How To Test Your RV Water Heater On Electric

[@joe1071]

Bro, your voice and rate of speech reminds me of many successful radio/podcast hosts. You could do well in the voice world

[@bobbyboy4974]

Darren, what I do in these cases is take a 2-Step approach. First, I will take an AC voltage reading between the load side of the breaker feeding the circuit and the neutral buss. This verifies that the breaker is good. The on to load testing. Food for thought.

[@MrHuish3]

I have a suburban water heater I'm going to try what you suggested cuz I can get the everyplace the element cuz there was no ohms reading but I'm still not able to get it to work I'll try that but I don't know if you can recommend anything else I can try if that does not work thanks for the video hopefully it'll be helpful I'll try it this this week on trying to see if my electric element works

[@PatrickJeon-os5vg]

This was an exact replacement for the old one that lasted about 10 years. kzbin.infoUgkx7yWIKcrbA9KMHkGSfcgxW2lsjHT6B8Sh The top of my mitigation tube by my roofline was just a 90 elbow which allowed too much debris to fall down into the fan, eventually ruining it. Without this issue, I bet it would have kept running another 10 years. When I replaced this fan, I added an extra elbow joint so the top tube now it does a 180, which should solve that problem. The radon guys around here wanted to charge me a $300 diagnostic fee, then parts/labor (probably close to $600 total). I installed this all by myself in about an hour for the cost of the fan; it would probably be even easier/faster with two people. FYI the manufacturer's warranty greatly differs depending on whether you install it yourself (1 yr warranty) or have a licensed installer do it (10 yrs).

[@donkeltner5828]

I have a atwood 10 gal water heater, gas works, no electric. 9.8 with quick trick check, replaced circ board, and t stat, and eco, fuse is good on the board, and thermal fuse good, tightened all connections, still the same results .Did I miss anything?

[@phillipmorris1334]

hello from the rainy Ozarks Darren! if the switch on the wall is turned on does the light come on too even if the heater element not working

[@projet2907]

Did you ever get an answer ? :-0)

[@ronbennett6083]

Awesome tip

[@phillipmorris1334]

hello from the Ozarks! thanks for the tip! how do you check the atwood electric water heater control board

[@stevenpolaski9576]

i have an Atwood GC6AA-10E water heater that is supposed to be a combo but it is presently only propane operated, i would like to install the components to make it electric as well, is there a kit available? I can find the heater element but not the cover and wiring harness.

[@michaelkocsis1036]

Can you do the same check with s probe meter instead of clamp on?

[@gregfee1120]

good trick, dont have a clamp meter so went back to the switch that turns the current on for the electricity for the water heater, did a continuity test on the 2 wires coming into the switch, got a beeping sound, did one on the switch, got same sound, breaker off by the way... what should I be doing now?? still no water heat with electrical on... sensors seem to check out also at the front of the water heater...

[@projet2907]

How did you finally resolve ?

[@robmoye5192]

Thank you've saved me some much time

[@busterbuilding]

So if the amps check out correctly, would the circuit board be suspect? If it's drawing about 10 amps, then it appears the heating element should be heating...why no hot water?

[@craig6622]

I tested mine exactly as you did and only got 6.6 Amp showing on the meter. Does that mean electric element is faulty?

[@projet2907]

Was it?

[@craig6622]

@@projet2907 i don't remember, and no longer have the trailer.

[@larryg5417]

I’m pretty sure that connecting your ammeter to the breaker wire only tells you that it has current. It does not tell you whether you have a bad water heater element. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

[@MyRVWorks]

We're just using Ohm's law/ Watts law to do the mathematical calculation on the element. If the element was taken out of the water heater and sitting on your bench right before you, you would still do Ohm's law/ watt's law to determine what's going on inside of it. In one of our videos I cut an element open to show what's on the inside. It's basically just a filament. A lot of people will check an element with just voltage. But you need to know if there's current flowing through it to find out if it is good or not. The other way is to just read the ohmic value at room temperature. If the current and the voltage are within spec with regards to Ohm's law and what's law then it's usually a passing assessment. With the test outlined in the video, if there's 10 amps flowing through that circuit, and typically water heaters have their own breaker, that means that that element is consuming those 10 Amps and converting them to heat and returning back to the panel. So that's a good test.

