Propane hot water heater operation/capacity?

[alta825]

Just a quick ? or two regarding the propane h2o heater that came w/ our SMB.

it's the std 6 gal (or so I believe...) that SMB specs in some builds.

1. Does the tank assciated w/ the heater fill up once I turn on the heater or is filled up whenever I have the pump turned on and the propane then heats whatever water is in the tank? I have the std 10gal fresh water tank and it seems like on the couple 1-2 night trips I have been on so far the FW tank is pretty drained w/ only minimal usage, but I have used the h20 heater a little as well, being able to quick wash your face in the am w/ a nice hot washcloth goes right along w/ the coffee press...

2. is there a way to make sure that the h20 heater tank is filled before/while I am topping off the FW tank to maximize the h20 capacity which would theoretically be 16gals?

thanks y'all

D

[jage]

Well I have the 17g freshwater tank and the propane water heater, which is I guess about 6g of water or so, so to fill the system from dry you need 23 gallons in theory- but the hot water tank doesn't let you uses all the water, you get like 1-2 gallons off the top, which keeps the tank from cooking empty (I guess).

The only way to fully empty my HW tank is to take out the annode from the access panel, although the newer ones are supposed to have a spigot on the annode tube (according to SMB Texas).

The HW tank is supposed to fill up with the freshwater tank. I use the shower at the back and turn on the hot water knob to get the air out of the system and line.

Not sure how accurate/useful any of this is. I'm sort of befuddled by the whole thing, and 17gs never seems to go as far as I think it should.