Trojan Boat Forum

Anyway to tell if water heater is bad vs. just the heating element?

If its not heating up then its most likely the heating element or thermostat . Assuming you have power going to it and its not leaking .

How old. Mine was old, it was the element, easy to unscrew.

Some also have thermal cutouts. Easiest way to check is with a volt meter or the probes that light up and beep when you touch the wire but it must be at the element. You should get 110 volts at the element contacts. If you don't, the problem is before that. Work your way back until you get voltage; cutout, t-stat, wiring, breaker.

If you have confirmed that voltage is getting to the element and it is still not heating, remove either the black or white wire and measure the resistance between the two contacts on the element. Assuming 120 volts and 15 amps, the resistance should be 8 ohms. If it reading much more than that, the element is bad.

And because one time I said to fire polish polypropylene before using adhesive and was subsequently lambasted because folks thought that I meant to do it in the boat, please remember to turn off the power before disconnecting the wire.......