Water heater replacement

[rwessels]

Hello Everyone, new to the forum and new owner of a 31 foot 1975 Airstream Sovereign. I just found out that the water heater needs to be replaced and I am looking for advice on what would be the easiest replacement that will fit the current opening. Thank you.

[idroba]

An Atwood will be an exact replacement, the only thing you need to determine is if it is a 6 or 10 gal one. I think the 31' came with 10 but not sure. The gas connection may be in a slightly different place and a new hole might need to be drilled if yours now comes through the bottom metal. You also will have the chance to go with a DSI (direct spark ignition) one with no pilot light to light, but you will have to do some wiring if you decide on that route. The DSI units are very nice, turn the switch on and they heat. Oh, you also can get an electric DSI which has an electric heating element as well as gas. Again, wiring is needed to bring 120 volts to the heater if you go for that option.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by rwessels

Hello Everyone, new to the forum and new owner of a 31 foot 1975 Airstream Sovereign. I just found out that the water heater needs to be replaced and I am looking for advice on what would be the easiest replacement that will fit the current opening. Thank you.

Your Airstram was equipped with a 10 gallon water heater.

There are a number of choices as to what kind do you want, ie, LPG only, with 110 volts, direct spark ignition, etc.

Of course the more you want it to do, the more the cost.

The best replacement is an Atwood.

Andy

[Foiled Again]

I had my water heater serviced recently - a really good thing to do annually if you're full timing.

One of the things the tech noted was that the cover on my unit had a rubber gasket around the bottom... and that when the cover was closed it got starved for air. He slightly bent the hinge wires so that the bottom of the cover stood away from the body of the Airstream - possibly by as little as 1/16th of an inch - and the air supply issue which has always been a problem WENT AWAY. If the bottom of the cover is too tight, the burner tries to draw fresh air in down the exhaust grating. No oxygen there! Anyway a good cleaning and adjustment (dang microscopic spiders again) and my tank is heating faster, quieter and is using a lot less fuel.

Moral of story - eventually you're going to have to replace your appliances - but they'll run better and longer if you do regular maintenance. I drain the crud out of it once a year but I don't know enough about propane appliances to work on the burner. The $50 to put it back into optimal condition will probably prolong it's life for another couple of years. And it only has to save me two tanks of propane over the next year to be at break even.

Paula