Suburban HWS

[supersparky]

Kappy, please let us know how you go with a new regulator. We have sort of run OT. sorry.

[Kappy]

New regulator arrived today.

Fitted this morning and gas to stove and HWS appears to start and stay on.

Not that I'll use the the Gas HWS that much as I replace the 240 v element with a 24v element that runs off my excess solar and gives me free Hot water, will only use the gas HWS in emergency.

Thanks all for assistance and patience.

[supersparky]

Good result then.

[Kappy]

Yes all turned out in the wash.

[Kappy]

Further on the Suburban HWS.

Some time ago I converted the 240v part of the heater to run of 12v , via my solar set up, Terry provided a 12 12v feed .

This was working a treat till quite recently.

Discovered no current getting getting to the element.

Checked switch and seems to be culprit, replaced with another switch, all good, till the other day.

Started fiddling to day, observed current to switch, not getting the the element.

When connected to element No current, when disconnected from element current present.

Is my element toast, how can I test? A 24v element will a 12v feed cook a 24v element?

And has anyone disembowelled a Suburban HWS, so I can get to where the wires are coming out.

[El Gringo]

Can't help you with that at all sorry, but maybe you can help me?
I would like to fit a 24v element in my HWS too, exactly the same model as yours.
Could you point me in the right direction to get one that fits please?

Cheers,

[jon_d]

Bernie B,

When you work out what size (fitting, wattage and volts); these guys are ok.

https://hiheater.aliexpress.com/store/3242007?

[El Gringo]

Bernie B,

When you work out what size (fitting, wattage and volts); these guys are ok.

https://hiheater.aliexpress.com/store/3242007?

Thank you.

[supersparky]

The element is down in the bottom left corner. You have to remove a bit of wiring and a cover plate thing to get to it. Dale (Campingnut) was going to put a 12v element in his. Not sure if he mentioned it here or elsewhere. He might see this and jump in.
You need a multi meter that reads resistance to check the element. By the sound of it, yours is open circuit. You need to disconnect it before you test it, but you can do it in situations.
I will take a pic of my gas HWS tomorrow. It is pretty much the same as yours.
I plan on doing the same mods as you have when we go lithium.

[T1 Terry]

The element is down in the bottom left corner. You have to remove a bit of wiring and a cover plate thing to get to it. Dale (Campingnut) was going to put a 12v element in his. Not sure if he mentioned it here or elsewhere. He might see this and jump in.
You need a multi meter that reads resistance to check the element. By the sound of it, yours is open circuit. You need to disconnect it before you test it, but you can do it in situations.
I will take a pic of my gas HWS tomorrow. It is pretty much the same as yours.
I plan on doing the same mods as you have when we go lithium.

If you want to run the hot water on 12v from the battery, you need to fit a 24v element. The 12v element is designed for 12v, not 13.8v or 14.8v and it will fail very early on after the installation. The 12v solar can be diverted to the 24v element when the battery reaches fully charged or there abouts, now you are feeding any where up to 18vdc to the element.
If you have a 24v system, you need to special double loop element so you can swap the bridging about to turn it into a 36v or 48v element ...... or if you are building your own tank, add a second fitting for another element and series connect a 12v and 24v element .... you would be surprised just how well this works.
Of course, the alternative is to power the 240v element via a modified sine wave inverter, down grade to an 1800w element and get a cheap 2000w inverter on evilbay and set it up to turn on when the battery reaches what ever % SOC you feel is close enough to fully charged.

T1 Terry