03 Journey HW Heater replacement

Golfinscorp · 02-21-2011, 12:35 PM

Has anyone replaced a electronic ignition 10gal water heater from a Journey?, if so, could you share the procedure. Any pics you have would be great too.
Thanks in advance.

Dadeaux · 02-21-2011, 01:35 PM

I've no knowledge with changing one in a MH but my experience has been "if the tank is not busted it can be repaired". I replace an average of 2 a year in my rental properties and repair several more.

dc8cappie · 02-21-2011, 04:17 PM

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/atwoodwaterheater.pdf

This may help to trouble shoot.

DancinCampers · 02-22-2011, 01:25 PM

I have removed mine, not really a hard task. The hardest part to me was getting the lip unsealed from the coach, uky black sealant. After removing all the screws around the lip I used a putty knife and pliers to unstick it.

On mine I disconnected the LP line, & pulled it out slowly, to a point I could disconnect the 12V wire, and water lines, then pulled it out onto a bench. Then removed the 120V wire from the back and the motoraid coolant hoses (not sure if yours has motoraid or not.

They have changed their wiring on the newer models, where both the LP and AC sides are turned on and off by 12 volt relay. If you can't find one wired like yours, then you will need to add an additional 12V wire from the one place to heater, or rewire heater to use your existing 120V setup.

AFChap · 02-22-2011, 04:39 PM

We had ours replaced a couple of years ago ...original had a 120v switch inside and replacement came with a 12v switch. We left ALL the original wiring and switch in place and used the 12v WH bypass solenoid wiring (solenoid had been replaced with a manual bypass valve) to take 12v to the new WH. End result is that now we have both a 120v and 12v switch to control the WH.

As for just replacing the tank rather than the entire WH ...that probably could have been done, but unless you all the labor yourself you would definitely pay more than putting in an entire new unit. Our original tank had rust pin-holes all over the bottom half of the tank ...didn't figure it was worth the risk of developing more leaks.

Dadeaux · 02-22-2011, 06:54 PM

My post on the busted tank was not clear, if the tank is busted the entire unit should be replaced if not then the unit can be fixed. Sorry about that.

Golfinscorp · 02-23-2011, 11:56 AM

Thanks all, every bit of info helps. When the cold weather has gone (if it ever does) I will get into this project.