Hot water issue

[Okierambler]

I have a 2012 Vista 30T, I have always used the electric to heat water, now when I turn on the hot water heater, it will heat for a while, then a little red light comes on the panel and says something about not igniting and quits heating. I wouldn't think the igniter had anything to do with it since I am not using the gas part of the water heater.I can turn the water heater off for a minute and back on and it will heat until that red light comes back on.Any ideas? I think I have the suburban gas/electric water heater.

[BFlinn181]

Use Google to search and download the manual for your water heater. You're messing with a fire hazard to continue trying to use it without knowledge.

Do you have LP gas in your tank? The gas heat will work much quicker than the electric and recover more quickly too.

[grtharris]

Okierambler, parts catalog shows you have a Atwood water heater. The control for the electric heater goes through the circuit board on the front of the water heater.
Unplug the connector and use a pencil eraser or a good electrical cleaner such as De-oxit to clean the connection and board.
Verify that you have `12+ VDC to the PC board AND that you have a good ground (ground wires/screws are a source of issues).

[jhanan]

Originally Posted by Okierambler

I have a 2012 Vista 30T, I have always used the electric to heat water, now when I turn on the hot water heater, it will heat for a while, then a little red light comes on the panel and says something about not igniting and quits heating. I wouldn't think the igniter had anything to do with it since I am not using the gas part of the water heater.I can turn the water heater off for a minute and back on and it will heat until that red light comes back on.Any ideas? I think I have the suburban gas/electric water heater.

If its like my Horizon, the HW heater control switch is only for the gas circuit. The 120V heater element is an independent switch all together and has nothing to do with the gas control circuit or igniter system. If you want to run on electric only, keep the HW heater control switch off. If you want to heat with gas only, turn off the 120v switch and turn on the gas control switch. If you want to heat with both, then turn both on at the same time. If you get the red light, it usually means it will not control the ignition circuit to fire the unit. The 1st thing to check is to replace the thermostat cutoff diode. I go through a diode about once per year so I can 2 spares. You can run it without the diode in a bind, but not recommended since the diode is heat sensitive and is a secondary cutoff protection on top of the tank thermostat cut off. If not the diode, then its actually the thermostat cutting out. If not that, then the control board is bad or the igniter needs to be replaced.