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Old 04-27-2015, 02:38 PM   #1
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THOR #1535
Axis Water Heater

I was testing my water heater over the weekend and I ran it using the electric heat. I noticed a loud humming noise coming from the heater's outside circuit panel. Is it normal for the panel to make a noise when using the electric heat?

Thanks,
Matt

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Old 04-27-2015, 02:45 PM   #2
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Not that I'm aware of. Our water heater has been pretty silent when run on electricity. Did you make sure the tank was full of water before turning on the electric heat?
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Old 04-27-2015, 03:30 PM   #3
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I had the unit connected to the house faucet overnight, I believe the water heater was full. Is there a way to check other than running the hot water to make sure it flows without interruption? The water was hot, the noise just does not go away. I get the weird feeling there might be a faulty connection somewhere!
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Old 04-27-2015, 04:58 PM   #4
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Cautiously open the Temperature/Pressure Relief valve on the top of the tank. If the tank is full you will have water coming out of it otherwise keep it open until water does gush out.

There should be no noise from operating the hot water heater with electricity.

Occasionally, your converter/charger will hum. The hum is from a fan that comes on when the unit heats up due to a high load. This may be what you are hearing assuming it is near the hot water heater.

Bruce


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...Is there a way to check other than running the hot water to make sure it flows without interruption?
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Old 04-27-2015, 05:21 PM   #5
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Thanks Bruce. I'll try it tonight.
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Old 04-27-2015, 07:52 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by mattmajeed View Post
I was testing my water heater over the weekend and I ran it using the electric heat. I noticed a loud humming noise coming from the heater's outside circuit panel. Is it normal for the panel to make a noise when using the electric heat?

Thanks,
Matt
I don't know if its the same noise, but my water heater had a high pitch (Like a hearing test) noise coming from it on electric and I got it fixed under warranty. They replaced the circuit panel. Now it's quiet. They said it went bad, I don't know exactly what bad is though, but they replaced it.
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Old 04-27-2015, 08:18 PM   #7
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That's exactly the sound it's making...I'll take it to the dealer to get it fixed.


Thanks...
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Old 04-28-2015, 03:29 AM   #8
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A newbie question. I put my Axis in the shop March 3 for a windshield replacement and just got it back today. When it went into the shop it was winterized. One other item they had to fix was the black and grey holding tank gauge lights were switched. I guess to fix this problem they had to de-winterize it because there was still water in the grey tank. So my questions is, if I turn on the hot water knob on any faucet and water flows that means that the hot water heater has water in it? To get hot water all I should have to do is turn on the hot water heat switch and let the water get hot.


Thanks for your understanding. I'm a first timer and the dealer could not go over these items at orientation because the unit was winterized.


Tom
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Old 04-28-2015, 10:37 AM   #9
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A newbie question. I put my Axis in the shop March 3 for a windshield replacement and just got it back today. When it went into the shop it was winterized. One other item they had to fix was the black and grey holding tank gauge lights were switched. I guess to fix this problem they had to de-winterize it because there was still water in the grey tank. So my questions is, if I turn on the hot water knob on any faucet and water flows that means that the hot water heater has water in it? To get hot water all I should have to do is turn on the hot water heat switch and let the water get hot.


Thanks for your understanding. I'm a first timer and the dealer could not go over these items at orientation because the unit was winterized.


Tom
Tom,

Water flowing through when the hot water faucet is turned on does not mean the water heater is full. The water heater could still be by passed allowing water to flow around the water heater.

The only way to know for sure is to either check the positioning of the valves on the by pass or connect to a water source and see if water comes out the pressure relief valve on the water heater as you carefully open it.

Do not turn the water heater on until you know it is getting water (especially the electric side). Running the water heater on electric without water will burn out the element.
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Old 04-28-2015, 11:28 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Tomspen
Thanks for your understanding. I'm a first timer and the dealer could not go over these items at orientation because the unit was winterized.
Well they could at least open up the panels and show you the valves.

