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ButterflyDog · 11-15-2015, 06:11 PM

Hello, we have a 2 year old motorhome and the water heater has abruptly stopped working.
1. The igniter will fire but then quits.
2. The electric doesn't work at all.
We checked the fuse and it is okay. We are at wits end as to what would be wrong. We are heading south to Redding, Ca tomorrow.
It was working fine this morning.
Any ideas or help would be appreciated. THANK YOU!!!
Amy
Btw...the breaker box and reset are in the bedroom, but where is the fuse for the water heater?

BFlinn181 · 11-15-2015, 07:31 PM

The fuse is a 12 v fuse and would be in the fuse panel for the house functions like lights, furnace, refrigerator, etc.

You haven't said what make and model of WH you have, but if the ignitor is working but not lighting the gas, and the 120 v element isn't working, it sounds like the Hi-limit thermostat has been tripped. It usually has a push button reset button on it. When it is tripped, it shuts off the gas and the 120 v element, exactly what you are reporting. The WH 12 v fuse is O.K. because you say the ignitor can be heard sparking. It shuts off after it senses no heat and must be reset by turning off the power switch, waiting a period of time, and then turning it on again.

Look on line for a manual for your brand and model WH to find specifics about where the Hi-limit thermostat is located.

deasnealy · 11-16-2015, 05:43 AM

We had a similar problem. Ours was actually a plug and not directly wired. . It had wiggled loose. Follow the wire and see if maybe it's a simple fix.

ButterflyDog · 11-16-2015, 06:34 AM

Sorry, I forgot the model. It is an Atwood, but I solved the problem, I think.
My husband had hooked up to city water and turned the Bypass lever off of Normal to City Water thinking that since we are on city water this is where the lever should be.
In reading the owners manual, I think that position is used for flushing that tank for winterizing which we don't need to do in our region.
Amy
2012 Allegro Open Road 30GA

luvlabs · 11-16-2015, 07:32 AM

First off, I believe you have a Suburban water heater.

The electric element can and does burn out so that is one possibility. It's an easy fix if that is the problem.

The electric side also uses a 12V relay to switch the 110v power on for the heating elemant. That to is a possible problem area.

On the gas side, you could either have the gas off, be out of gas, our have something like spider webs in the venturi of the water heater. So make sure your gas valve is open, you have some quantity of gas in the tank (ck the guage) and your stove lights without problems. The spider webs are also easily cleaned out with something like a pipe cleaner or q-tip that you can insert into the gas burner openings.

Your Suburban manual is in the big blue bag with all of your other stuff.

Kiawah · 11-16-2015, 09:42 AM

I think you have it figured out correctly, you flipped the bypass lever. In this postion, cold water will pass to the spigots when you turn them on.

When you turn that bypass, no water goes into the hotwater tank. Hence if it's already at temperature because of elec, the gas isn't going to ignite because it's already at temp.

You think there is something wrong w/HW heater, but it's sitting there ready to go, and have some water go thru it.

BFlinn181 · 11-16-2015, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ButterflyDog

Sorry, I forgot the model. It is an Atwood, but I solved the problem, I think.
My husband had hooked up to city water and turned the Bypass lever off of Normal to City Water thinking that since we are on city water this is where the lever should be.
In reading the owners manual, I think that position is used for flushing that tank for winterizing which we don't need to do in our region.
Amy
2012 Allegro Open Road 30GA

The WH bypass valve does just that, it take the water heater out of the flow of water from the tank (or city water hose) and isolates the water heater. That, along with pulling the drain plug, allows the system to be winterized without having to fill the WH with RV antifreeze. It doesn't flush the tank, just shuts off flow into the water heater.

With the valve set properly, do you now have hot water?

ButterflyDog · 11-17-2015, 06:22 AM

Hi, yes, we have hot water...whoo-hoo!
I had to backtrack and figure out what had changed to all of a sudden that we did not have hot water and then I remembered my husband attaching to city water. I re-read the owners manual and looked at the levers.
Thank you all,
Amy