hot water heater problems

Spyderweb

Admiral's been complaining water is not as hot as last boat. Upon checking, found heater is plumbed to engine, and since we don't go that far, it never gets really hot.  And we're getting nothing from the water heater on shore power. Found Attwood manual online and read parts on checking continuity on thermostat, ECO and element as well as checking for AC.  

Tore into the heater yesterday and all parts checked out.  Except no AC.  But when I hooked all the wires back up I had AC.  And a short time later I had very hot water.  I fixed it. Figured it must have been a corroded wire that got cleaned up when I took it off.

Get up this morning, turn on heater breaker, and an hour later nothing but cold water.  Tear into it again, planning to remove one wire at a time (after confirming continuity is correct still), looking for culprit.  1st wire I take off is right above reset button on ECO. I push it in as I did last night, and again it's not obviously resetting, but I did feel almost a slight click.  Maybe it did reset.  Check for power again (after plugging in shore power), and voila, I've got power again. And 30 minutes later a check shows I have hot water.

So now it appears I'm losing power due to the reset button tripping.  What would be the reason for that, and what part(s) needs replacing?

Dirtythirty

Don't want to put the cart before the horse, and I hope you can figure out you're issue. I needed to replace my hot water heater this spring. When I went on-line to purchase a new Attwood unit, I was told that Attwood no longer makes or stocks hot water heaters or parts. They actually told me to look on Amazon to find a NOS unit.  Not sure of your model number, but I found a similar unit on the WestMarine site that was less expensive than ANY Attwood units that were out there, and for an additional $40, I also bought the extended 2 year warrantee.

Cableguy Greg

@Dirtythirty, there are two different Atwoods, one has one T and the other has two T's. The one with one T looks to still offer hot water heaters on their website. That is interesting that they would stop making them and the parts for them.

http://www.atwoodmobile.com/marine-products/water-heaters.asp

Willhound

@Spyderweb I had/have a similar issue with my reset this spring. When I re-commissioned the hot water heater I neglected to open up the pressure relief valve which caused an air lock in the top half of the tank, so the reset kicked out from it overheating. When it resets there is barely a click, very soft as you stated. Happened one more time after I left the tank on all night and then went for a good run, I run a 180 degree thermostat and I think the reset is set lower than that, so kicked out again. Maybe they get weak after popping a few times? Anyway, my fix has been to not turn the hot water tank breaker on unless we're going to be using hot water.Usuallyy heats up in less than half an hour, and then after we're done dishes or whatever I turn it off again. Not a perfect solution but I haven't had any trouble since and it's easier than sourcing and changing out parts for now. If the issue comes back I'll change it out.

Spyderweb

Interesting about Attwood.  I ended up ordering an Atwood 90037 Thermostat Eco Switch Assembly from Amazon yesterday.  it's sold as a unit (ECO switch plus Thermostat), so whichever is bad, this should fix it.

@Willhound, we had the same idea as you to make the heater work in the meantime.  Likely to spend several days on the boat over the 4th, (before part arrives) so planned on running water heater no more than 30 minutes at a time.          

Willhound

Let us know how you make out. Was thinking I'd change mine out at haul out so I don't have to drain everything. Water at our marina is just pumped out of the harbour, so we don't put it into our tank. I haul 5 gallon cans and dump them in as needed so don't want to waste it. Or if we overnight at a marina with good water we fill it right up. Have a 3 day trip planned for the 7th to 9th, so will be using it a bit then.

davidbrooks

Gents my origonal HW heater rusted out this winter and i replaced it with a Kuuma for $150.  It is an identical replacement and all had to do was reattach the lines and power.  As for fresh water the taste of the water at my dock was a too "garden hose" flavored and it was giving my drinks a flavor that i didn't like.  So i bought a Birta water filter from HD https://www.homedepot.com/p/Brita-Universal-Heavy-Duty-Filtration-System-WFWHS-101/204644554 and use that to fill up the boat.  It has made a BIG difference.

Spyderweb

@Willhound, pretty sure tank doesn't need to be drained to change out T-stat and ECO button.  Heating element would be a different story.  Our marina too has only non-potable water.  We've just adapted over the years and don't drink it or use it to brush teeth.  Just used for washing.  

Willhound

My set up looks different from the link you show. Older model I think. Quite possible to change without draining tank. Our water just isn't non-potable, it's downright nasty. There's days I don't like to even wash the boat with it. Old piston pump with a foot valve sitting down in the muck beside my slip. 

Cableguy Greg

I ended up getting an RV style water filter that I have in line on my hose connection. It has helped a lot. Our water is potable, but we still don't drink it. Showers, dishes and I rinse my teeth with it after brushing.

Spyderweb

So used my plan to turn on water heater for only 30 minutes at a time, so reset button wouldn't pop.  This worked for the 1st day.  2nd day it popped, probably due to residual heat in water, so even 30 minutes was too much.  fortunately the part came the day we left for the boat.  So on the 3rd day, I swapped out the old part for the new, and it worked fine the rest of the week, even when left on for over an hour.  

Thanks for the help everyone.

reneechris14

Glad to hear it worked.