10 gal in a 6 gal Hole

[aviontt]

Has anyone put a ten gallon Atwood in a 6 gallon Atwood hole...I have a 1975 Argosy 26'...

[thenewkid64]

It can be done, but you would need to cut the hole larger. Also you need to look at the space that the 6 gallon is in and determine if the space is large enough to accommodate the 10 gallon unit. This begs additional information, like why do you want a 10 gallon heater?

[RoadKingMoe]

Both the 6 and 10 gallon models are 16" wide, but the 6 gallon is 12.5" tall and 18" deep, while the 10 gallon is 15.5" tall and 20.8" deep. I also gotta wonder, why 10 gallons?

[aviontt]

3 Kids My Wife & I ......Lots of water fast I Have a 86 34' Avion with a 6 gal.....Not enough.

[RoadKingMoe]

Do you run LP and electric simultaneously? We haven't needed to, but you can for faster recovery.

[thenewkid64]

Moe,

You took the words right off my keyboard. If your Argosy had been an Airstream with the tub you have they would have offered a 10 gallon heater as part of the international package. The LP/120 volt models will allow for a faster recovery if you swap it, but the AMP draw could cause a problem when in a park running your AC and the hot water element.

[aviontt]

The unit that is in there is LP only. I have lots of space to work with just wondering if anyone has some pics of the install I would also like to upgrade if the LP/120 unit is a better one I'll go for It.

[aviontt]

Also what is the input on these two units Atwood vs. Surburban ?

[j54mark]

Atwood seems not to provide specifications on their website, but according to the Suburban site both their 6 gal. units have the same input at 12,000 btu/hr. I would be much surprised if Atwood's six gal. units don't have the same input as their 10 as well.

So, the only difference will be the initial tank of hot water.

I am thinking the reason others have asked "why" is the same reason I had wondered about it as well - a six gal. gas fired tank should provide all the hot water you can normally use. When I take a shower, the heater cuts off by the time I am toweled off and dressed. Granted, we have a rather low flow shower head, but it still provides a very good spray.

Is it possible your current unit is not performing at its best?

Mark

[RoadKingMoe]

The details are at http://www.atwoodmobile.com.

[aviontt]

It's getting old so this could also be a factor.....

[j54mark]

If the tank has a buildup of sediment and/or scale it would limit the capacity and increase the cycle time. You could pull the tank out and clean it, but the labor involved in a complete replacement could actually be less, depending upon how a new one fits the existing opening.

Moe, I looked at the Atwood site, but could find no specifications.

Mark

[RoadKingMoe]

Go to the section where you request or download a brochure.

Atwood Brochure, page 4. The 6 gallon units are 8,800 btu, with a 1400W electric element. The 10 gallon units are 10,000 btu, with the same electric element.

The 6 gallon recovery is 7.4 gallons per hour on gas, 6.2 gph on electric, and 13.6 gph on both.

The 10 gallon recovery is 8.5 gph on gas, 6.2 gph on electric, and 14.7 gph on both.

I didn't notice what the cold water temperature was for those ratings.

[Pick]

My coach has a *new* 10 gallon water heater. Never having had a unit with a 6 gallon tank, I cannot say if this is good or bad. As far as electric goes, I was quoted a price of 10.5 cents a KWH for electric on a monthly site in Florida. That is the equivilent of around $2.81 a gallon for propane, and does not take into consideration that while running on propane, the heater is not 100% efficient. I have never used the electric option on ours.

After ours is up to temperature, the pilot seems to keep it hot, until someone takes a shower. Taking the kind of showers I like to take, it takes our Atwood about 5 minutes to recover before the next shower.

[Sneakinup]

This issue had been bothering me for a bit also. I just checked the opening on my trailer where I had pulled out the rusted decaying carcass of the original water heater, and it is already set for a 10 gallon. My manual also says 10 gallon for the International, which my trailer is. I will be putting back a new 10 gallon to fit the opening.

I'm considering the electric 110v and LP. Is it advisable to create a separate plug for the water heater and just plug it in to a standard outlet at a campsite, vs. hooking it in to my panel box and taxing my power supply. (i.e., running microwave, HW heater and other 110v at the same time.) I heard this sometimes suggested for adding a second AC unit. My circuit panel is right above the water heater in the linen closet, but I was thinking since I have the toilet out, and adjacent cabinetry, it would be easy to just create and run a separate line, and not have to worry about it.

Suggestions? Comments?

[RoadKingMoe]

You could certainly do this. Whether it would be of any benefit at a site with only 30A service depends on how the pedestal is wired.

If there is a 50A leg from the central panel to the pedestal, you could use its 30A and 20A outlets simultaneously. The campground may expect you to pay a higher 50A rate if they see you doing this.

However, if the pedestal is served by 30A from the central panel, you would be no worse off than having the water heater drawing from your 30A service. The problem is that the 30A breaker you might kick wouldn't be the one at your pedestal, but the one at the central panel. To avoid this, you might want to plug the water heater into your trailer's external outlet.

[Sneakinup]

According to the pdf file I viewed on the Atwood 10 gallon elec/gas, it only requires 20 amp. From my limited travel experiences, I have seen the pedestal with the standard 30 amp rv hookup plug, as well as a few other inputs that I believe are 20amp standard outlets. I could be wrong.

This is what is so good about this forum. I get so much info to think about!

[thenewkid64]

Sneak,

I did this on our 76 Motorhome.

I added a breaker to the existing panel and used it as the on off switch. That way I could decide if I wanted to use Park Power or the LP or both. If I ran the AC I did not run the heater. If the AC was off I ran it. The cost increase is not that much and the time when you will want the extra heating capacity is more than likely going to be when the temps are low. Meaning that you will have extra power to run the heater vs the AC.

Also it gives you a fall back position if you should run out of propane. I almost did a DSI with the electric but found that we did not really need the electric that much with a standing pilot model. DSI would be a different issue to me as I could decide from inside when I wanted to light the heater the electric did not have as much of a draw.

[RoadKingMoe]

The 1400W Atwood elements only use 11.7A, which is less than the typical 1600W hair dryer. I would use a 15A plug on the end of a 12 gauge cable (20A rated) for your water heater.

20A plugs have the left prong horizontal rather than vertical as with the typical 15A household outlet. This prevents you from using a device that really does require more than 15A in a 15A outlet. A 20A outlet has a T on the left side so that it can take either 15A or 20A plugs.

You will note that all the 30A to 15A adapters have two vertical prongs. If the outlet is fused at 15A, that's the most you can get out of it. However, if the outlet is fused at 20A, you can use all of that.

By using 20A rated cable with a 15A plug, you increase the flexibility of your hookup without the danger of overheating the cable should the pedestal actually pass more than 15A to your water heater, due to a short, for example.