Three way Hot Water Heater, good Idea Jeff. Just like your refrigerator and speaking of three way refrigerators I believe your 2003 Elkhorn has a newer model 3-way refrigerator than our 2000 Elkhorn. Ours is the older Dometic that has a twist knob for ON-1-2-3-4-5-6 for on and coldness another knob for AC-DC-GAS and then two push buttons, one is an igniter, the other is a gas feeder plus a small 1/2 square meter were when it lights the gas the meter needle moves into the green side. That old Dometic still gets the freezer to "0" degrees. I don't think it has a computer board in it and that's probably why it sill works after 23 years. In all the years we have owned RVs with the three way refrigerators we have never used the DC setting for fear of draining our battery. Have you used yours a lot and if so, based on your experience, how many hours can a large new fully charge lead acid deep cycle run that size of refrigerator? I know we have run ours on propane for two weeks on two tanks without a refill no problem.
Yep, I have a video on how I ran my refrigerator on 12V driving from California to Texas and back. Kept it nice & cold, even in extreme temps. Mine is the “newer” 2003 model with the Dinosaur Electronics board. Direct Spark Ignition. It’s a workhorse.
Why didn't you go with the Truma AquaGo comfort or Truma AquaGo comfort plus, or even the Combi units. Even the ESPAR Hydronic D5E 12V RV heater kit would have given what you were looking to do. The Aqua-Hot is an all-in-one unit. Since you are remodeling the TC, it could have been a good opportunity to retro-fit a unit. Just seems like you are going though a lot of work modifying that heater that just might fail in time because the modifications are altering the original design (cutting into the unit). Good luck with the project, we will all be watching intently. Cheers.
I considered all of those. I wanted a way to heat water with DC 12V, AC 120V and LP gas. This unit is super light, fits in the area I have available and allows for 3-way heating with the solar dump feature. As far as the modifications go, I did not cut into the tank. Just the mounting flange that I described in the video. The retrofit 120V ac element is designed specifically for this mod, works great and is efficient. Aqua-Hot is just too bulky and would not fit in any spaces I had available. No way to do a solar dump. I had a 250D ordered but canceled it. Great for vans and motorhomes but not truck campers. Tankless would not work for me. (I considered them all.) The Truma tankless units are gas only. No way to plumb in a 12V element for Solar dump. I have worked on every hydronic system, tankless and DSI/Electric tank type water heater out there. This modified Dometic 6 gallon works great and are simple and inexpensive to repair if needed.
Yes. I know that is what they say. If the water temp or tank reaches a catastrophic temperature it melts the nylon plug threads which causes the plug to fail, releasing the water/pressure. I side note all of that in the build/mod video. (I’m an NRVTA trained rv technician and Dometic/Suburban/Truma Factory certified tech. I have over 30 years experience with these tank-type DSI/Electric water heaters. CMA. The OEM heating element was 1400 watts. This new element from Camco Hybrid heat is only 425 watts, has its own breaker/thermostat and ECO. Of course this WH still has the OEM PT Valve, emergency cut off, thermal fuse (gas side) and a secondary thermostat and breaker for the 12V element. Note: The nylon plug for the older Atwood models may have been a safety feature, this is the new Dometic designed/engineered WH. It has a different drain outlet and plug altogether. Redundancy in safety mechanisms with this new setup has me feeling confident about the mod. Oh, and it works great so far. So keep watching.
Just something to think about. Owning 4 truck campers in the past all with a 3-way (gas, elec, 12vdc) --never in 17 years have I ever used 12vdc to heat my water. In conventional 3-ways, it draws 18-20 AMPS!!!! That is ludicrous amounts of energy. If it were me, I would have simply installed the 2-way and be done with it.
I still have 120V AC element and Propane burner in addition to the 12V DC element. I’m not sure you’re understanding why and how I’m wiring the 12V DC element. It’s a solar dump for excess solar energy produced from my solar array on the roof and ground deploy. As my LiFePO4 batteries become fully charged, instead of the charge controller dumping the excess power through the heat sink, a switch diverts the energy directly to the 12V element to heat the water. It’s simply a better way to store energy that’s otherwise wasted.
@@covetthecamper2289 18amps of 12vDC is worse than running an AC system on your roof. So, if that is what you are doing, good luck with that. If your using 12v side of the system required to run it at all, then I agree, then use your inverter for 120vAC---which will be about 8 amps! AC=8amps, ----DC to cool=18amps!----- 1a DC for circuitry in all modes. I hope that makes more sense.