[@diawnchannell]

Followed for your awesome wasy of explaining it all. Your awesome keep up the great work!

[@thebluetravelers7544]

What if you test it on ac volts and it shows 115 does the element still work

[@MyRVWorks]

No, voltage is a indication of the amount of electron 'pressure' in the wire but it is not an indication of electrons flowing through the wire. Only current will show you that. So in this case, if the heating element is actually bad it would have voltage going to he failed heating element it but no electrons flowing through the heating element. Hope this makes sense.

[@thebluetravelers7544]

@@MyRVWorks yes it does cause if it's bad the stream of amps wont move but if it's good you'll the flow wich can be measured in amps correct? Also I've watched all your videos thanks for helping me with all the content I have just started working as an rv tech and it's really helped and built confidence!

[@MyRVWorks]

@@thebluetravelers7544 I think you got it. I will go a bit farther and use the water analogy to help understand electricity... Voltage on the wire is like water pressure (or force) pushing against the hose, fittings and valves. It does not indicate the water is flowing through the hose, fittings and valves just an indication in the amount of 'work' that can be done with 'x' amount of pressure (or force). An engineer will say that Voltage is the scale used to record the Electromotive Force in a conductor. That is why Voltage is expressed as 'E' on the Ohms Law formula. Once you open the faucet and the water flows you can use a 'gallons-per-minute scale' to calculate the flow. In electrical terms we call that 'current' and record it as 'amps'. The same engineer that stated that Voltage is just a scale we use to record Electromotive Force might use a term like Induction to explain what the electrons are doing. They are being induced to go from '+' to '-' like so many dogs to a ham bone. So to finish this off... If you put your meter leads on the water heater element screws, and turned it on, you will most likely get a voltage reading because that is how much 'force' is available to do the work. But voltage (force) does not tell you how much 'work' is being done. If the water heater element is actually doing 'work' (the P in the Ohms law for Potential) than you would have current flow through the element - usually expressed in watts (which is also the 'P' in the ohms formula). Hopefully this helps get your head wrapped around all these terms. I can say that about 80% of all the work I have done on RV's has an electrical root to it so knowing how to understand electricity is critical in your new career. I plan on doing more electrical video's soon. Thanks for watching!!! And keep making Happy Campers!

[@steveh7920]

FYI the thermal fuse is pointed in the wrong direction. It should be over the burn chamber.😊

[@tomspare3573]

I have an Atwood gc6aa-10e. Last Summer both the electric and propane stopped working. Under warranty they replaced the circuit board. This year while on our 3rd trip, the electric stopped working (and continued not to work on our 4th trip)(gas worked). I did the testing of the yellow and white wires on circuit board and had a good DC reading. I ran across your video and just tested for amperage and I got a 11+ reading. It is not convenient to put water in the tank at my home so I don't know if it's actually heating. My question is ... Does your testing for amperage method guarantee that the electric heating element is working? I also performed the following test... Tested the yellow DC lead going to the relay located by the electric heating element. Good DC reading. Tested for AC voltage on electric heating element. Good AC reading. I did find the white neutral twist on connector to be extremely loose (as in it fell off when I pulled the AC wires out of the box on the back of the tank)... I'm hoping this was the issue.

[@philipmontera3092]

So when I hook this up tomorrow, if the element is bad the reader will show 0 or beep (not sure if mine has a beeper)? Also, can 0 mean that I have a bad wire or bad-no connection? Considering you had a good reading, what is a bad reading, what would you trouble shoot if you had one, and how? My propane heater works, but the electric does not. Many Thanks.

