Water Heater Electric Ignition Upgrade

[smorrow0816]

I just bought a 2008 19ft Jayco TT. When I did the walkthrough with the tech, he was surprised to see that my water heater was the type that you light by going outside and lighting a pilot light instead of electronic ignition. So my question is does anyone how to upgrade/convert my manual light water heater to one that is electronic with a switch inside the trailer? Thanks.

["007"]

Welcome to irv2.
You didn't say which WH you have but this link has some upgrade kits. If your WH has been leaking or troubles running may be better to just replace it.
Enjoy the forums.

[RJay]

If your going to do this work yourself you might want to think about how your going to run the wires from the electronic ignition to the where you want to mount the switch. It does seem peculiar why Jayco wouldn't put this in a 2008 unit. A call to Jayco might reveal why they didn’t and they will be able to tell you how they run the wires on units they did.

[Frank P. Martin]

You don't say what model Jayco trailer you have, but I checked Jayco's archives for travel trailers for the 2008 model year. Here' s what I found for each model:

For The Jay Feather Sport, it only lists a 6 gal. HWT with no other upgrade option.

For the Jay Feather EXP, the standard equipment HWT is not even listed. However there was an option for a Customer Value Package that included a 6 gal. gas/electric DSI auto-ignition HWT.

The Jay Flight series lists a 6 Gal. HWT as standard equipment. However there was an option for a Plus Package that included a 6 gal. gas/electric DSI auto-ignition HWT.

There was no 19' travel trailer produced in the Jay Feather EX-PORT, Jay Feather LGT, Jay Flight G2 or Eagle series.

I know I didn't provide any help here unless you own one of the models that could be equipped with the optional 6 gal. gas/electric DSI auto-ignition HWT. You might be able to get information for placement of the controls and routing of the wiring from Jayco's Customer Support. It's worth a try.

[smorrow0816]

Thanks for the replies. I have a Jayco Jayflight 19BH. Some of you asked and I guess I forgot to list the exact model.

[Frank P. Martin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smorrow0816 I have a Jayco Jayflight 19BH.

I went back to Jayco's web site to see your TT. That's a nice, compact bunkhouse. Too bad it wasn't equipped with the optional Plus Package as you would have got the better HWT along with these other amenities:

Plus Package:
30 lb propane gas bottles (2) w/ ABS cover; 6 gal. gas/electric DSI auto-ignition water heater; outside shower; raised panel kitchen overhead doors

In our Jayco TT, the only pilot light we have to manually light is the one in the oven. However, it's hard to reach and sometimes requires many attempts before we're successful at lighting it.

Good luck with your project!