I’m using the 12V DC element as a solar dump. (Solar energy diversion load) *That’s DC to DC.* The inverter is not used. I’m using the smaller Camco Hybrid Heat 120V AC element which runs at 418 watts when I have shore power or if I’m running my generator. I use propane sparingly but it’s there when I need it. I carry one 20lb cylinder with me. I expect that will last around a month. Solar energy is being diverted to the 12V heating element once the battery bank is charged. The water is almost always at 105°F just from the excess energy that would otherwise be wasted through the heat sink on the MPPT charge controller. The water heater tank is very well insulated with a layer of reflectix (OEM) and a layer of 4” Rockwool that I added.
There is a much better way to do this. You can use a small inverter and a voltage sensing relay to trigger then you use the 1400 watt element that was original. It would use excess solar and still heat much faster. I love that you are making it suit your needs thanks for the video
I disagree. DC voltage from the solar direct to the DC heating element is in fact much more efficient. This is a solar dump… meaning once the batteries are fully charged, excess solar energy is diverted to the heating element directly and otherwise wasted energy will be stored as heated water in the WH. When I do opt to use the AC electric element or the propane, the water is already at warm/hot temperatures which uses less energy (AC or Propane) to fully heat the water. I don’t want the DC energy in my batteries to be inverted to AC energy just to heat water.
@@covetthecamper2289 yes you can use your solar dump load to open a relay inline with your inverter. You are correct on its more efficient with dc dump load but the small efficiency loss is well worth the much faster heating of the water in such a small tank. I've done it both ways with my camper and also my 50 gallon tank on my home. With the 50 gallon tank it actually worked better with the DC dump load because when using the water it didn't need as quick of a recovery time. It you are using the solar dump of 1 or 2 panels then maybe it's enough of a dump load but trying to dump the excess wattage of 8 or 10 panels by only dumping that small amount is kinda meaningless. Yeah dumping a small amount of dc into something that's not practical is kinda well... it just don't make sense. Like I said I did it both ways and you will see if you try it
Great idea to recapture energy lost to the heat sink. It sounds like a lot of work, but it will be nice to have solar powered hot showers on your rig.
Oh my! I've found treasure!
Hi Jeff! 👋😄
Three way Hot Water Heater, good Idea Jeff. Just like your refrigerator and speaking of three way refrigerators I believe your 2003 Elkhorn has a newer model 3-way refrigerator than our 2000 Elkhorn. Ours is the older Dometic that has a twist knob for ON-1-2-3-4-5-6 for on and coldness another knob for AC-DC-GAS and then two push buttons, one is an igniter, the other is a gas feeder plus a small 1/2 square meter were when it lights the gas the meter needle moves into the green side. That old Dometic still gets the freezer to "0" degrees. I don't think it has a computer board in it and that's probably why it sill works after 23 years. In all the years we have owned RVs with the three way refrigerators we have never used the DC setting for fear of draining our battery. Have you used yours a lot and if so, based on your experience, how many hours can a large new fully charge lead acid deep cycle run that size of refrigerator? I know we have run ours on propane for two weeks on two tanks without a refill no problem.
Yep, I have a video on how I ran my refrigerator on 12V driving from California to Texas and back.
Kept it nice & cold, even in extreme temps.
Mine is the “newer” 2003 model with the Dinosaur Electronics board. Direct Spark Ignition. It’s a workhorse.
Why didn't you go with the Truma AquaGo comfort or Truma AquaGo comfort plus, or even the Combi units. Even the ESPAR Hydronic D5E 12V RV heater kit would have given what you were looking to do. The Aqua-Hot is an all-in-one unit. Since you are remodeling the TC, it could have been a good opportunity to retro-fit a unit. Just seems like you are going though a lot of work modifying that heater that just might fail in time because the modifications are altering the original design (cutting into the unit). Good luck with the project, we will all be watching intently. Cheers.
I considered all of those. I wanted a way to heat water with DC 12V, AC 120V and LP gas. This unit is super light, fits in the area I have available and allows for 3-way heating with the solar dump feature. As far as the modifications go, I did not cut into the tank. Just the mounting flange that I described in the video. The retrofit 120V ac element is designed specifically for this mod, works great and is efficient.
Aqua-Hot is just too bulky and would not fit in any spaces I had available. No way to do a solar dump.
I had a 250D ordered but canceled it.
Great for vans and motorhomes but not truck campers.
