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veg hed · 03-18-2017, 06:53 AM

I currently have an Atwood G6A-8E propane water heater in my 2004 19' Bambi. The WH works fine but I was wondering about installing an LP/Electric WH to save propane since I am hooked to shore power most of the time and to eliminate the 20 minutes of wait time to take a hot shower after the propane is switched on.

My question is, would it be a straight up swap or would I have to wire it up to a separate switch? The propane on/off switch inside is on the opposite side on the Airstream from the WH and I can't imagine this would be an easy task. Also, do Electric water heaters run on AC or DC?

This is the one I was looking at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TR52GBU..._t1_B00TIXV5NQ

Al and Missy · 03-18-2017, 08:35 AM

Older versions of the heater have two separate switches, one the same as your current switch, the electric switch is like a light switch in your house. The newer ones have a single panel with two switches.

The electric side runs on AC. You would have to add a breaker in your AC panel if there is room or replace the panel if not. Either way you would have to run wires, probably 12 gauge, from the panel to the heater location. The newer ones have a 12v control circuit from the switch to the heater, so that's another wire pair you would have to run.

Al

jmpgino · 03-18-2017, 11:13 AM

I spoke to one bloke who drilled Ito his gas water heater and screwed in a heating element.
I have been considering doing the same thing myself, the wire job would be easy.
Has anybody done this ?

HowieE · 03-18-2017, 11:58 AM

First consideration is to see how hard it is going to be to get AC power to the heater front face.Pulling wiring in an Airstream is not easy.

I suspect you will never recoup the cost in propane savings.

jmpgino · 03-18-2017, 12:13 PM

Here is an element that sounds easy to install. We have a 25 footer of 2012 era, water heater is under the bed, so very easy to get at and the power module and wires are under there as well. Should be an easy job all in all.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...6-gallon/47672

jmpgino · 03-18-2017, 01:25 PM

Well here is a YouTube video of the installation, same water heater as we have in our Airstream and after looking at, an idiot could install one of these.
A week today I will have installed this, it is a no brainier of an improvement.

veg hed · 03-19-2017, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpgino

Well here is a YouTube video of the installation, same water heater as we have in our Airstream and after looking at, an idiot could install one of these.
A week today I will have installed this, it is a no brainier of an improvement.

Can you post a link to the Youtube video? Also, did you say that you installed one?

EDIT: I found the video. Thanks for recommending this. I didn't know the conversion thing existed. How hard would it be to run the wire to the panel?

AlinCal · 03-19-2017, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpgino

I spoke to one bloke who drilled Ito his gas water heater and screwed in a heating element.
I have been considering doing the same thing myself, the wire job would be easy.
Has anybody done this ?

Sounds like a good way to desrtoy a water heater.
IF you were to do that you would need to also weld in a threaded bung of the correct thread to accept the heating element and you would also need a thermostat and mount of some sort to control the element.
Easy?

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 08:54 AM

I do not know the layout of your model. On the 25 the water heater and power box are all under the bed, so it is easy, just thinking about where I am going to put the on off switch.
My plan is to tap into the fridge power breaker as it does not draw much but it may have something else on that circuit that does draw a lot more. Just see how close the two units are for you and work out how to pull a wire or power from.
We had a 20 footer at first and both units were on the opposite side of the thing, so that would have been a hell of a job, probably not possible to be done.

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 09:04 AM

This video is probably the best one, the tank is the same as ours in the Airstream and the propane burner setup is almost as identical.
They go an a bit but it is a good guide.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Qlk1Mp9Lg

AnnArborBob · 03-19-2017, 09:32 AM

There is no doubt that an electric/LP water heater is nice to have for those occasions when you do have shore power. However, know that if you leave the propane on all the time, the amount of gas used in a 24 hour cycle to keep the water hot all the time is very small. I doubt that you would recover the cost of the gas saved by replacing the water heater you have with an electric/LP model in any reasonable period of time. So if this is purely a financial decision, I'd stick with what you have.

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 11:10 AM

Well last year we spent around $65 on propane. Only uses keeping the fridge going when on the road and getting hot water. The element is on the way here and for only $86, so it will pay for itself rather quickly.
I see little point in not using the power at the campground, since we are paying for it up front.In the cooler mornings and nights we use two small electric heaters as against using the propane furnace

2dabeach · 03-19-2017, 12:15 PM

If you do the conversion make sure you get the 120 V A/C power for the heater from a breaker that can be shut off without affecting other equipment or install its own switch that can be shut off when you have no water in the tank. If not, you will be burning out the heater element when it is running with no water in the water heater tank.

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 12:46 PM

As I said before I am

PUTTING A SWITCH ON A WALL TO OPERATE IT, JUST LIKE THE PROPANE BURNER SWITCH, JUST LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH AND IT WILL ILLUMINATE WHEN IT IS ON.

HowieE · 03-19-2017, 01:53 PM

There are a few other consideration they left out.

Draining the heater while winterizing now requires a complete disassembly. With the access they had they should have installed a drain line at the rear of the heater. A simple tee and valve would work. Other more cramped installation would present a problem buy one that has to be addressed.

Failure to install a pilot lighted switch in the supply line is an open invitation to a problem. I would even go so far as to require a latching relay that would disconnect power to the heater every time shore power was disconnected.

They glossed over the failure of the thermostat tape not adhering to the tank. It can not be overstated how important that connection is.

For long term stays this may be worth while but for weekend camper use propane.

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 01:58 PM

The best braker to pull the power from is the microwave one, we hardly use that thing. The fridge was my other idea but when all brakers are off the fridge is still operating on auto shore power and not switching onto propane. So I went out with a meter and tested the power receptacle on the outside that the fridge plugs into and got 120 volts. Now that has me confused because if all the brakers are off why does that still have power ??????
The bathroom braker is an option but considering the wife uses a hair dryer, both it and the heating element may trip it if both on together.So I will test to see if it does and go from there.
Will call Airstream HO in the morning and see if I can get a part number for a switch that illuminates when on. And also ask why the fridge does not have a braker.

BDowse · 03-19-2017, 03:12 PM

We had the dealer in Biloxi install a Hott Rod, works flawlessly, always hot water when you want it without a second thought. NO LP use as long as you have shore power. They hooked the 120v to the Microwave breaker as mentioned in the other post. The rod goes in the tank drain. Only issue is when you winterize and remove the rod to drain the tank it may be close to the LP gas line and have to disconnect that for clearance.
Cost was about $125.00. Camper World has them for $109 for 6 gal water heater.

TxDave · 03-19-2017, 03:27 PM

I installed the Camco Hybrid Heat Kit in my 1971 Sovereign. It took about 30 minutes to install. Been using it daily for 6 months. It works great. About $80 on amazon.

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 07:40 PM

Sounds like a good way to desrtoy a water heater.
IF you were to do that you would need to also weld in a threaded bung of the correct thread to accept the heating element and you would also need a thermostat and mount of some sort to control the element.
Easy?

Why don't you read before you comment !!!!

jmpgino · 03-19-2017, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlinCal

Sounds like a good way to desrtoy a water heater.
IF you were to do that you would need to also weld in a threaded bung of the correct thread to accept the heating element and you would also need a thermostat and mount of some sort to control the element.
Easy?

Why not read some more of the previous posts before adding a comment in future. By the way I had a lready considered on welding a plug in myself, one of my welders is a Miller Dynasty and it welds aluminum beautifully, so I could have gone that way had it for not finding the other easier option.