Water Heater-gctid378647

[Guest]

There is some sort of breaker or reset button on my water heater (it's the standard 6 gallon one from Seaward I believe)

I only know this because a year or two ago I had a problem were it would not get hot. I asked the marina to look into it. Well they did and charged me 100 dollars to reset it! Well I don't want to pay them that kind of money for something I can do myself, so my question is where is this reset button/breaker on the water heater since it's not obviously seen. Before I go poking around down there does anyone know?

[boatworkfl]

It should be on your 120 volt electrical panel, I do not know if they would put one near the heater.

[Guest]

thanks, i'm well aquainted with the boats electrical panel, but I believe there is one on the water heater itself

[Guest]

Ralph, I have the 6 gal. KUUMA hot water heater. I looked over the owner's manual for mine and it does not show a reset button on the hot water itself. Under the troubleshooting section there are three solutions to three causes under the section of no hot water while plugged in to shore power.

1) High Limiter switch has tripped - Cycle AC power

2) Failed Thermostat - Replace Thermostat

3) Element has burned out - Replace element

Good luck - Tom

[CaptTom]

I think most of these have a high-temp cutoff (not sure the technical term for it.)

It's a little black button (like a tiny hockey puck) with prongs on either side for a spade wire connector. The juice goes through it unless the temperature is too high, at which point it breaks the circuit. In theory.

In practice, they tend to fail and not pass any current even when it's not hot. Easy enough to test with a meter, once you get at them.

They're typically held in place against the tank by a piece of sheet metal. That means removing (usually) the face plate over the elements, and fishing around in the insulation to see where they are. On a larger tank there may be more than one, but I'm guessing only one on a 6 Gallon tank.

They're cheap to buy, but $100 for the labor involved in replacing one may not be a bad deal, depending on how hard the tank is to work on.

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies. I got down to the boat and took a look. First off it's an Atwood Heater if that makes a difference. I took the face plate off (where the wires go in) but I didn't see anything that looked anything like a switch or cut off. (A picture would be worth a thousand words here.) I can't imagine where else it would be as it seems to be pretty much sealed. If I have to take the tank out to locate it that would make this a real PITA

[Guest]

My money is on the element is burnt out... These things don't last forever..... Especially if you turn the power on before the tank is full of water...

[boatworkfl]

Abigayle III wrote:
My money is on the element is burnt out... These things don't last forever..... Especially if you turn the power on before the tank is full of water...

A plumber in Seward AK told me if you turn on the power with no water in the heater it takes about 2-3 seconds to burn out the element, I also speak from experience, and I should have known better, did plumbing for 5 years. A new element can be purchased at most hardware stores, I think the same for the temp control button on the heater.

[Guest]

During the course of reworking and installing a used Atwood six gallon marine water heater, I've called the Atwood corporate technicians twice during the past six months. Both times, the technicians have been very knowledgeable and helpful and will walk you through any particular problem that you have. There's both an email address and a corporate phone number on the Atwood.com website. They can also tell you exactly how to attach your multimeter and the readings to test out the element and both of the other electrical fittings.

[Guest]

MikeRoss wrote:
During the course of reworking and installing a used Atwood six gallon marine water heater, I've called the Atwood corporate technicians twice during the past six months. Both times, the technicians have been very knowledgeable and helpful and will walk you through any particular problem that you have. There's both an email address and a corporate phone number on the Atwood.com website. They can also tell you exactly how to attach your multimeter and the readings to test out the element and both of the other electrical fittings.

Thank you Mike I will check that out. To others yes I know that you are not supposed to turn it on with no water in it. I'm very careful NOT to do that. I also know they don't last forever. I had one replaced on my last boat and on this boat. The original water heater (only from '02 big deal) was just replaced in 08. It stopped working once in 2010 supposedly because of the breaker hence the reason for this post. So, no, I don't expect it to last forever but come on! I think I will relay this story to Atwood, should i actually get a chance to speak to someone.