short with water heater?

We are mid-way through our longest trip in our TM and having a problem that I suspect is a short. The light above the stove and the kitchen sink are blinking. It seems to be connected with us turning on the water heater. This is only our second trip and our first one with a full hookup so the first to use the water heater. My husband has spent hours tracking down all the electrical issues in this TM, including rewiring a short that someone in introduced (they bypassed the battery to the back lights which then caused a minor fire in the back on our first trip!). I hate to see him spend hours on this tomorrow especially as we are mid-trip. Any suggestions? Anyone seen this issue before and have a first place to check? As I speak, the light above the kitchen sink is going off/on.

If it matters, we have a 2004 2720.

-Amy

[ShrimpBurrito]

Amy -

Very weird, indeed. I presume you are using the electric element in the heater (vs. the gas)? Does the flashing stop completely when the water heater is off?

Is the flashing pretty regular, like a car signal light, or is a flicker or what?

Are any other appliances or lights affected? Fluorescent light in the bathroom? The electric element in the water heater runs off AC power. The lights run off DC power, which, when the TM is plugged in, must be produced by the converter. So if the converter is affected, other appliances, certainly at least other lights, would also presumably exhibit weird behavior.

Presumably, you can simply use the gas for the water heater and avoid the whole problem for this trip. After all, that's why you haven't found it before. I know that's what I would do if I were on a trip - don't waste your vacation chasing non-critical problems. We don't even have an electric element in our water heater, so we always use gas anyway.

Dave

How do you run it off gas? What I'm seeing is when I turn the switch (under the sink), the light above the stove will blink regularly until I turn the water heater switch off. The one above the kitchen sink seems irregular.

-Amy

To reply to myself, my husband says we are running the water heater off the gas. So I guess the weird light blinking is the question!

-Amy

[Barb&Tim]

Amy, the switch under the sink is the water heater ignition switch used to ignite the burner when using propane. If you are already using 110v electric to heat your water then turning that switch is not needed. The on/off switch for the 110v is outside, inside the water heater panel.

I will note that (by schematic) the water heater ignition is on the same 12v line that powers your rear roof and your lights that are blinking.


Tim

[Barb&Tim]

Ok i see you are on gas and i assume that the burner is lighting. If i remember correctly that switch lights up (red) and stays red until the burner is lit then goes out. It sorta sounds like the automatic igniter is continuing to operate after the burner is lit.

Tim

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by Barb&Tim

If i remember correctly that switch lights up (red) and stays red until the burner is lit then goes out.

Tim is right. Does the water heater light by the switch stay lit? Does the water heater ignite? Go outside and put your hand over the water heater vent -- there should be hot air pouring out of there when it's lit.

If Tim is also right about the gas heater igniter and lights being on the same circuit in your TM, that's also helpful. Open the cover over the fuse panel and find the right circuit -- it should be where one of the 15 amp blue fuses are. Make sure the screw holding the wire below that fuse is tight. If it's loose, that could be causing the flickering, but if that's the fix, the underlying cause of the flickering is probably the igniter not shutting off. So even though the lights may no longer flicker, you gas water heater is malfunctioning since the flickering went on for more than 5-10 seconds. That's my guess, anyway.

But again, try to delay fixing a non-critical problem. Since you have hookups, use the electric element in the heater instead of the gas. You'll save gas that way too. You can do that whenever you have hookups, and that should eliminate the problem while you're on your trip.

Dave

The switch isn't staying lit but the water gets hot. I'll have my husband work on your suggestions of circuit finding as he knows them. And again, we can switch to electric if possible. The issues seems to all be rear shell roof.

-Amy