Hi,
This past weekend was a horrendous camping weekend for us! First at the CG when we plugged in 'we had our own fireworks going on'....The danged receptible was bad. My DH is an electrician so he told the 20 year old ranger to just 'let me do it, before you kill yourself'....Then our a/c kept cutting off every 15 mins. Surge protector evidently was indicating spikes in voltage......so on and off it went. Then the microwave seemed to 'wave' slowly......so we didn't use it. Then when we turned on the water heater it would blow the a/c off again, so we wanted to use it just on propane. Well, it wouldn't light. Stove worked, we even switched tanks, but still would not light. Hubby at this point just wanted to pack it in and get home and plug back into our own shore power! We toughed it out, had no hot water all weekend, but it is hot here anyway, so it was okay for those cool showers!
Anyone have any suggestions what to check on the water heater. He has read our brochures on it, not sure what to check next. We have only had the camper 5 months and it did work for us last time we dry camped for 4 nights back end of March.
Thanks for any info! We leave on our 2 week vacation in 2 weeks)
Jo
2007 Keystone Cougar, 291 RLS
2003 Ford F250, 7.3L, Lariat, CC, SB, 4x4
Isspro Gauges-overhead mount, 14K Pullrite Superglide
Firestone RideRite airbags & pressure gauge
Two Honda eu2000i generators, parallel kit
Bell Morningstar Canoe, bent shaft paddles
if so read this. I clipped it out of RV.net about 3+ years ago and had to finally use it this past week...
"I have a combination gas and electric/DSI Atwood water heater (model GE16TE) that has been working fine but suddenly died this morning. Wouldn't work on gas, electric, nothing. Checked all the fuses, checked for flue tube obstructions, checked wiring connections, etc. but the problem persisted. Finally called Atwood on the phone (very nice people) and was immediately connected to a friendly service tech who walked me through a diagnostic process that quickly located the problem- I had a fused Thermal Cutoff. This cutoff detects high temperatures due to an obstructed flue and once fused will prevent operation in either gas or electric mode. Since my flue wasn't restricted I wondered why the Cutoff would be fused- the tech said that it happens occasionally when both modes of operation are selected, i.e. gas and electric are on for the quickest water recovery time.
Unfortunately once the Thermal Cutoff activates it has to be replaced (it basically acts as a fusible link) but the water heater works fine without it and Atwood has shipped me a new one at no cost under warranty.
If your water heater dies, here's a quick way to find out if it is the Thermal Cutoff. First, MAKE SURE there are no obstructions in the flue tube. Then turn off the water heater's electric mode and turn on the gas mode. With the exterior access door open and looking at center of the water tank you'll see a black foam-covered area with 4 wires running to it. Look for the area marked T-STAT with two brown wires running to it. One of the wires will have a piece of clear tubing over it that covers a large diode- this diode is the Thermal Cutoff. (Mine didn't look burned or in any way defective, so a visual inspection won't tell you if it's bad or not.)
Remove the diode from the T-STAT terminal lug then disconnect the other end of the diode from the brown wire connector. Now connect the brown wire (without the diode attached) directly to the T-STAT terminal lug. Give it a few seconds and the water heater should turn on in gas operation mode. If it does, that means the Thermal Cutoff is bad and you'll need to get a new one from Atwood. Leave the wire hooked up, turn on the electrical mode to supplement gas mode (if you want) and you'll have hot water till you get the new Thermal Cutoff.
If the water heater doesn't turn on after a minute or so chances are it's not the Thermal Cutoff and you'll have to look elsewhere for your problem. "
When I bypassed the thermal cutoff it ran fine for days till I could find a replacement. make sure you clean the burner tube as they recommend..
What type of water heater?
DSI? Could be bad circuit board or thermocouple.
Pilot ignition? could be bad thermocouple.
Worst case scenario, bad control valve.
Best case scenario, air in the gas line. If it is air, just keep trying to light it until the air is gone and there is gas at the burner
Good luck.
CM1, USN (RET)
'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, Std. cab, LB, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 273,000 Miles
'99 Monaco McKenzie 32' triple slide
'95 Tioga 29H Ford-based Class C
Daily driver: '06 Jeep Liberty CRD
Towed: '06 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited
I know the batteries are fine, that was checked. (we have 2 as we dry camp....)
We assume it IS getting the gas/propane as the stove worked on both tanks of propane.
It works great on electric/shore power, just not when unplugged.
I don't remember what 'type' it is but I will check brand when I get home.
Thanks guys,
Jo
If the pilot lights and stays lit the thermocouple is Ok. If not that is probably the place to start. Are there instructions for manually lighting the heater? Check the burner for obstructions, spiders love to plug gas lines and burners, The control board could be the culprit.
This may have just been a fluke but I had the same problem and I checked everything and still could'nt get it to work.This spring I took both tanks off to get re-filled and when the last tank came off alot of moisture came with it,did'nt think anything of it but when I hooked them back up and tried the water heater on gas it worked.
Antiq,
If all of the above doesn't work, get one of those clickers you use to light things. Stick it in the flue where the gas is. (When I haven't used the gas to light the heater in a long time it gets cantankerous.) It will light and then go out. Have your spouse turn on the heater and you light and stick the clicker in at the same time. Once it lights, keep the clicker on for another 5-10 seconds and it may burn out all the corrosion-crud and work OK after that. It always works for me.
Ed
[b/]2005 Sierra 2500 Duramax HD 4WD EXT Cab SLT
2006 Jayco Eagle 29RLTS
TTT Mirrors
Pullrite 16K Superglide
Garmin 7200 GPS
BrakeSmart
Mor-ryde Pin Box
60 gal. aux. fuel tank-toolbox combo
Porta-Bote- RV brackets on side of RV
and many more additions.
Have a similar problem in that when I take the rig from storage and want to start the fridge in propane mode it will not start even after drawing the gas by lighting the stove. BUT if I plug into electric and leave it a few minutes then unplugging, it will start on propane without problem. It is not time because I have left the propane tank on overnight and if I want it to start on propane it will not if the electric was not on first and then plug pulled.
Chevy Silverado 2500HD with Duramax engine and Allison transmission
2002 Sunnybrook 34BWTS with lots of goodies
Pullrite Superglide Hitch, Prodigy brake controller
S and S Co-Travelers and along for the ride is Ketzel the wonder cat.
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