Head scratcher

[Bungy]

I have a rather odd problem with the water heater in my Solitude that is a real head scratcher. When plugged into shore power and hooked to city water everything works fine but when running off the on-board water tank, the heater only works on gas. I haven’t had time to troubleshoot it yet (travelling) but was hopping the gurus on here might have some insight on where to start looking. I checked voltage at the element and it’s fine, one issue I noted however was when I hooked up the city water I could hear the tank filling.

[boyscout]

Just to be sure, when you're "running off the on-board water tank" you are still plugged into shore power?

The electric water heater is 120V only, it won't run on 12V battery power. If you remain plugged into shore power and switch back to city water the electric heater starts working?

If so, it is a head-scratcher to me too... hope one of the "gurus" can offer more help.

[WhittleBurner]

Are you remembering to change the valve settings on the water control panel to run off the tank ?
If the tank is filling while in city mode it sounds as if the valve setting isn't right or you have a Kant Leak panel with a bad o ring. What year is the trailer? If you add trailer info to your signature that hasn't been created yet it will help people answer some questions without having to ask just as many

[Bungy]

Yes and yes..

[Bungy]

I was running in “dry camping” (nautilus panel) mode and plugged into shore power. The water heater would not run on electric (no power to element). I switched to “city water” and everything works fine....

[JCR GD]

Hmmmm. There is no interconnect between the water selection valve and electrical at the water heater. Definitely weird! Seems like something else is in play.

[Keebler]

With water in your fresh tank (water heater set to ELECTRIC); hooked to city water, set to CITY WATER, verify hot water is passing through the faucet (so we know water heater is full of hot water):
> Switch to Dry Camping Mode (water heater still set to ELECTRIC); now check faucet water, is it now cold? We'd expect it to stay hot for a bit as we know the water heater is full of hot water. If it is cold, we know something is causing the pump to bypass the heater when switching the system to city mode while set to electric.

If it stays hot until the water heater drains and as it refills, it is not reheating; my guess would be the control board on the heater.

Just a guess.

[315RLTSinPA]

I don't think the problem is with the water heater. Sounds more like some kind of bypass problem when switching to dry camping mode.

[WhittleBurner]

I don't think the problem is with the water heater. Sounds more like some kind of bypass problem when switching to dry camping mode.

That seems to make the most sense to me , BUT if the bypass is stuck there would be no hot water at all for either setting...makes ya go hmmmmm
If it is bypassing and the heater is turned on that will cause issues of it's own

[Bungy]

I don't think the problem is with the water heater. Sounds more like some kind of bypass problem when switching to dry camping mode.

That’s what I suspect as well but I can’t imagine what the problem would be. If it’s bypassing why do I still get flow from the hot taps?