Suburban Hot Water Heater - How long to heat up initially and how to adjust flame?

[CoachStreamr]

Have a Suburban 10 Gallon SW10 DEM - Manufactured January 2001 (just found out today by giving the serial number to their support).

Using the propane burner, how long should it take to get to 130 degrees (and then the pilot to go off) from when it has not been used for days? Does 45 minutes sound too long?

I'm not sure if my blue flame needs to be 'tighter' but the problem is, I don't know how to adjust the flame on this model. The videos I've seen has you sliding a piece at the beginning of the burner where the air is mixed in and the manual for my model is no help.

Video of burner/flame (Video hosted on Streamable):
https://streamable.com/547gl


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[JFXG]

45 minutes does not seem unreasonable to me, depending on the starting temp of the water. I installed a new SW10 a couple of years ago in the summer. My only check was after 30 minutes I had pretty warm water, so I knew things were working. I don't know how long it took to cut off.

[Ray,IN]

Perhaps this utube video will be more informative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjDklZh4ws

The rule-of-thumb is, if the flame has a loud roar it is getting too much air into the gas mixture, if it has a yellow-sooty color not enough air.

[CoachStreamr]

@Ray,IN

Yes, that is one of the videos.. I don't have that adjustment on the burner.

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[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by CoachStreamr

@Ray,IN

Yes, that is one of the videos.. I don't have that adjustment on the burner.

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According to your owners manual
there are several causes for the flame to be out of adjustment. I would begin with removing the gas burner, cleaning the orifice, and having the gas pressure re-calibrated to 11" water column per the owners manual.
As to time required, yes 45 minutes sounds right, depending on incoming water temperature and usage during that period.

[RKins]

Originally Posted by CoachStreamr

Have a Suburban 10 Gallon SW10 DEM - Manufactured January 2001 (just found out today by giving the serial number to their support).

Using the propane burner, how long should it take to get to 130 degrees (and then the pilot to go off) from when it has not been used for days? Does 45 minutes sound too long?

I'm not sure if my blue flame needs to be 'tighter' but the problem is, I don't know how to adjust the flame on this model. The videos I've seen has you sliding a piece at the beginning of the burner where the air is mixed in and the manual for my model is no help.

Video of burner/flame (Video hosted on Streamable):
https://streamable.com/547gl


.

You could also turn on the electric element to speed it up.

[NeilV]

The flame appears lazy to me but that could just be the video. Follow the instructions in the manual to ensure everything is clean. After almost 17 years of operation chances are that there are spider webs and possibly some mud dauber nests to deal with inside the unit.

The owners manual pretty clearly spells out what to check so download it (if you do not have a copy already) and follow the instructions.

Air gap is fixed on those so its basically clean the orifice (lets hope a previous owner did not enlarge the orifice by pushing a wire through it) and burner tube, blow out the heat exchanger/flue (there appears to be debris on the bottom of it so wear a dust mask and eye protection just in case), reinstall the burner tube paying attention to the alignment diagrams in the manual and adjust the pressure to the required 11" using a good manometer.

A SW10 DEM is Electric and Direct Spark Ignition with Motor Aid so unless someone cut the heater hoses coming from the engine the water should already be hot when you arrive at a campground so the burner should not run for more than a few minutes if it runs at all if you turn the water heater on immediately upon arrival.

If the flame is still lazy after cleaning and adjusting everything else you will probably need to replace the orifice. Lazy flame is too much gas and not enough air while too loud a flame is due to a lean condition.

[trx430ex]

After almost 17 years of operation,,

I would also check the main tank regulator for proper pressure for the entire rig. Have had 2 main regulators fall off over time, some were adjustable, some were just replaced.

A worn regulator could cause gremlins in all the appliances.

Could stop in a propane shop to have it measured.

[CoachStreamr]

Originally Posted by trx430ex

After almost 17 years of operation,,

I would also check the main tank regulator for proper pressure for the entire rig. Have had 2 main regulators fall off over time, some were adjustable, some were just replaced.

A worn regulator could cause gremlins in all the appliances.

Could stop in a propane shop to have it measured.

We actually had the main tank replaced (had cracked mount, no one would repair) 2 months ago and replaced the two older Regulators with a Marshal MEGR-298H High Capacity.

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[CoachStreamr]

Originally Posted by NeilV

A SW10 DEM is Electric and Direct Spark Ignition with Motor Aid so unless someone cut the heater hoses coming from the engine the water should already be hot when you arrive at a campground so the burner should not run for more than a few minutes if it runs at all if you turn the water heater on immediately upon arrival.

This Coach never had the heater hoses back to the engine. The Water Heater was replaced several years ago with this DEM model but the motor aid is not in use. I may want to look at adding the heater hoses in the future since the WH sits on the basement floor, probably would be a straight shot down and over to the engine.

I order a new anode and electric heating element. I'll clean out the burner and flue when I replace those.

I don't have that manometer to check the propane pressure by having the gas pressure re-calibrated to 11" water column per the owners manual.. Does someone have a link to one on amazon (or other)?

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[trx430ex]

Manomeater was less than I thought There is one used for cheep. Since this does not get used very much, I would stay away from cheep china electronic that would break while stored. Good old manual that is hard to break.

Got to replace my tank too, not looking forward to it.

[CoachStreamr]

Thank you for posting that Amazon link for the manometer.

Originally Posted by trx430ex

Got to replace my tank too, not looking forward to it.

trx, check out my tank / regulator replacement threads:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/asme...nk-354664.html

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/asme...rs-358965.html


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[trx430ex]

Wow, I thought I used a lot of propane, you use it like a boss. Used 2 30's and 2/3 rd's of the onboard tank for 2 weeks in Assateague.

Looking the replace the 11 gallon with this & $400 in welding.

You were right to ditch that old tank.

Look at the size of the weld on your old tank, way overkill, that crack may have been born the day that weld was laid on angle. Just to show its true colors years later. Too much heat.. Notice how the crack follows the weld, and when the weld stopped,, the crack changed direction.

[CoachStreamr]

I don't know really about welding.. I do see the new tanks have some changes and though at first it looks like a minor change, perhaps they did have issues in the distant past with those mounts.