Suburban SAW6DE

[Wesindieriver]

OK thank you, I did have my wires correct just the way you described. I was reluctant to turn on the power until you confirmed. I’m able to get hot water with the LP switch only. The external switch on the outside of the heater does not appear to work. Should I be able to use the switch still? I understand the electric switch inside the camper is not hooked up so that one will not work until I set up the proper relay box But I was under the impression I could still use the electric switch provided on the hot water tank. What are your thoughts?

 

[Mike Z]

Thank Charles - you cleared this up for me. I am replacing an Atwood GC6AA-10E and the RV supplier said the SAW6DE was a direct replacement. When it arrived, I could not figure out the wiring, well it is because the direct replacement should be the SAW6DEL.

Mike Z

 

[CharlesinGA]

OK thank you, I did have my wires correct just the way you described. I was reluctant to turn on the power until you confirmed. I’m able to get hot water with the LP switch only. The external switch on the outside of the heater does not appear to work. Should I be able to use the switch still? I understand the electric switch inside the camper is not hooked up so that one will not work until I set up the proper relay box But I was under the impression I could still use the electric switch provided on the hot water tank. What are your thoughts?

On your Atwood, the 120v Romex cable went straight to the inboard side of the water heater where it connected to the relay/heat element.

Assuming you rerouted that wire and connected it properly, to the Suburban at the red switch, and then closed the circuit breaker, there is no reason the electric heat element would not work when you flipped the switch. I think Suburban uses separate thermostats for the electric element, but am not sure, so if the tank is already hot, the electric element may not come on till it cools somewhat.

And of course, all of this is assuming you are connected to shore power or a generator.

Some RV's put the electric water heater circuit and the Microwave on the same circuit breaker, with either an automatic load shed switch or a manual switch to select between the two appliances. Is this the situation on your RV and do you simply need to throw the manual switch to water heater position? (I know BigfootRV does this on their trailers and truck campers.)

Charles

 

[Wesindieriver]

On your Atwood, the 120v Romex cable went straight to the inboard side of the water heater where it connected to the relay/heat element.

Assuming you rerouted that wire and connected it properly, to the Suburban at the red switch, and then closed the circuit breaker, there is no reason the electric heat element would not work when you flipped the switch. I think Suburban uses separate thermostats for the electric element, but am not sure, so if the tank is already hot, the electric element may not come on till it cools somewhat.

And of course, all of this is assuming you are connected to shore power or a generator.

Some RV's put the electric water heater circuit and the Microwave on the same circuit breaker, with either an automatic load shed switch or a manual switch to select between the two appliances. Is this the situation on your RV and do you simply need to throw the manual switch to water heater position? (I know BigfootRV does this on their trailers and truck campers.)

Charles

Thanks Charles for your replies, they have been very helpful. I think the switch was actually working on the outside as it should. I will try to rewire the inside switch once I have more time. But the way it’s working now will suffice for now.

 

[skinnerguscassel]

purchased from United RV a Suburban 6 gallon RV water heater - SAW6DE which is supposed to be a direct replacement for the Atwood GC6AA-10E. However on the old Atwood there are four wires whereas on the new suburban there are only three. I have been doing some research and according to many forums online I should have bought the SAW6DEL, however, United RV said what I did purchase should work. I need help with the wiring I do not want to have to change what I do on the inside of the camper. When I want electric hot water I want to be able to simply turn on my switch to electric hot water. If I want to use gas I would like to be able to turn the switch to gas. Will I be able to wire the new suburban with the three wires to the old four wire installation and be able to do that?
I am hoping to attach pictures.....
st Picture: new 3 wire Suburban heater
2nd Picture: old 4 wire Atwood heater
3rd: Old Atwood heater minus the Styrofoam insulation
4th: Another view of the old Atwood
5th: Back of the new Suburban
6th: where the water heater goes and the wires it attaches too.
7th: close up of the existing wires. ( I keep the old wires attached so I would know how to match up the colors)

 

[skinnerguscassel]

It is done! With the help of Fixrv Dotnet I was able to install, have electric heated water, gas heated water, and not have to go outside to flip a switch. I will put the fix in the comments, I have included pictures. I sincerely hope this helps others! I can not thank Alex from Fixrv enough! Tip of the Hat to you good sir!
Picture 1: Top wires are 12V DC and the bottom 3 are 120V AC, don't mix them up.
2: Leave the 2 black, the yellow, and the green wires connected to the relay. Unscrew or snip the wires from the water heater to remove the relay with wires. The green and yellow are 12v wires the black one is 12v
3 - 5: These are the 120v connections. Connect 1 to 1, 2 to 2, and so on.
6 - 9: wires and schematics

 

[eg010590]

It is done! With the help of Fixrv Dotnet I was able to install, have electric heated water, gas heated water, and not have to go outside to flip a switch. I will put the fix in the comments, I have included pictures. I sincerely hope this helps others! I can not thank Alex from Fixrv enough! Tip of the Hat to you good sir!
Picture 1: Top wires are 12V DC and the bottom 3 are 120V AC, don't mix them up.
2: Leave the 2 black, the yellow, and the green wires connected to the relay. Unscrew or snip the wires from the water heater to remove the relay with wires. The green and yellow are 12v wires the black one is 12v
3 - 5: These are the 120v connections. Connect 1 to 1, 2 to 2, and so on.
6 - 9: wires and schematics

Hi Charles, my camper has orange, white, green and blue wires. I wired my water heater up as you have shown in your diagram, however, the remaining wires from the camper are green and blue and the remaining wires from the water heater are red and blue. Any idea which goes connected to which?

