Water Heater

[Rick A.]

Steve....I replaced mine with one of Birtles Force 10 units, very heavy
stainless and well
built, better than original. Unfortunately I had to remove/replace mine 4 times
for
different reasons (not the new water heaters fault). Consider it a "human
torture" fun
project w/ lots of body contortion. Perfect for Halloween time! First time took
4 hours to
remove.....4th time took 30 minutes. Have Ms Patticake hit you in the head with
a
hammer forming your head into a conehead shape and twisting your neck around so
it
swivels 180 degrees first will help! Step 1 disconnect electricity to coach and
drain
pressure from water system.(you get to do this project in the dark so bring a
flashlight)
Step 2 remove enough interior cabinetry/walls/floors etc to gain access to water
lines on
heater. Step 3 open the drain valve and begin draining it, loosen old water
lines at old
heater to allow air to enter, in engine compartment remove engine coolant lines
going to
heater and plug on coach side, have bucket ready. When drained completely much
easier
to wrestle with. Step 4 remove screws holding unit to floor if you haven't
already and
remove additional cabinetry/walls to allow unit to swivel to access the electric
line..
remove that. Step 5 remove old unit, be sure its empty first!
I used simple stainless flexible water lines available at any hardware store
to reconnect
adding ball valves. The mid 80's pt's compartment has to be modified slightly,
but yours
being newer, you may not have to do this. Be sure and check the platform it sits
on as
any leak will rot the wood base...mine had to be rebuilt. I also insulated
between the
water heater and the rear air conditioner while I was in there because it did
not seem
very smart to be drawing return air for the rear air conditioner from around a
10 gallon
tank of almost boiling water?
Your removal/install will be different than on my 85 of course, but hopefully
this helps
some? If nothing else it will make MsPatticake feel better after working you
over with a
hammer.
Electroylsis is the culprit which destroys the water heater... It is in any
object, coach,
boat, etc which has different fields of electricity and of course water going
thru it....and
even thru dissimilar metals as we know....best solution is to get the best built
water
heater you can afford and expect it to last only 10-15 years.

Rick Archie
85PT40 "Fort R"
Fort Worth

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "patticake592000" <sgureasko@...>
wrote:
>
> Am in the process of removing some walls to replace a leaking
> water heater.
> To the people that have done this, I would like information on
> what type was used, why, and how much plumbing changes were required.
> Mine at this point is an Atwood, mod. #EHMII-SM. I do not know if it
> is original or not. If it is, it sure had a good service life!
>
> Steve Gureasko
> 90WBWL40 Jus Chillin
> Ponchatoula, La.
>