in good shape - brunnhilde part 10

I have been planning to replace the 3-gallon water heater in Brunnhilde with one that has electronic ignition. Some brave NAFTA James Cook owner had successfully in doing this conversion but as what all involves was not well documented. For example, did he have to move the 120Vac to 12Vdc inverter to make room for the 4-gallon water heater?

I have never been bothered having to light the water heater with a match. What I really don't like is the wear and tear on the flimsy nylon latch of the cheesy access door of the Suburban water heater. I always worry that one day the nylon latch would fail and the sheet metal door falls open at highway speed. That will cause a lot of body paint damage. I want to convert it to one with remote ignition so I can add a more secure, albeit, less convenient locking mechanism to the access door.

I have done some preliminary investigation with the help of a fellow owner John. With a lot of reading between the lines of product literature's, and checking product photos of the Suburban SW4D (4 gallons) I decided that the risk is low that I would be unable to make the conversion. There is also a lot of disinformation that the small water heater has been discontinued by Suburban. In US, no one in the right mind will ever specify a water heater as small as 3 or 4 gallons. Even the 6 gallon one is not exactly flying off the retailers' shelves.

I called Panther RV in Washington state. I have taken notice of them seeing the unusual range of products they have dealt with, including Dometic range/sink at one time. They were responsive to my inquiry. They called me back after checking the local distributor and told me the item is not in stock, but can be order from the factory. I have other dealers told me the item is obsolete.

The best part is Panther RV quoted me the most reasonable price that I can expect. Nearly a month went by and I was beginning to worry that the item may indeed be obsolete. Today I call them and were delighted that it has arrived. I decided to take the long drive and braving the possibility of running into Obama traffic (President Obama is visiting the weir city of Portland) on top of Friday traffic jam to pick it up.

more soup noodles - this one has rice noodles with fresh live clams

since i have the solvents out and am in painting and finishing mood, i decided to take care of Brunnhilde's propane tank steel skid plate that is very badly rusted; the paint failure looks to be water simply worked through the paint, suggesting there were no primer used

i ground off the thick rust and pits with an angle grinder; followed with treating the surface with acid etch

acid etch

i use primer from a spray bomb that I have

followed with a white epoxy paint

i drove to Freightliner Sprinter to pick up the center caps for the steel wheels that I special-ordered; this local built RV is about $110k; i have to strain to peak thru the darkly tinted windows to see the inside; not impressed the coach work; i do like this color of the new Sprinter

i am gathering the possible battery candidate for Isolde's dc refrigerator conversation; i prepare to go no one has gone before

these are batteries that Costco have

the Suburban SW4D water heater

Panther RV was nice to throw in the control panel for free as a nice gesture - on top of the lowest price I could hope to find

Arriving home, I could not wait to check out the dimensions as note any potential show stoppers. I should mention that although the SW4D is a 4 gallon model. I found that the dimension of the tank assembly is exactly the same as the stock 3 gallon. In the tight confine of Brunnhilde, there is no room if any dimension is slightly larger.

There is this mystery of why the stock 3-gallon water heater and the 4-gallon sold by Suburban has the identical exterior dimensions. While it is possible the insulation foam on the latter may be thinner, but that would not account for 25% more volume. I suspect it was a case of volumetric calculation error and roundoff. I think the tanks have the same volume. I should check the size of the two combustion chambers though to cover all bases.

the front of the heater; the electronics PCB can be mounted anywhere - this is one worry that I had

the tank (the depth of the styrofoam) is identical to the stock 3-gallon

top view of the SW4D - the routing of the electrical control signals and the high tension ignition cable

the back of the heater - the water inlet and outlet ports are at the same locations as the stock 3-gallon

finally i found one minor challenge; the propane inlet port is located at different height from the stock 3-gallon; it is located higher

the factory 3-gallon has the gas inlet port located about 2 inch lower - due to the difference inthe gas valve assemblies

I have been wanting to buy the center caps for the steel wheel for a long time. With the faded bumpers and the skirt I have been putting off the purchase until now.

it turned out the wheel caps come un-painted; while i knew they are large, seeing them in person still surprise me how big they are

better double check they fit before painting them