Thermocouple and Thermostat....HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!

[Alan and Mardel]

We've come to the conclusion that we need a new thermocouple and thermostat for our 6 gal original equipment water heater. I've seen postings where people have used an Atwood brand thermocouple and thermostat. So I start nosing around on the internet for someone to sell it to us......$27 for the thermocouple and an unbelievable $90 for the thermostat!

That's outrageous! I've bought 2 other thermocouples in the last month and paid about $4 a piece for them. $27? That's just a plain and simple rip off as far as I can see. What's with the price gouging? Thermostats I assumed would be something like $30...but no, they want 3 times that.

I could get a whole new water heater for about $100 more...but I dont want to spend that and plus, if Atwood is such a rip off company (and I've seen plenty of complaints about those thermostats and thermocouples NOT working on some fairly new models) that I don't want anything to do with them.

It's got a Suburban thermostat in it now and it looks like a plain jane thermocouple, but what do i know?
Does anyone know of a brand of thermostat I could use or a thermocouple that would work? I just want a little hot water man...I'm not asking for that much!

Thanks guys!

[Navigator]

A thermostat from a 6 gal. RV is no different than one from a 55 gal propane hot water heater that are in millions of homes. Stay away from the RV joints, and try bottled gas distributors, and plumbing supply houses.
Dick

[thenewkid64]

A generic thermocouple will work as well. You do not need the Atwood one, just one with the right length probe.