Hot water heater

This past week while we were out camping my wife was saying she heard a ticking noise under the sink. It seamed to be coming from the water heater when it is in the electric mode. It sounds like a little fan running in the water heater that the fan is hitting the side of the housing. The nosie stops when i turn the electric switch off. When i turn it back on it starts out slow then builds up the the ticking noise. I think it might be the heating element but not to sure, Any help would be nice. thanks

Ours makes a ticking noise when I first turn it on. I believe it is the heating element getting hot and probably boiling the water on it.

Wait, there is no "electric switch" save for the breaker itself and the toggle outside, behind the panel. Do you mean the toggle inside the 'Cat with the red light on it?
Sit outside and have someone turn on the unit while you are outside watching the water heater with its front panel off. Listen for the sound from there.
My first thougth was that you were hearing the spark igniter, but you reference the electric side. You should not hear anything from the electric operation. It should get hot but not boil the water; the water should never get that hot.
Let us know what you find.

You should have an electric switch on your water heater too Pickle. It's outside by the water heater. When you remove the cover look in the lower left hand corner and you should see a litte black switch. It is somewhat hidden but it should be there, that switch will put the water heater in electric mode. Some of the later models 2005 - 2007 had a little cotter pin in that switch to prevent it from being switched to electic mode by mistake.

Richard Mondavi wrote:You should have an electric switch on your water heater too Pickle. It's outside by the water heater. When you remove the cover look in the lower left hand corner and you should see a litte black switch. It is somewhat hidden but it should be there, that switch will put the water heater in electric mode. Some of the later models 2005 - 2007 had a little cotter pin in that switch to prevent it from being switched to electic mode by mistake.

Right; that's what I was referring to when I wrote, "and the toggle outside."

Sorry Pickle, I read you post too fast, I missed that.

This Noise is only when the outside toggle switch is on and the gas switch is off, I know it will make a ticking noise for the gas side of the water heater. When you turn it off the noise will go away. When you turn it back on it will start out slow then get faster but never stop. It sounds like a fan that is hitting the side of the housing. I thought it was just the heating element heating up but it will never go way.

I would like to pull the Heating element out of my water heater, Does any one know what size socket I will need. I do not have the right size all I have is a 1 1/4 inch to small/

Wildcat2006 wrote:I would like to pull the Heating element out of my water heater, Does any one know what size socket I will need. I do not have the right size all I have is a 1 1/4 inch to small/

You will need a special socket that you can buy at HomeDepot (that is where I got mine). You will find it in the section selling hot water heater elements. It looks like a big driver socket (like the one we used on spark plugs).
This ticking sound may be the sound of the element flexing; but it really shouldn't flex that much!!

I went to Home Depot and got the wrench for the hot water heater and pulled the element. It was covered with a white scale. I got most of it off and put the element back in the heater and turned every thing back on and low and behold the ticking nosies is gone, must of been the scale on the element make the noise.

Very good...that was an inexpensive fix. I've never used the electric element, I always run the HWH on propane. But that is good to know.

Thanks

I hope this is not too bad to ask, but when you put the switch on electric do you still turn on the red switch inside the trailer. I did not know that switch was out side by the hwh.

Tim,

No, it is not too bad to ask. We here do not slam anyone for asking even the simplest of questions.

But to answer your question, no, you do not turn the red switch on when you are using electric.

But, if you start to run out of hot water, say, before all showers have been taken, you can run both propane and electric at the same time. This will give you faster recovery time.

One thing to remember when using electric, you should get into the habit turning the switch off when you are finished camping and heading home. Cause it you don't, and you plug the CAT in when you get home, your HWH will be on the whole time its plugged in.

I always turn the electric switch off when I break camp and head for home.

Hope this answers your question...... If not ask again.

Great question, I agree with oldelmer1, that if you want a faster recovery of the hot water then we turn on both the gas and electric. It will not hurt any thing if you do that. thanks for the question.