Tankless would not work for me. (I considered them all.)
The Truma tankless units are gas only. No way to plumb in a 12V element for Solar dump.
I have worked on every hydronic system, tankless and DSI/Electric tank type water heater out there. This modified Dometic 6 gallon works great and are simple and inexpensive to repair if needed.
Did you know that the nylon drain plug is also a little safety device. I called Atwood and they told me this information.
Yes. I know that is what they say. If the water temp or tank reaches a catastrophic temperature it melts the nylon plug threads which causes the plug to fail, releasing the water/pressure. I side note all of that in the build/mod video.
(I’m an NRVTA trained rv technician and Dometic/Suburban/Truma Factory certified tech. I have over 30 years experience with these tank-type DSI/Electric water heaters. CMA.
The OEM heating element was 1400 watts. This new element from Camco Hybrid heat is only 425 watts, has its own breaker/thermostat and ECO.
Of course this WH still has the OEM PT Valve, emergency cut off, thermal fuse (gas side) and a secondary thermostat and breaker for the 12V element.
Note: The nylon plug for the older Atwood models may have been a safety feature, this is the new Dometic designed/engineered WH. It has a different drain outlet and plug altogether.
Redundancy in safety mechanisms with this new setup has me feeling confident about the mod.
Oh, and it works great so far. So keep watching.
Just something to think about. Owning 4 truck campers in the past all with a 3-way (gas, elec, 12vdc) --never in 17 years have I ever used 12vdc to heat my water. In conventional 3-ways, it draws 18-20 AMPS!!!! That is ludicrous amounts of energy. If it were me, I would have simply installed the 2-way and be done with it.
I still have 120V AC element and Propane burner in addition to the 12V DC element.
I’m not sure you’re understanding why and how I’m wiring the 12V DC element. It’s a solar dump for excess solar energy produced from my solar array on the roof and ground deploy.
As my LiFePO4 batteries become fully charged, instead of the charge controller dumping the excess power through the heat sink, a switch diverts the energy directly to the 12V element to heat the water. It’s simply a better way to store energy that’s otherwise wasted.
@@covetthecamper2289 18amps of 12vDC is worse than running an AC system on your roof. So, if that is what you are doing, good luck with that. If your using 12v side of the system required to run it at all, then I agree, then use your inverter for 120vAC---which will be about 8 amps! AC=8amps, ----DC to cool=18amps!----- 1a DC for circuitry in all modes. I hope that makes more sense.
I’m using the 12V DC element as a solar dump. (Solar energy diversion load) *That’s DC to DC.*
The inverter is not used.
I’m using the smaller Camco Hybrid Heat 120V AC element which runs at 418 watts when I have shore power or if I’m running my generator.
I use propane sparingly but it’s there when I need it. I carry one 20lb cylinder with me. I expect that will last around a month.
Solar energy is being diverted to the 12V heating element once the battery bank is charged. The water is almost always at 105°F just from the excess energy that would otherwise be wasted through the heat sink on the MPPT charge controller.
The water heater tank is very well insulated with a layer of reflectix (OEM) and a layer of 4” Rockwool that I added.
There is a much better way to do this. You can use a small inverter and a voltage sensing relay to trigger then you use the 1400 watt element that was original. It would use excess solar and still heat much faster. I love that you are making it suit your needs thanks for the video
I disagree. DC voltage from the solar direct to the DC heating element is in fact much more efficient.
This is a solar dump… meaning once the batteries are fully charged, excess solar energy is diverted to the heating element directly and otherwise wasted energy will be stored as heated water in the WH. When I do opt to use the AC electric element or the propane, the water is already at warm/hot temperatures which uses less energy (AC or Propane) to fully heat the water.
I don’t want the DC energy in my batteries to be inverted to AC energy just to heat water.
@@covetthecamper2289 yes you can use your solar dump load to open a relay inline with your inverter. You are correct on its more efficient with dc dump load but the small efficiency loss is well worth the much faster heating of the water in such a small tank. I've done it both ways with my camper and also my 50 gallon tank on my home. With the 50 gallon tank it actually worked better with the DC dump load because when using the water it didn't need as quick of a recovery time. It you are using the solar dump of 1 or 2 panels then maybe it's enough of a dump load but trying to dump the excess wattage of 8 or 10 panels by only dumping that small amount is kinda meaningless. Yeah dumping a small amount of dc into something that's not practical is kinda well... it just don't make sense. Like I said I did it both ways and you will see if you try it