If you take off the cold air return panel you'll find the heater bypass valves.
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Old 04-28-2015, 02:04 PM   #11
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Dave and Jamie- Thanks so much for your advice. I'll check the bypass valves today. I guess they are marked as to "open and closed".


Tom
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Old 04-28-2015, 02:16 PM   #12
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Dave and Jamie- Thanks so much for your advice. I'll check the bypass valves today. I guess they are marked as to "open and closed".


Tom
Tom

Valves marked open and closed? Maybe they are but my fat head could never get close enough to the valve to see if they are stamped. On all of my units I was barely able to get my arm in the area to turn the valves and had to work by feel and experience.

There are three valves on three lines. The valves are open when the handles on inline with the water line and closed when the handles are perpendicular to the water line.

For normal use, the valve on the line running between the two other lines (the bypass line) should be closed (handle perpendicular to the line) and the valves on the lines connected directly to the water tank should be open (handles inline with the lines).

For winterization the opposite is true with the bypass line open and the lines running to the tank closed.

I believe it was FW28Z that, earlier this year, posted a picture on another thread (possibly winterization thread) that shows the typical configuration of the water heater bypass system.
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Old 04-28-2015, 06:15 PM   #13
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That's exactly the sound it's making...I'll take it to the dealer to get it fixed.


Thanks...
Mattmajeed/ Please let us know what the dealer does to fix it.

Thanks.
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Old 04-29-2015, 02:37 PM   #14
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So I called the dealer and he told me the noise is normal and Thor will not consider that a defect!!! I am planning on calling Thor to get this issue resolved. I can't believe the dealer just wrote me off and told me its normal!!! Well, I guess they made their money so they're done.
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Old 04-29-2015, 03:42 PM   #15
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Not good customer service to say the least that he would say that without even checking it. Camping World dealership?
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Old 04-29-2015, 05:36 PM   #16
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It was General RV in Canton, Ohio. I called Thor and they told me that it made no sense for the dealer to say that was normal. Thor said, most likely, the issue is a bad circuit board on the hot water heater. Of course now I have to wait until May 21st before they even look at it!!!
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Old 04-29-2015, 05:53 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by mattmajeed
It was General RV in Canton, Ohio.
I've noticed that each General RV dealership, despite being part of a chain (who's HQ is a few miles from me here at work) have very different levels of customer service (mostly like any other RV dealer: bad).

We picked up our Axis from a General RV dealer in Michigan and, so far, they have been excellent--I guess we lucked out.
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:55 AM   #18
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Question on running the water heater. I just de-winterized my Axis and have not used the water heater. When the coach is hooked to shore power, it is best to keep the water heater running in electric mode or should you just heat the water as you need it?
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Old 05-19-2015, 12:25 PM   #19
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Question on running the water heater. I just de-winterized my Axis and have not used the water heater. When the coach is hooked to shore power, it is best to keep the water heater running in electric mode or should you just heat the water as you need it?
First, make sure the water heater is full of water. Running the water heater on electric without the water heater being full will damage the electrode in a very short time.

When I am connected to shore power while camping I always have the water heater on electric. When taking showers I will also turn on the propane burner for the water heater. Running both provides a shorter cycle time when heating water.

When connected to shore power at home I never have the water heater on unless we are beginning our prep for a trip and then it will run electric until we begin travelling. The water will generally remain hot until we get to a campground and setup or if the travel day is unusually long I may turn the propane on during a rest stop to keep the water in the tank warm if needed.
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Old 05-19-2015, 12:49 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomspen View Post
Question on running the water heater. I just de-winterized my Axis and have not used the water heater. When the coach is hooked to shore power, it is best to keep the water heater running in electric mode or should you just heat the water as you need it?
I leave mine on electric continuously while connected to shore power at a campsite. It has a preset thermostat (HOT). As Dave said, always make sure there's water in the tank.
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