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31

General Discussion / Re: Water heater

« Last post by wideglide on August 27, 2026, 09:12:01 am »

A couple years ago my wife bought an old travel trailer and it was missing the water heater. I went with the Suburban 6 gal electric/gas and it fit the hole fine. Since it was a 1974 trailer i think it came with the atwood brand but i had no way to verify. It plumbed in with no problems and ive had no issue with it. Just be aware if you go with suburban it has a steel tank so you will be replacing the anode rod in it every year

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General Discussion / Re: Unknown Switches on Dash

« Last post by wideglide on August 27, 2026, 09:03:50 am »

They are OEM from the manufacturer. The white switch is your emergency start switch for if you accidentally leave something on that drains your truck side battery it will apply the coach side batteries to your truck side so you can start up your rig. The red one could be for your outside mirror heat to defrost them but im not sure about that. My mirror heat switch is located right above the power mirror adjustment knob. As you figure out what everything is it would be helpful to label them. IM sure others will chime in with your correct answers

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General Discussion / Re: Unknown Switches on Dash

« Last post by LRUCH on August 27, 2026, 09:02:42 am »

Is that the only white momentary switch on the lower panel of the dash?  If so, then that button is used in the process of jump starting your Ford engine should that battery be drained. As long as you hold the button a relay kicks in and allows coach batteries to charge up the Ford battery.  Notice I didn't call it a jump start button, as the size of the wire is not large enough for a quick jump start... It takes a minute or two for the Ford battery to charge up enough to start the engine.


If this is an additional momentary button, I don't know what it would be. Trading the wires would be required.



The red button may require some tracing of the wires. If I were to guess, it is likely a master On/Off switch for the entry step. In the off position the step won't move. This is useful for many situations...  Keep them in. Keep them out. Reduce wear and tear from extra cycles. Safer to work on them knowing they're not going to move ant cut off your fingers during a repair or lubrication, etc etc.  I added one for this very reason.


Another guess would be a secondary power for the Garmin/stereo... But usually that is not an On/Off switch. Instead it is a On/On switch with one position providing power from the Ford battery and the other position providing power from the coach battery.   Look on the back side of the red switch and see how many wires are attached. On/Off would have only 2 wires,,, not 3.  If 3 then the middle one will go to the device being powered and the other 2 go to the power sources.   There could be a short looped wire in the situation from one post to another for the light... Don't include that in the count. Just count the wires that connect to the switch and go into the dash.




Larry

34

General Discussion / Unknown Switches on Dash

« Last post by Dystevens on August 26, 2026, 07:12:37 pm »

We are second owners of our motor home and there was practically no additional manuals that came with it. There a 2 switches installed in the lower part of the dash to the right of the steering column. One is white and one is red. The white switch is a momentary on switch that appears to be spring loaded to off. The red switch appears to be simply an on/off switch. Interestingly the white switch will apply power to the Garmin 1050 when it is held closed but as soon as you let go the Garmin shuts down. Also the red switch, in the on position, will light red but only when the white switch is held down. These are not OEM switches. I suspect the white switch was installed to bypass the ignition switch to provide power to the Garmin with having to turn th ignition switch on. But it may be malfunctioning. Does anyone else have these? I will try to attach a picture.

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General Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself!

« Last post by Amsoilman on August 26, 2026, 06:36:43 pm »

I don’t know why it has to be so difficult to post pictures. Every other form I’ve been on it’s just an easy attachment. That’s why I have no pictures in my post.

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General Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself!

« Last post by Dystevens on August 26, 2026, 06:07:33 pm »

What I meant by having to authenticate again is that even on a quick reply you have to prove you are a human by retyping the image based letters, solving the math problem, and replying that the sky is blue. Is all that necessary for members who have already signed in. Is everyone having to do this just to post or reply.

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General Discussion / Re: Water heater

« Last post by Ron Dittmer on August 26, 2026, 05:48:52 pm »

I never had my 2007 HWT out, but I have serviced it.  One place of potential leakage/failure is the electric heating element.  It has plastic that just might have cracked.  If you are able to access yours like I am, it is at a low point close to the floor and faces towards the inside of the motorhome.  I had to remove the access panel to get to it.  If you decide to change it, first place as many towels as you can stuff because even with the HWT empty, 1/2 gallon of water still comes out, I assume to assure the element stays submerged even with an empty tank for protection from accidental turn-on during plug-in storage.

The electric heating element resembles this.  Maybe it cracked and is leaking.  As I recall, a new heating element was very affordable.

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General Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself!

« Last post by Ron Dittmer on August 26, 2026, 05:30:08 pm »

Welcome Dystevens!

The short answer is no.

Posting pictures is tricky.  I store my posted pictures on the internet (flickr for free) then open the pic there to get the http, copy it and post it like this.
[img.]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51191649697_af4ba81b6f_c.jpg[/img.]     minus the periods after the img's to post my pic like this.

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General Discussion / Re: Introduce Yourself!

« Last post by Dystevens on August 26, 2026, 04:38:21 pm »

We just purchased our PC on 8/8/2026. It is a used 2552 made in 2021.  We are downsizing from a 33’ Itasca Suncruiser and are still trying to figure out where to put everything we used to carry and what to get rid of.  Love driving the PC it is a lot less tiring than the bigger motor home. Also learning how to post on this forum. Do members  really have to authenticate to post every time?

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General Discussion / Water heater

« Last post by RKS on August 26, 2026, 02:48:10 pm »

Currently at Acadia  National Park, Schoodic unit.  Water heater has sprung a leak, all fittings sound and appears to be originating on the bottom. Wondering if any one has replaced theirs and if so with what brand  and how the installation went. Suburban sells a unit that supposedly is direct replacement for the now defunct Atwood brand.  Any thoughts are appreciated.