Water Heater Shut off after few hours

[circleh]

Hi! We are brand new to this. We have a 1997 Prowler with an Atwood water heater. Automatic ignition, gas/electric. It lights after flipping the on/off switch inside the trailer several times. It works (water gets hot) but it turns itself off sometimes after a few minutes and usually after 3-4 hours. Also, the manual does not say how the switches should be flipped. Besides the ignition switch with the light, there is a switch that can be either up or down also in the kitchen area and there is a switch under the backroom sink that can be flipped one of two ways. We have tried multiple configurations but nothing seems to help. The switches are not marked and the manual doesn't address it. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[Bushman512003]

Hi I can just try to help as I have a water heater of a different make .Well hear goes My first though is switch with red light is to turn on heater to gas when it lights light goes off We use that way most of the time But turn off when water is hot We can hear the flame shut down to pilot.One of the other switches may be the 110volt side this I have out side in the water heater box so not sure about Yours I forgot the switch in the on elect .once and burnt out the thing with out water once.Hope this helps.Some one that knows more will soon show up but as for now You can heat Your water good luck...Bushman

[Gary RVRoamer]

You have two switches for the heater, one for 120v electric operation and one for LP gas operation. At a guess, I would say the one under the bathroom sink is that electric switch and the one with the light is the gas switch. The 3rd switch in the kitchen probably has nothing to do with the water heater - it most likely toggles power between a microwave and an a/c unit or some other major power consumer. This is typical in RVs that do not have enough power available to run everything at once, e.g. a 30A RV with two a/c's or a big microwave and an a/c.

It is ok to have both gas and electric on at the same time - it just heats the water faster if both are working. Most people just use electric if shore power is available, though. Saves them on propane.

In a 1997, most likely the red light on the switch comes on and stays on while the heater is working in gas mode. The light goes off if the heater shuts down for some reason. In newer ones, the light goes off after successful ignition and stays off unless the heater has a problem and shuts down. How does yours act?

The gas flame is supposed to shut off when the water is hot. Does your fail to re-ignite after it first reaches the preset temperature (about 120 degrees)?

How about when using electric only - does it work ok then?