[@MyRVWorks]

Great questions... To schedule a service consult with Darren please sign up for the "1:1 Repair Consult" on our Patreon site. www.patreon.com/myrvworks

[@DavidLopez-lz9ff]

Can you perform this test with wire leads instead of clamp-on? ie: disconnect that wire from the breaker and put the Amp meter in series back to the breaker's terminal?

[@jasonhorst9154]

Ok what if it doesn’t create amps? Element or switch?

[@larrywinchester8117]

I have 120 behind the breaker...should I have 120 at the little electric toggle switch ? I installed a new element just for general principle...LP works fine so it’s not thermostat.

[@MyRVWorks]

Hi Larry, Your question has been selected for an upcoming video where it will be read and discussed by Darren - Certified RV Tech and online personality for the 'My RV Works' videos. If you have not already subscribed to the 'My RV Works' KZbin channel, please do so and keep a watch for the ‘RV Tech Talk’ video releases. This series is a selection of comments and questions that will be covered and released weekly. Here is our KZbin link: kzbin.info Happy Camping, My RV Works Media Team

[@larrywinchester8117]

My RV Works, Inc. looking forward to it.

[@joras7457]

Thanks ! Can you do some videos of adding a inverter to an rv with just a converter ! Thanks for the informative videos there great 👍🏻👍🏻

[@robertosgood961]

What do you check next?

[@garyfritz2119]

Just did this test. My amperage is reading 4.2 amps. Does this mean my element is bad.

[@MyRVWorks]

It would be highly suspicious yes, typically you would expect to see 10 ohms of resistance for those Heating elements.

[@ColtRobinson69]

If you have 120 at the element, it doesnt mean the element is working, which you described perfectly. Which is why you search for amp draw at the breaker.(load) I will be using the way you showed from now on, it is a little quicker. I usually test for 120 at the back of the element(while on), then if it doesnt get warm, the element is bad. My question is, if the e.c.o or T-stat doesnt work, doesnt it cause the element not to kick on?(for safety)

[@MyRVWorks]

Glad you found the tip useful. To your question: If the thermostat has failed than it will affect the water heater in all modes (electric and LP). Depending on if it failed open or closed. If the ECO fails it will only affect LP mode - specifically the gas valve.

[@johnr5545]

Thanks god bless

[@donkeltner5828]

what if you only get 9.8 on the meter during the test

[@donkeltner5828]

never mind I saw the same question below,thanks

[@steveh7920]

I'm a little confused because you refer to amps and 10 amps being the sweet spot within the range. Sounds like you're confusing it with ohms, because when you ohm out an element it should be in the range of 9-11 ohms with 10 being the sweetspot.

[@MyRVWorks]

If you run your calculation using Ohm's law, you will find that 10 ohms is 12 amps and 10 amps is 12 ohms. So let's just agree that 10 to 11 is the sweet spot between ohms and amps on these water heater heating elements.

[@EricGreniervideo]

Love how clearly you explain things! My water heater keeps flipping my main breaker. It has continuity between the neutral and ground. Any ideas what I should look for? Thanks.

[@isaacmiranda9250]

what if it has 9.3 amps

[@MyRVWorks]

That's close enough to spec. If 10 amps is the sweet spot you're plus/minus could be a function of the voltage. When I do Ohm's law I enter 120 volts. But you might be running a little lower.

[@isaacmiranda9250]

Thank you good sir

That meter is an ac only clamp meter it does do dc volts tho

[@max1chase166]

Why not just turn your volt meter to Ohms and test the element for continuity since the box is right there.

[@MyRVWorks]

As the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

[@alteffor9684]

they really shoulndt hide their door keys in the water heater door, thats the first place people look for them.

[@cstcomputers]

How many of us will have a clamp-on voltmeter? Show us how to test with a regular multimeter thanks but no thanks.

[@mikefighter]

What happen if I'm on the way there