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Send a pic of your Marathon water heaters….
I’d like to get a picture of the water-outlet-side of your water heaters...early 2000’s Marathon H3.… I have a 2000 Marathon with two 11 gallon Atwoods stacked on top of each other. I took plenty of pictures of the wiring but had the things out before it occurred to me to take a picture of the water connections. Probably won’t have a problem, but I thought a pic would be nice to have.
More background than you probably want: My lower water heater started leaking…not surprising…they’re 19 years old. I thought…well, no problem…jerk ’em out…order two new ones…done. BUT, they’re no longer made. Talked to Marathon…they’re using a different model with a larger footprint…requiring structural and plumbing changes….yikes!
I figured…what the hay…playing with house money….so I disassembled the heaters and had a large section welded (heliarc’d) on the tanks. (see pic)
If it works, great…if not…I’m only out a few bucks! Thanks for the pic…if you can send me one! ty
email: tcamperman@hotmail.com
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3 Replies
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We replaced our water heaters. Here are some pictures of the original water heaters before we removed them. We have more pictures…if you need them.
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I had the exact same problem. Marathon is correct. The replacement model has a larger footprint. What Marathon does not tell you is that the new ones they are using do not have dual heat exchange loops. This will ultimately mean that you have to choose between heating off of the engine coolant while driving OR from the Webasto.
I went down my own route. I purchased two Kuuma 7 gallon HWH’s with single rear heat exchangers. I could not find any units that had the dual loops. I chose to hook one loop to each unit so it works pretty well but only one of the two units is getting heated hydronically unless you are running the Webasto going down the road. These fit in the same location as the old 11 gallon versions. Plumbing connections were close enough to re-use many of the original fittings. Marathon also has these wired so that the only one of the two HWH’s works at a time since there is only one 120V, 20 amp circuit. You will also have to modify the thermostat on the upper unit to power the lower unit. There was a wiring diagram to show you how on the original units.
I saved a lot of money doing this but it was a bigger PIA than expected as all fixes seem to be. I have less hot water reserve than originally intended but I just turn the temp up and with my wife and I using the bus it has not been a problem to date. Good luck.
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Sorry, I missed your note the other day….been so tied up between Thanksgiving and my water heaters. I admire what you did….sounds like it will work fine. When I talked to Marathon/SanAntonio,FL, they started talking about altering plumbing and changing things, etc, etc, etc….my wallet started smoking. I figured I had zero to lose…plus I had a guy who said he could do the tank repair I needed.
I’m getting close to the finish line…I’ll get you know how it goes!
I appreciate everyone’s contributions to my efforts….P/C is a great place to find out what you need to know!!!
TY
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