I pulled the non-functional ISE W152 water heater out of the van this evening. I have some troubleshooting and some thinking to do. It currently looks like it is 50/50 for repair or replacement. If I do repair it, I will need a new element--and the OEM part is no longer available. I'm not sure if there is an aftermarket part that would fit.
The alternative would be to go with a new water heater. I'm putting in a diesel tank to power my Wallas Nordic DT stove, so I could switch gears and go for a diesel water heater instead of another electric unit. That's potentially tempting.
Any thoughts, gang?
Oh--before I go--a couple more interesting items:
1. Holes in the Floor
After pulling the water heater, I discovered that there are two holes through the floor of the van in the water heater cabinet. One is for the overflow pipe, and the other is for the corner drain of the drip tray under the water heater.
OK, fair 'nuf. The holes are needed. But here's the interesting part. Both of these holes are directly over the exhaust pipes for the van and for the generator--which leaves open the possibility of carbon monoxide intrusion into the van --especially if the van is not moving and either the engine or the generator are running. That's a bit disconcerting. No matter what I do with my water heater, I am definitely going to do something to prevent exhaust gas from seeping into my van.
2. Draining the Water System
I think this bit is pretty interesting. I have a drain on my water tank, which is under the gaucho on the driver's side. I have a drain at the water inlet, which is at the rear of the van on the driver's side. However, the water line crosses over the back doors to the passenger side of the van, which is where the water heater is located.
The way the van is currently set up, there is no simple way to drain any of the plumbing on the passenger side of the van. Even if I were to drain the water heater--which, given how it is installed, would be a challenge to accomplish without making a wet mess--the water line is looped in such a way that there would always be one segment of line that did not get drained. This is something that I am going to change. No matter what I do for hot water, I will definitely set it up so that I can fully drain the system.