pbe10
Tonawanda, NY
Senior Member
Joined: 07/22/2003
View Profile
 Offline
|
Anyone add a heating element to a gas water heater?
I did a search with no response.
Thought I read somewhere that taking out the relief valve allowed screwing in a heater element, but cant find any info.
Thanks for any help.
|
Bearnkat
Fort Worth, Texas
Senior Member
Joined: 07/30/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
I don't think the kit installs where the relief valve is. Taking the relief valve out would be detrimental to the operation and safety of the water heater.
Here's a link to the Lightning Rod Kit that Camping World sells. It looks like it installs where the drain plug or anode rod goes. Whether you have a drain plug or anode rod depends on the make of your water heater.
Good luck.
Chuck & Terry
2005 Pilgrim 281RB-S
2006 Ford F250 Lariat CC 4x2 PSD
My Lap-Band Journey!
DFW/Central Texas Rally - Fall 2008
Chuck and Terry's Pilgrim Adventures
North Texas Camping Association
Lone Star Dutch Oven Society
|
wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
Senior Member
Joined: 07/04/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
Kit installs where the drain plug is, and in the case of Suburban replaces the anode rod.. Make sure you get the RIGHT unit for your heater as use of an anode in an ATTWOOD is not recommended, where it is required in a Surburan.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
|
donsm60
Florida
Senior Member
Joined: 09/30/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Never heard of it being done. But can say never mess with or disable the relief valve on a water heater. Myth Busters had an episode on it and the results were incredible, they removed the valve and thermostat to simulate a possible failure and the tank (think it was a 60 gallon) went through a typical homes roof. It made me think… Wow!
Looked way more impressive than shooting full LP tanks with incendiary ammo to put it in perspective 
|
pbe10
Tonawanda, NY
Senior Member
Joined: 07/22/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
Thanks for the information. Now to figure out what to do next.
|
|
|
mikehart92
Oklahoma
Senior Member
Joined: 06/24/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
Goes where the drain plug goes. NEVER install where relief valve goes. That would be an incredibly bonehead thing to do, screw with the safety device.
Mike
2005 Chevy 2500HD.............6.6 D/A, 4x4, Crew Cab
|
Moderator
Bowling Green, KY
Moderator
Joined: 01/19/2004
View Profile
|
Moved from ATC
|
Circleearth3
Mayberry
Senior Member
Joined: 10/20/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
Installed one 7 years ago and it has worked well ever since. I put it in place of the drain plug and set the temperature to 120 degrees and also adjusted the thermostat on the propane down to 120 degrees. I keep the hot rod plugged in to the outside outlet which is about a foot from the water heater except when traveling. The only time we use the inside switch for the water heater is a few minutes before we start showering in the evenings, after showering we turn off the propane switch. With both gas and electric we have never run out of hot water. Outside of showering the hot rod supplies us with all the hot water that we use.
Once a year I remove the hot rod and remove any build up on it with the wire wheel on my bench grinder and also use a plastic rod (widely available) on a water hose to clean sediment out of the water tank. The first time I cleaned out the water tank I was amazed at what came out of it. Looked like pepples of chalk and a lot of it too. At this annual cleaning, usually in the spring, I remove the WH propane nozzle and run a brush through it if necessary and use compressed air to dislodge and blow out rust from the chimney of the water heater. I get the compressed air from an attachment I installed on my Hadley Air Horn (125psi) also used to keep tires at proper inflation.
Water tank is the original, now 13 years old and the hot rod is 7 years old. I believe that it has saved its original cost of $49.00 in propane plus made the water heater more efficient when using both electric and propane. When I purchased mine they were regularly selling for $89.00 and I kept searching till I found mine for $49.00. You may need to adjust those prices for today's market but I'm sure they can still be found at a discount.
This is my experience with adding electric to a propane hot water heater and hope it is the answer in which you were searching.
Circleearth3
|
Rvndave
Medina, Ohio
Senior Member
Joined: 01/23/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
After replacing our old tt with a new one with an electric/gas water heater, I was amazed at how much less propane we use. As electric is free at most campgrounds we visit I feel whatever the extra cost was to add the electric option I have saved back many times.
2003 Jayco 308fbs eagle 33' tt, towed by a 2003 Ram 3500 slt, quad cab dually, cummins diesel ho, trailer towing package, with 6 speed manual. Hauls better 1/2, 3 kids, myself, and a 2003 ez go clays car.. I have added so far, neon lights, clearance lights, back up lights, black light, lift kit, mud tires, and everything necessary to make the golf cart street legal. It's now ready to spend the winter in the garage for more mods. More neon, strobe lights, alarm, a pa system, maintance, and whatever else that comes along. This golf cart does wheelies and travels thru 7 inches of mud when need be. Two honda eu2000i gens twinned to supply the electrical power. Latest addition an 04 Honda Goldwing. [url]http://www.hometown.aol.com/rvnagain/myhomepage/profile.html[url]
|
Ed ke6bnl
Agua Dulce, Calif
New Member
Joined: 02/09/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
I installed the one from camping world, I have the aluminum tank one. I live near a camping world and the price was a good as any ebay unit goes for. The heating element replaces the plastic plug in the bottom, and the thermostat which I found to be the big advantage mount AROUND THE PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE. The unit test perfect for temp on the first install without any adjustment. Only down side to these is you have less then a minute to burn out an element if you run it without water in the tank. I saved the cost of a bottle of propane on our 2 week vacation with hook ups. I am sold. Even will have a short time to recover the money spent.
|
|
|
