Hot Water not working, 1991 Excella 1000 34'

[jbbaldwin]

Good Evening All,

We recently purchased a 1991 Excella 1000 34' and set it up at a campground for the season. We've gotten everything setup but I can't seem to figure out the hot water. The previous only had it setup to run on electric only and I can't find a switch or anything to cut it on.

So my question is where is the switch if there is one? If not what should I be looking for to resolve this issue.

We're new to Airstreams and campers so any help would be appreciated!

Thanks, Jody

[overlander63]

The switch for the electric is probably directly on the back of the water heater, which should be accessible through a door in the bathroom (assuming that's where the water heater is). There should be a switch for the water heater on the wall in the bathroom, also, with a red fault light in the same housing.

[jbbaldwin]

Good Evening All,

Overlander, thanks for your response! I have three switches in the bathroom. Light, Pump and the Red Water Heater switch. Based on what I have read is the red switch only for running the hot water heater on gas? Since there's no gas running to it I assume this switch doesn't do anything.

Also looks like I have a small leak at the hot water heater but there doesn't appear to be an easy way to access it from inside. I should have taken pictures this past weekend but let time slip by. Where I think there should be an access door in the bathroom under the counter is a carpeted wall.

I'm going back this week with a meter to check the voltage going to the water heater and hopefully address the leak.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Aage]

Howdy and welcome to airforums.com, jbbaldwin! You can find many answers to all of your questions right here.

If the leak is inside the cabin of your trailer, it is possible that the tank has sprung a leak. Other than that, there could be a dripping shutoff valve, if the previous owner installed a bypass. Did you get the Owner's Manual with it? That should show you where the entry point is inside the trailer.

Hope that the leak is a valve, a leaking tank means it's time to shop for a new water heater.

However, if the leak is outside, in the area behind the hatch, there are a few different possibilities, all of them less dramatic.

Where was the water leaking from?

[jbbaldwin]

I believe the leak is coming from a fitting that connects to the tank. The PO had stuck a few sponges back there to soak up the leak I guess. This was the first weekend that we used it so we're in the process of figuring all this out. We bought it from the original owners but it had sit for the last two years. I think the leak will be fairly easy to resolve once I figure out how to access it. I have the owners manual but didn't see how to access the hot water heater and in the process of packing up to come home yesterday left it behind!

[Mexray]

You may have a separate circuit breaker in your AC breaker box for the water heater - Is it tripped in the ON position?

Water leaks inside any TT are BAD...they can rapidly lead to dry rot in the plywood flooring which can be costly to replace!

After fixing the leak, make sure the area has been dried out - maybe aim a small portable heater with a fan to the spot...

If the 'leak' area on the plywood has already begun to get 'soft', you may be able to arrest the dry rot with an epoxy used on boats just for that purpose...the one I've seen is called 'Get Rot' http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/16610-...32-oz-kit.html and is a thin, flowing type of epoxy that is viscus enough to flow down into the wood to slow down or seal the wood against additional dry rot incursion...

[jbbaldwin]

Hopefully we caught it before damage was done. We're planning on changing out the original carpet this fall s we'll see...

[jbbaldwin]

Good Evening Guys,

I was able to pull the hot water heater today and determined the leak was in fact coming from one of the connections. Also the hot water heater needs to be replace and was able to pick up a new one from the AS dealer in Colfax, NC today. Turns out the hot water heater was gas but the PO put some kind of element in the drain plug and used it that way after the gas went out.

It was kind of pricey but I picked up the hot water heater that has electronic ignition. So hopefully I will get the new hot water heater put in tomorrow evening!

This has been a good learning experience should ever buy another AS. Thanks everyone for your input!

Jody

[Wsmith]

I had a miss-threaded tap into the water tank from the factory after several years it started leaking. I was able to remove the heater chase the threads and by adding additional Teflon tape was able to fix it. Probably not your problem but if its leaking from a you may be able to fix that.