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drfife · 12-03-2012, 10:02 AM

We had the thermal cut-off fail on our Atwood water Heater model GE16EXT this weekend.

We arrived at the campground on Friday and got everything set up. That evening I noticed no hot water at the faucet. I turned on the propane side and it would not fire up.

I called Bennett's RV in Granbury on Saturday morning and explained to the service manager, Jesse, the problem. He had me remove and bypass the thermal cut-off relay. I checked the system and it would fire up on propane and it would heat on electric.

I picked up a replacement thermal cut-off at Tyler RV that afternoon. The package comes with a pair, so now I have a back-up. We encountered no problems with the operation of the water heater after replacing the thermal cut-off.

I've never had one of these fail on my previous Atwood water heaters. Is this a sign of a problem with the water heater or an infant part failure? We've used our camper for a total of 20 nights.

chief02 · 12-03-2012, 10:15 AM

Hey Russ, That looks simple enough "plug and play". Sounds like having a spare is a good idea. How much are they?

Still Working "NOT" · 12-03-2012, 10:25 AM

I have never had one burn out on either of my units. Looking at the picture it looks like it got hot on the control board side of the cutoff. I would also check and see what the wiring looks like where it plugs into the control board.

rockintom · 12-03-2012, 08:45 PM

still has a good idea to check things out, but I'd bet it's an infancy electrical failure. rockin'

Workshop · 12-03-2012, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drfife

We had the thermal cut-off fail on our Atwood water Heater model GE16EXT this weekend.

I've never had one of these fail on my previous Atwood water heaters. Is this a sign of a problem with the water heater or an infant part failure?

I never had one fail either. I was under the thought that it protected the WH while on gas...during a flame up outside the burner tube. The cut-off is just a fuseable link that melts and turns off the gas. Even though we have a different WH now, without the link, it's good to know that it affects the electric side also.

Unless it happens again, I would treat it as a one time thing and possibly a weak link wire. Still...I couldn't see where the connecting wire got hot? Which photo....at least it's not like the one in the article below.

Here's an interesting article....

Still Working "NOT" · 12-03-2012, 09:45 PM

Work, what I'm talking about is the picture of the fuse link. On the left side the male end of the link is black. That would tell me that there may be some damage elsewhere in the wiring. Then again there may not. My main concern would be the plug that connects to the control board.

didymop · 12-03-2012, 10:41 PM

We are so disgusted with the quality of the new appliances in our new Excel that I believe it's cheap parts and shoddy workmanship (of the appliances; not the Excel). So far we've had issues with the Manabloc, Dometic Microwave/Convection, Coleman Air Conditioner, and Sureflo Fan. I think the Norcold refrigerator and the water heater are doing okay. And neither Coleman or Dometic will warranty pay for a certified repair person to come to your RV; they expect you to close up your house and haul it into town. That's crappy poor customer service if you ask me. So we had to pay for service call and repair time ($110) to get our AC working (3d control board). So much for having a warranty. And these companies have you by the kahunas and they know it. Thanks. I feel a little better but we're still out $110.