

Posted By: RoverPod
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 6:23pm

Originally posted by ColoradoAndrea

Thanks-- I think the problem maybe that we were trying to heat the water from the switch inside the bathroom. After reading the manual it looks like we just need turn on the electric switch outside when using city water. The water heater switch in the bathroom must only apply to when using the fresh water tank. That's probably why when I check the tank level inside the bathroom it shows as empty.

Sound right to you?

You are confusing several different things, which is not uncommon for new owners.

The water heater can run on propane or electricity.
The "water heater" switch that is inside the camper is for running the water heater on propane.
In order to run the water heater on electricity, you need to turn on the small black switch that is OUTSIDE on the tank itself. And the circuit breaker needs to be on.
The fresh water TANK (not the water heater) is filled through the tank port on the outside of the camper. And then the "water pump" switch is used to have water flow.
You can check to make sure that there is water in the water heater but using the temperature and pressure valve that is outside on the water heater.
The "city water" connection is used when connected via a water hose to an external water source. The water pump is NOT used in this situation.
The water pump and water heater operate together but separately. The water heater can be run with either the fresh water tank (and the water pump) or with the city water connection.

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2017 F150 XLT SuperCab
2020 rPod 180

Posted By: ColoradoAndrea
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 6:31pm

Ok -- To clarify

When wanting to heat water through the electric source and city water, I flip the black switch outside. Is the switch in the bathroom labeled "heater" what you are referring to as a circuit breaker or do I need to remove the panel from the circuit box below the tv???

Sorry for the many questions but I'm afraid of burning up the element if I do it wrong. ( By the way, the heater works fine off of propane. )

Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 6:34pm

The circuit breaker is in the power panel. You can usually identify where it is by listening for a fan running if you're using 12V devices: the fan is in the converter under the breakers and fuses behind the power panel door. The door is spring loaded so that you push on it to pop it open and then push it again to latch it.

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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod"
2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4
Three cats

Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2021 at 7:20pm

I have a 2019 179 and the water heater is accessible through an outdoor black panel/door, firstly you should verify that the water heater is filled with water before turning any heating source either gas or electric by opening the pressure relief valve on the tank and ensure that you have a water flow. The system has to be under pressure either by the city water connection hooked up or by running the fresh water pump and having water available for the pump in the fresh water tank. Once you verify that there is water in the hot water tank you can then heat it via propane gas or electric (or both). To turn on the gas heat flip the switch for the water heater on the panel inside the trailer located on the same panel as the tank level indicator lights and battery condition lights and a switch to turn the fresh water pump on and off. If you want to use the 120v electric heating element verify that the breaker is in the on position (and not tripped) then go outside to the water heater and find the small rocker off/on switch (mine is located in the lower left hand side of the water heater) and turn that switch on. If you still are not getting hot water by using the electrical element you may have to push the reset buttons (one for gas and one for electrical) on the water heater (on mind) below and to the left of the pressure relief valve and above and to the right of the off/on rocker switch. There is a black rubber panel with 2 clearly marked reset push buttons, push both buttons in. After doing all that if you still can't get the electric heating element to work follow offgrid's instructions on how to test and or replace the heating element. Hope this helps.

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Jay

179/2019

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 06 Oct 2021 at 8:28am

Just to clarify one point.

The source of the water (city or tank) and the source of heat for the water heater (propane or 120Vac electric, or both) are totally independent. For example, if you are in a campground with electric but no water hookups you can still run the water heater on electric and save your propane. Before you run either type of heat just be sure the hot water tank is full.

Best to do that before you leave home by connecting to city water or running the pump from a full fresh water tank through a hot water tap until no air comes out, plus another minute or so to be sure there weren't any trapped air pockets. If you then keep water in the system all season you won't need to de-air it until you winterize.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold