A Valuable Lesson Learned!

coachmac9 · October 28, 2015

Ah, yet another lesson learned in the "living life in an RV" saga Monday morning. Being one of those poor souls still attached to the "ball and chain" of having to get up and go to work five days a week, Monday morning I began another work week the same as I had for every other week...waking up in the pre-dawn hours to my most hated sound of all...the alarm clock...as I staggered into the kitchen to turn on our water heater I hear an unfamiliar sound and a light comes on that signals me that it did not light...hmmm, I of course tried it again, and again...no luck...well now I take a very, very quick shower with cold water and start thinking what could possibly be wrong. Get home Monday and check the igniter, no problem...then my DW comes out and informs me that the stove top burners will not light...bingo...no gas!!! Now, I have been checking the levels faithfully and it showed half full to a little less than half full...WRONG!!!! I go around to the tanks and...of course...they are empty...so if you are just beginning your journey in this never ending road trip...BEWARE...DON'T TRUST THOSE PANEL LIGHTS THAT TELL YOU YOUR LP TANK IS HALF FULL...THEY LIE!!!!!

Thank goodness we are in Texas and it hasn't gotten cold (Tx version of cold) yet so we aren't in dire need of the furnace...and my DW can cook a mean meal in the slow cooker so it's not like we are suffering...except for the very cool showers we are taking in the morning...I suggested to my DW that those were actually healthier and we should continue with the new ritual...as I was going out the door...she can't hit a moving target!!! You folks have a blessed day...and check your tanks!!!!

AlCherry · October 28, 2015

Been there, done that, except it was on a 30 degree night, around midnight.

Barbaraok · October 28, 2015

You might find that getting an electric heating unit for your water heater will be an advantage. In fact we run ours on electric all the time - maybe 1-2 times a year will we use the propane for heating the water. And, in fact, it has been 2 years since we had the propane tank refilled and we still have about 10 gallons left. Most of the west coast, it is cost effective to use electric instead of propane.

Look to see if you can recalibrate your inside panel lights to be a little more accurate. I know that ours always reads low - as in when the tank goes a smudge below ½ full the panel says we only have ¼ left. It takes a while to figure our what each panel is really telling you and you will soon learn all of the tricks, like checking the actual propane tank when it gets below ½ on the panel; of slow draining in the sink means times to dump, as does the 'burp' from the toilet.

Barb

coachmac9 · October 28, 2015

Thanks for the tips Barb!! I would love to have the electric heating unit for the hot water heater...in our area the LP gas has definitely not gone down like gasoline has.

Barbaraok · October 28, 2015

Look at something like the Hott Rod conversion kit from Camping World. Our Class C had one added on by the previous owner and we used it all of the time. Especially when you are traveling and paying for the power with the night/weeks site rental.

Barb

kb0zke · October 28, 2015

Our coach has only a propane-fired hot water heater, and when we replace it next year it will be with a dual unit. That Hott Rod conversion kit looks tempting, though.

Captain Happy · October 30, 2015

If your rig has a 30 amp service, you want to rethink the idea of installing an electric water heater. I'm not saying don't do it, just think about the amp usage. In the summer time in the southern states, you had to turn off the electric water heater so you could use the micro-wave when the A/C unit was running. I know this because we use to own an V that had an electric water heater w/30 amp service.

coachmac9 · October 30, 2015

Definitely something to consider, but for us it shouldn't be a problem. We only turn the hot water heater on when we need it,

Barbaraok · October 30, 2015

If your rig has a 30 amp service, you want to rethink the idea of installing an electric water heater. I'm not saying don't do it, just think about the amp usage. In the summer time in the southern states, you had to turn off the electric water heater so you could use the micro-wave when the A/C unit was running. I know this because we use to own an V that had an electric water heater w/30 amp service.

We run the electric water heater all the time on electric even when on 30 amps. If the A/C is going, just turn off the compressor, but leave the fan on the unit running while I need to use the microwave. Not a problem. Of course when I've got the A/C going, we're cooking outside!

sandsys · October 30, 2015

Definitely something to consider, but for us it shouldn't be a problem. We only turn the hot water heater on when we need it,

Me, too. I learned I could turn on the water heater for ten minutes, turn it off, and take my shower with only hot water so I didn't waste any water trying to get the temperature right. My heater was only 2.5 gallons, though, so a big heater would likely take longer. With that small heater using such limited time, my solar power/battery system would heat the water when boon docking.

Linda Sand

Pat & Pete · October 31, 2015

We leave our water heater on electric when using 30 Amp .

Once in a while we'll get a low voltage signal and we turn something off for a minute .

Umm , why would anyone need to heat hot water ?

rick werth · October 31, 2015

We have 30 amp in our MH (would have preferred 50), but we have had zero problems running the hot water on electric, which is how we heat water most of the time, and running the AC, microwave, heater, etc.