 

[CharlesinGA]

Main question is which Suburban water heater are you installing? The SAW6DEL which is the proper replacement for an Atwood or the SAW6DE (NO letter L) which does not have remote control via relay for the electric heat element? This is the problem the OP... Skinnerguscassel had and he ADAPTED the old relay from the Atwood to the Suburban.

You really cannot go by camper colors, that is why I suggest you always cut the wires on the old water heater side of the splices. I didn't create the wire diagrams above, the OP did, and on the camper side, they relate to HIS campers colors

What I am referring to below is the colors of the wires from the water heaters, not your camper colors.

Blue on a Atwood is also blue on an Suburban, it operates the fault light. I cannot say if the blue wire from the camper connects to the blue on the water heater or not..... what was it connected to on the old water heater?

Green on the Atwood is a ground wire. It might go to ground or it might go back to the switch panel to pick up a ground there. Green on the Suburban is ground also.

Orange on the Atwood is the Gas control. On the Suburban the gas control is Red.

White on the Atwood is the Electric element control, while on the Suburban (DEL model) Orange is the Electric control.

If you are lost and have no idea what camper color was hooked to what Atwood color, and you have a test light or multi-meter, you can figure out two of the wires fairly easily. Turn on the gas switch and probe the cut off wires until you find 12v. That wire, no matter the color, will hook to your new water heater's Red wire.

Turn it off and then turn on the electric heater switch on your control panel, and again probe your wire ends until you find voltage or the test light lights, that is the 12v supplying the electric control relay on the water heater. If you have a ...DEL model that wire from your camper will hook to the Suburban's Orange wire.

I wished I could help more, but without knowing which model you have, I could easily confuse the issue.

If I don't reply further to this, I am heading out on a trip and may or may not have decent internet connections.

Charles

 

[eg010590]

Main question is which Suburban water heater are you installing? The SAW6DEL which is the proper replacement for an Atwood or the SAW6DE (NO letter L) which does not have remote control via relay for the electric heat element? This is the problem the OP... Skinnerguscassel had and he ADAPTED the old relay from the Atwood to the Suburban.

You really cannot go by camper colors, that is why I suggest you always cut the wires on the old water heater side of the splices. I didn't create the wire diagrams above, the OP did, and on the camper side, they relate to HIS campers colors

What I am referring to below is the colors of the wires from the water heaters, not your camper colors.

Blue on a Atwood is also blue on an Suburban, it operates the fault light. I cannot say if the blue wire from the camper connects to the blue on the water heater or not..... what was it connected to on the old water heater?

Green on the Atwood is a ground wire. It might go to ground or it might go back to the switch panel to pick up a ground there. Green on the Suburban is ground also.

Orange on the Atwood is the Gas control. On the Suburban the gas control is Red.

White on the Atwood is the Electric element control, while on the Suburban (DEL model) Orange is the Electric control.

If you are lost and have no idea what camper color was hooked to what Atwood color, and you have a test light or multi-meter, you can figure out two of the wires fairly easily. Turn on the gas switch and probe the cut off wires until you find 12v. That wire, no matter the color, will hook to your new water heater's Red wire.

Turn it off and then turn on the electric heater switch on your control panel, and again probe your wire ends until you find voltage or the test light lights, that is the 12v supplying the electric control relay on the water heater. If you have a ...DEL model that wire from your camper will hook to the Suburban's Orange wire.

I wished I could help more, but without knowing which model you have, I could easily confuse the issue.

If I don't reply further to this, I am heading out on a trip and may or may not have decent internet connections.

Charles

I do appreciate the reply. I was afraid that due to this threads age I wouldn’t receive one.

I too made the same mistake and was led astray and purchased the SAW6DE, instead of the DEL model. I currently have an 2016 Grand Design 308BHTS.

I was able to adapt the old relay and wire it almost exactly as shown in the diagram above aside from the remaining red and blue wire from the WH, and the green and blue wire from the camper.

The family member I had helping me install the unit forgot his multimeter back home so testing it on the spot was not available to us and Grand Design seems to be very reluctant to share wire diagrams.

I do appreciate the reply. Just looking to figure out my own wiring diagram for which color is what, which seems to be the current problem.

 

[Kirk]

The family member I had helping me install the unit forgot his multimeter back home so testing it on the spot was not available to us and Grand Design seems to be very reluctant to share wire diagrams.

Tracing the wires with a meter is the only way to be completely sure of what they are. Many RV companies do not have a specific color code for their wire harnesses or are not consistent from one model to the next, so I have learned not to trust codes. Its one of those "trust but verify" situations.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I get a little wordy. Lets see if I can chart it out.

Atwood......................Suburban........................Function
Blue============Blue=============Fault light
Orange==========Red =============Gas
White===========Orange(not on DE)===Electric
Green===========Green============Ground

Since you did the relay swap, you have the original Atwood yellow wire switching the relay, and you will be running the white wire to this.

Charles