saflyer Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Curious if the water heater element can be damaged if the water is shut off with the heater running? IOW will the hot water evaporate out and not be replaced from the source. Or with no faucets open is it a closed enough system to not evaporate out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jim Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 If this is one of the propane water heaters and not an Aqua Hot, then the answer is yes I think.... if the tank is empty. I don't think this is a problem if you still have water in the system, but have the pump off. A little more info would be helpful as to the type of system and the current state of water in it. Was the heater left on by mistake??? Not sure of the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saflyer Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Atwood electric/propane heater. Just thinking an RV could be put in long term storage with an electrical hookup and forget to turn off the electrical water heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jim Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I understand... that is what thought. I think it would be ok for a while. Doubtful that the water would evaporate with no open facet. I had a Suburban WH in my old coach and never got it to work on electric. I like to dry camp so I really preferred the propane anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Bill R Posted January 27 Solution Share Posted January 27 Highly unlikely. If the HWH is full based on your scenario, and the tank has no leaks, it could lose (evaporate) water is if the PRV (Pressure Relief Valve) releases due to being bad, stuck open, or system continues to overheat, and this cycle continues to happen, then perhaps you could evaporate all of the water off. But highly unlikely. Haven't ever heard of that happening, but it could if that situation occurred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine Boy Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) If a powered on electric heating element in a hot water system, is not covered with water inside the take, it will only take a few hours to damage the heating element. Once damaged, replacement is the only option. There could be many reasons for no water on the element. My recommendation is to always turn off power to your hot water system when water pressure is not supplied to the system. Edited January 27 by Marine Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saflyer Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 I have the same concern at home. When we leave for an extended trip I turn the water heater off at the street for fear of leaks and flooding in the house. A little concerned though since it is in the attached garage and there is a very remote chance it freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Always a concern for me when I winterize my coach, which I just did ~3 weeks ago as there was a hard freeze coming to E TN. I just make it a habit of pulling the fuse for the 12 volt side and flipping the breaker on the 120 volt side plus on my Suburban water heater there is a switch on the outside that I can turn off. Better safe then sorry. This was the first hard freeze since I installed the MicroAir thermostat that I could monitor the inside temps of the garage. I was please to see that when the temps outside got to ~0F the garage stayed at ~30F, so enough to freeze stuff but it wouldn't take much to keep it from freezing. This was for ~3 days of cold, in a longer stint it would be more difficult. So taking the time to winterize the coach is probably smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saflyer Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 I go through this every year. For years I never winterized at my home in Oklahoma. My coach is stored in a somewhat insulated hangar in the back yard. My neighbor, who had lived next door for many years before we moved there told me he never winterized. We try to avoid it since we usually leave for an extended trip in late January. That was good until about three years ago when near or below zero temps were forecast for several days. I broke down and winterized with air. Was glad I did as the hangar got down to 17°F one night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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