# Water Heater Repair and Replacement: Cost, Hours and Process in Hacienda Heights Water heater repair and replacement covers tank type LP and electric units and tankless on demand units. Typical failures are a failed control board, a burned element, a stuck gas valve, a corroded tank or a bypass left in the wrong position. Any work that opens the LP supply is certification gated. ## Specifications - Price band: $350 to $4,500 - Shop hours: 1 to 18 hours - Turnaround tier: Systems and electrical - Insurance billable: no - Parts lead time: Elements, boards, anodes and valves in stock or 3 to 7 business days. Full units 7 to 20 business days. - OEM brands: Suburban, Atwood, Dometic, Truma, Furrion ## The bypass valve first, because it costs nothing to check A surprising share of no hot water complaints are a bypass valve left in the winterizing position. Whoever last stored the coach turned the bypass and never turned it back, so the water heater heats a tank that no water passes through and every tap runs cold. That takes thirty seconds to check and it is the first thing we look at. We mention it here specifically because owners have paid other shops for diagnosis on it, and a page that does not tell you the cheap answer is not being honest with you. The second cheap answer is the mixing valve on coaches that have one. A failed mixing cartridge blends cold into hot continuously and produces lukewarm water at every tap while the tank is at full temperature. ## LP side versus electric side, and the certification line Most coach water heaters run both LP and 120 volt electric. That is diagnostically useful: a unit that heats on electric and not on LP has a gas train problem, and a unit that heats on LP and not on electric has an element or a thermostat problem. Two symptoms, two entirely separate repair paths. On the electric side the usual failures are a burned element, a tripped or failed high limit, or a thermostat that has drifted. An element with a breached sheath trips a GFCI only when energized, which is a distinctive and easily missed symptom. On the LP side the failures are the gas valve, the electrode gap, the board and the burner tube. Here is the part that matters: any work that opens the LP supply is certification gated by law. An uncertified technician cannot legally perform it, regardless of ability. On this site that work is performed by a certified LP technician and the gas train is leak tested before the coach is released. That is worth asking any shop before you hand over keys. - Bypass valve left in the winterizing position, the cheapest possible answer - Failed mixing valve cartridge producing lukewarm water at full tank temperature - Burned or breached electric element, sometimes tripping a GFCI when energized - Failed high limit switch or drifted thermostat - Gas valve, electrode gap or ignition board failure on the LP side - Anode rod consumed on a Suburban steel tank, followed by tank corrosion ## Repair, replace, tankless, and cost Boards, elements, valves, thermostats and anode rods are stocked or 3 to 7 business days, and those repairs sit at the bottom of the band on this page at one to three hours of labor at the posted mechanical and electrical rate of $260 per hour. A corroded tank is not repairable. Suburban units use a steel tank with a sacrificial anode, and once the anode is gone the tank corrodes from inside. Atwood units use an aluminum tank with no anode. Knowing which you have decides whether an anode is part of the picture at all, and it is one of the first things we identify. On the tankless question, a Truma or similar on demand unit is a genuine upgrade for endless hot water and recovered storage volume, and it costs more in both part and labor because the gas train, the water plumbing and often the exterior opening all change. It also needs adequate flow to modulate correctly, which is why we look at the pump and the plumbing before recommending it. ## Not included - The LP gas connection is performed by a certified LP technician only. It is gated by law, not by policy. - Winterizing or bypassing a water heater for storage belongs to our maintenance program. - We do not service water heaters at a customer location. ## Questions **Why does my RV water heater work on electric but not on propane?** Because they are two separate systems inside one appliance. Heating on electric and not on LP points at the gas train: the gas valve, the electrode gap, the ignition board or the burner tube. That is useful because it eliminates the element, the thermostat and the tank in one observation. The LP side repair is performed by a certified LP technician. **I have no hot water at all. What gets checked first?** The bypass valve, and it takes thirty seconds. If it was left in the winterizing position after storage, the heater warms a tank that no water flows through and every tap runs cold. After that, the mixing valve cartridge. Both are cheap answers and we would rather find one than bill you for a diagnosis. **How often does the anode rod need replacing?** On a Suburban steel tank, inspect annually and replace when roughly two thirds consumed, which in practice is often every year or two. Atwood units use an aluminum tank and have no anode at all, so the question does not apply. Identifying which tank you have is one of the first things we do, because once a Suburban anode is gone the tank itself starts corroding. **Is a tankless water heater worth the upgrade?** For endless hot water and the storage volume you get back, often yes. It costs more in part and in labor because the gas train, the water plumbing and usually the exterior opening all change. It also needs adequate flow to modulate properly, so we look at the pump and the supply plumbing before recommending it rather than after. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/rv-service/water-heater-repair-and-replacement OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave. In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.