Hot water tank replacement

[Bradrutherford]

Hello, I need to change the hot water tank in my travel trailer and have no idea what I'm doing. Lol

I was hoping it would be a simple case of unscrew, replace, and re-screw but now that I'm looking it may not be so simple. For the plumbing I think that if I take the black cap off the pipe it'll hook up to the tank and the bottom one seems simple. Correct me if I'm wrong. 

I'm just not seeing any wires going to the existing tank so not sure where to wire the new tank to. I could post another picture or two of the rest of underneath the bed as that's where the  breaker box is and I assume where I'd run wires from. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Kirk W
remove empty space

[Kirk W]

What is the make and model of the water heater you have? It looks very different from any that I'm familiar with and appears to be electric only and to have no insulation around the tank. The black wire and the white wire that have been cut were most likely the power leads and seem to have been 12V but that is only a guess. Black is typically positive and white is typically ground. If 120V then black is hot and white neutral. Green is or was ground, notice the bare wire.

Here is a picture of a typical RV water heater that I am familiar with.

 Rear      and  front. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Kirk W

[Dutch_12078]

The upper picture appears to be a 5-or 6 gallon 120 electric only heater with a black hot lead, white neutral lead, and a green safety ground. Brand unknown. The blue box on the side of the tank in the lower picture is a Swan Industries RV all-season bypass valve.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Dutch_12078 said:

The upper picture appears to be a 5-or 6 gallon 120 electric only heater with a black hot lead, white neutral lead, and a green safety ground.

It would look like you are right, but have you ever seen one with the bare tank like in the pictures? I guess that is what throws me. I had thought that both pictures were of the same water heater but studying it more I don't believe that is the case. What do you think?

Edited February 13, 2023 by Kirk W

[Dutch_12078]

27 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

It would look like you are right, but have you ever seen one with the bare tank like in the pictures? I guess that is what throws me. I had thought that both pictures were of the same water heater but studying it more I don't believe that is the case. What do you think?

I agree with you Kirk, it does look like two different tanks to me too. The second tank looks like a small water storage tank like some of the pressurized ones I've seen in vintage smaller TT's. The heater may be from that era as well. The bypass valve appears to be used as a tank fill/house selector.

I once rebuilt a 1968 13' TT with an odd upper bunk rear overhang (don't recall the brand) that had a 6 gallon AC only residential water heater installed under a dinette seat. It had some insulation, but it appeared to aftermarket installed. That one also had the old pressurized water tank.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Dutch_12078
typo

[Bradrutherford]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the help. They are two different tanks. Should I look into finding some insulation? The tank that's in there now has a crack and i think it may be propane only, I don't see any wires leading to it. 

 

I am not at the camper now but will see if there's a brand name on there somewhere. And I will take a picture of the bottom. It is very similar to this one if not exactly the same.  

Edited February 14, 2023 by Kirk W
Remove excess empty space

[Bradrutherford]

That's an outside picture of the one that's in there now

[Kirk W]

10 hours ago, Bradrutherford said:

That's an outside picture of the one that's in there now

The picture is of an early water heater from Atwood and it is a pilot light model that does not have direct spark ignition (DSI). It has no need for electricity but uses a thermal bulb to detect the pilot light burning and for temperature control. You are correct that there would be no wires to it and that it only uses propane. If you remove it you will need to cap the propane line that supplies it. 

11 hours ago, Bradrutherford said:

They are two different tanks. Should I look into finding some insulation?

It looks to me like what you have is just the tank from a 120V water heater, without the insulation of the outside parts and it has no pressure relief. Here is a picture of what I am seeing if I look up 6 gallon, 120V water heaters.

                               

Note that the typical electric water heater has the tank inside of a housing with insulation, a pressure relief valve and in most cases a drain valve in addition to the 2 connections for cold water entry and hot water exit. Both of the tanks that you pictured look to be sitting on some sort of base and it is my guess that neither of them is complete. The one in the second picture has the strangest plumbing to it that I have ever seen. This is a typical plumbing connection for an RV.

 

[Dutch_12078]

Ahh! Ok, the old Atwood heater is in the lower picture with the bypass valve making more sense now. The upper picture might be an after market unjacketed 120 volt heater as Kirk suggests.

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Ok, the old Atwood heater is in the lower picture with the bypass valve making more sense now.

But it appears that someone removed all of the insulation that was once on the Atwood tank. I have never seen one that had no insulation at all from the factory. My first Atwood water heater was in a 1976 Great Divide and it was pretty much the same as in Bradrutherford's latest picture and was not a DSI model. I'm not sure when the DSI became common, but our 1987 did have it in a Suburban water heater.

[whj469]

I like the tank with insulation on it!

[Dutch_12078]

6 hours ago, Kirk W said:

But it appears that someone removed all of the insulation that was once on the Atwood tank. I have never seen one that had no insulation at all from the factory. My first Atwood water heater was in a 1976 Great Divide and it was pretty much the same as in Bradrutherford's latest picture and was not a DSI model. I'm not sure when the DSI became common, but our 1987 did have it in a Suburban water heater.

I agree Kirk, it certainly does appear that the insulation was removed at some point. Mice seem to like that sort of thing for nest material, and a PO may have cleaned up the mess and not replaced it.

[slockfox]

I recently replaced my 6 gallon gas water heater with a 19 gallon electric water heater so i wont have to rush while taking a shower. This is just me as i use my camper while working out of town and prefer electric hookups and have a backup generator. I have a short video here

 

[Dutch_12078]

9 hours ago, slockfox said:

I recently replaced my 6 gallon gas water heater with a 19 gallon electric water heater so i wont have to rush while taking a shower. This is just me as i use my camper while working out of town and prefer electric hookups and have a backup generator. I have a short video here

 

It seems to me that you've basically turned an RV into a "tiny house" that's no longer suited for RV life. Residential toilet tanks for instance, don't typically lend themselves to the rigors of RV travel over time. Draining the tank and bowl before moving the rig would help, but the minimal support for the toilet tank could still be an issue. And of course your unit is no longer usable for all but the most limited boondocking where an external water supply and sewage disposal are not available. While the work you've done certainly appears to be well done, in my opinion, it's no longer an RV in the fullest sense of the term.

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

It seems to me that you've basically turned an RV into a "tiny house" that's no longer suited for RV life.

I definitely agree with this opinion. There are good reasons for the RV toilet and water heater, along with other appliances. Do you expect to be able to travel with that trailer?

[RV_]

I like it. If it works for you you'll be home. Keep us in the loop as you finish it up. One thing's clear, you are a capable remodeler. I ripped out a booth and made a Formica counter with a computer printer station built in, and many other DIY projects.

I think Dutch may be right about the toilet. But the great thing about having your skill set is that if you don't like the toilet, or anything else, you can R&R it and try something else.

Your video was great to see what you're doing.

Keep us posted, I'd love to see your progress.

Safe travels!

 

[Chalkie]

On 3/13/2023 at 10:53 PM, slockfox said:

This is just me as i use my camper while working out of town and prefer electric hookups and have a backup generator.

 

On 3/14/2023 at 10:49 AM, Kirk W said:

 Do you expect to be able to travel with that trailer?

The comment suggests that will be used for travel although I could be wrong.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Chalkie