R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > R-pod Discussion Forums > Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: sw 6 de electic switch replaced
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic Closedsw 6 de electic switch replaced

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
J&Jcf View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 17 Aug 2014
Location: central Florida
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 90
Direct Link To This Post Topic: sw 6 de electic switch replaced
    Posted: 09 Feb 2016 at 4:35pm
The electric water heater portion stopped working in August. We dry camp 95% of the time so it wasn't a big deal. The propane part worked fine. Googled sw 6 de and info came up. Utubed it and saw it was fairly easy & cheap fix. I felt the switch was the culprit. Switch was $4.50 ordered at local rv dealer and & $6 on amazon. Ordered swich.

Replacement: disconnected electric to trailer. It is tight fit so removed
manifold & burner assembly all in one piece . Used 7/16 wrentch to loosen bolt on bottom of burner assembly &
Same wrentch to loosen holding nut on bottom of gas valve. Carefuly remove the combination assembly to get it out of the way. Also removed electric heat element cover (3 screws) to get it out of the way. Used a paint can opener (straight edge hook) press in pull down to release top & do same for bottom to release switch. Be careful because there is a gasket around it that you reuse on new switch. The switch is loose but will not put straight out (has L shape electric connectors) so you swivel the switch / bend switch to the right ( towards the heater element) & pull out gently. You now have enough wire length to disconnect the electric connectors. I used a small screw driver to easily pry the connectors off. Reverse process to reinstall everything.
Check operation: make sure water in heater. Hook up 110 electric. Turn on switch and you can hear the element start to work if it is good. Mine was good. Switch was bad and seems like a common problem. No pictures because will not work off my tablet. Not interest in trying to post
Pictures any more.
J. - 2011 rpod 171
Back to Top
Don Halas View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 01 Jul 2015
Location: Connecticut
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 190
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Apr 2016 at 10:20am
I haven't used the water heater in electric mode much. I did de-winterize several weeks ago in anticipation of taking the Pod to the dealer for warranty work, which was done last Friday.

The propane function has and continues to work, but the electric does not appear to work. I was very sure not to throw the ON switch until there was water in the unit. Last weekend I could not get it to produce any hot water. I checked the switch on the heater as well as the breakers on the control panel and everything appeared in order.

So, I figured I must have popped the element and ordered a new one through Amazon. I got the new element yesterday and checked the resistance of it compared it to the suspect element in the water heater. Both had the same ultra-low value. I also took the element out and could see no evidence of damage.

The next thing will be to check the voltage going into the element, but that will need to wait a couple of weeks until I don't have freezing temps to worry about and can refill the heater before I apply the AC.

Prior to that, however I'm wondering if there is something else I can check. There are two black 'reset' buttons, but from the documentation I have, it appears they have to do with the propane mode.

I guess if I don't have 110v at the contacts on the element the switch might be the next suspect. I guess I could remove the connections to the element and measure the voltage, but will probably wait.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Back to Top
techntrek View Drop Down
Admin Group - pHp
Admin Group - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Location: MD
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9062
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Apr 2016 at 8:58pm
I think one is for LP, one is for electric.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz