Hot Water Heater -Electrical

[Hwy101]

Hi folks...need a little assistance. I have a 2016 Ace 30.1 and when operating the HW heater on 110v I smell what seems to be an electrical smell. Of course I have since turned the 110v off and currently using LP.

Does anyone know how to gain access to the rear of the HW heater to check the wiring? I'm assuming this is where the main 110v wire enters into the HW heater? I have removed all of the drawers from under the wardrobe and I see is a small portion (top) of the HW heater. I'm certain I'm missing something.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Steve

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by Hwy101

Hi folks...need a little assistance. I have a 2016 Ace 30.1 and when operating the HW heater on 110v I smell what seems to be an electrical smell. Of course I have since turned the 110v off and currently using LP.

Does anyone know how to gain access to the rear of the HW heater to check the wiring? I'm assuming this is where the main 110v wire enters into the HW heater? I have removed all of the drawers from under the wardrobe and I see is a small portion (top) of the HW heater. I'm certain I'm missing something.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Steve

On my 30.3 it's behind an access panel that's below a drawer and there is a screw on each side of the access panel.

[SuperD]

Just had that same problem last week! Once you get to the back of the water heater there is a black box containing the wiring, remove the cover, mine was taped on, and you will have access to the wiring. Make sure your breaker is off and then double check, my breaker was mislabeled and the wires were still hot, found that off the painful way.

My wiring was poorly connected, was arcing which caused the wiring to burn. Fortunately we were in the MH, awake, and smelled the burning. Repair was simple but the incident could have been disastrous!!! Here are pictures of what I found:

[tnedator]

When I was trouble shooting the gas not working on my hot water heater (turned out to be a control board), we got into the junction box and checked all the connections, but after seeing that I'm tempted to go back in and check again.

[Hwy101]

Wow!! That could have turned out badley...glad you guys were in the moho and found it in time. Mine may very well be simular.

I did pull the draws and located the top of HWH...however all of the HVAC ducting runs over the top. This and the fact that it sits down in a hole on the chassis. Not sure how I'll get to the ducting to disconnect? I'll dig around some more.

Thanks gentlemen!

[mcr1010]

Originally Posted by SuperD

Just had that same problem last week! Once you get to the back of the water heater there is a black box containing the wiring, remove the cover, mine was taped on, and you will have access to the wiring. Make sure your breaker is off and then double check, my breaker was mislabeled and the wires were still hot, found that off the painful way.

My wiring was poorly connected, was arcing which caused the wiring to burn. Fortunately we were in the MH, awake, and smelled the burning. Repair was simple but the incident could have been disastrous!!! Here are pictures of what I found:
Attachment 7851

Attachment 7852

Attachment 7853

Glad you caught it before it got to far. Same thing happened to us last year on the transfer switch. We smelled ours burning and by the time I got to it there was no plastic left on the wire nuts, just red hot wire. I checked every connection after that incident and found loose ones on the HWH also, but overlooked the outside receptacle. It almost melted from loose connections also, but I lost all 120vac before it burned. To say that Thor has a lack of quality control-construction is an understatement.

[Hwy101]

Gee...believe Thor needs to hire certified electricians and overhaul their QC!!

[nosticks]

Nop, keep the line moving at all costs.

[Mo_Mike]

Originally Posted by mcr1010

Glad you caught it before it got to far. Same thing happened to us last year on the transfer switch. We smelled ours burning and by the time I got to it there was no plastic left on the wire nuts, just red hot wire. I checked every connection after that incident and found loose ones on the HWH also, but overlooked the outside receptacle. It almost melted from loose connections also, but I lost all 120vac before it burned. To say that Thor has a lack of quality control-construction is an understatement.

Same issue with TRANSFER SWITCH on our 25.2 VEGAS. Lost our AIR CONDITIONING and found the melted wire nuts AFTER searching for the TRANSFER SWITCH. Does help to be an electrician when you in a MH.

[DenverTransplant]

Originally Posted by Hwy101

Hi folks...need a little assistance. I have a 2016 Ace 30.1 and when operating the HW heater on 110v I smell what seems to be an electrical smell. Of course I have since turned the 110v off and currently using LP.

Does anyone know how to gain access to the rear of the HW heater to check the wiring? I'm assuming this is where the main 110v wire enters into the HW heater? I have removed all of the drawers from under the wardrobe and I see is a small portion (top) of the HW heater. I'm certain I'm missing something.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Steve

You can access the back of the water heater on a 30.1 under the right side bottom drawer under the closet (not the drawers under the vanity). There is a poorly secured piece of luan over the access hole in the floor. This is the same place you access the water bypass valves. Wiring runs under the floor from the breaker box under the bed to the water heater - maybe 5 ft of wire, but it’s buried under the water tubes and furnace ducts.

It’s not easy to work you way down to the wiring but you can get to it with an appropriately colorful vocabulary. I had to get down to it to it to trace the circuit that Thor had landed on the wrong breaker, but didn’t inspect the connections at the time. It’s now on my todo list before we dewinterize in the spring given SuperD’s close call.

[Hwy101]

Thanks much for the info. I was afraid it was buied under all the duct work and water lines. Guess this is what I'll dive into tomorrow. I'll advise all as to what I find.

Thanks again for the info!

Steve

[SuperD]

Normally RV techs just pull the WH out to work on it, it’s a PIA because of having to disconnect the water and electrical. If you can get to the back side without removing the WH you’ll save a lot of time and work!

[Gbgrimm]

I have a 2017 Thor Chateau 22B (bought new) and last week while on Electric Hot water we noticed a burning smell. Switched over to propane and the smell went away. Where on the 22B would I find the Hot water unit etc. I looked under both dinette seats but saw nothing visible. The smell appeared to becoming from under the rear dinette seat.

thanks,
George

[Bob Denman]

If you smell something burning: stop doing whatever it is that you're doing, and don't stop looking until you find the source!
it could be your own life; that you're saving!

Good luck, and please let us know what you find!

[Giorider]

Where would the hot water heater located in a 2018 hurricane having exacted same issue. Thanks