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fame89 · 10-21-2022, 10:40 AM

I have a 1989 Fame Trailer with an Atwood g6a-8e water heater.

I consider myself a fairly decent troubleshooter, but I can't get this thing to work for the life of me.

My issue is, I can't get it to light. No gas to the gas tube. Spark works, and tries 3 times, then goes into overload mode.

This is what I did.

I tested the gas solenoids, and got less than perfect results. I used a car battery, and the gas selonoid would sometimes open, sometimes not. so i replaced it.
I tested the board, and I got no connectivity between the ground pin and the power pin. so I replaced it. (new board may be dead too, but let's assume it's good.. i got it from ebay).

I tested both the eco and the thermostat with my multi meter. Both show connectivity when nothing is attached, and the water is cold.

I get spark, but no power to the gas solenoid. I show voltage on both brown wires, but no voltage on the red wire coming from the board, when everything is powered up/switch is on. I have tested connectivity between both brown wires, and get good results. Fuseable link also shows connectivity, so i'm assuming it's good. I have tested the red wire from the board to the ECO switch. It also test with good connectivity.

My only thought is i have a bad harness.

Can someone give help? I'm going nutso with this problem.

Old-Biscuit · 10-21-2022, 01:06 PM

G6A-8E uses a simple DC Circuit
Brown wire (DC POS) from switch to/thru Thermal Fuse to/thru T-stat to Circuit Board
RED wire (DC POS) from circuit board to/thru eco to Gas Valve to Ground
Same time High Voltage DC from Transformer on circuit board to Spark Electrode
Got spark ---then got DC to Circuit Board

Should have DC POS to ECO, Should Have DC POS from ECO, Should have DC POS to Gas Valve Solenoids
*Solenoids resistance should be 48ohms

TO TEST VALVE TRACK:
Place negative lead of the multi-meter to ground (green wire) track of edge connection and positive lead of the multi-meter to valve (red wire) track of edge connection.
*Continuity ----circuit board valve track good

Harness......check the integrity of the RED wire Pin Inside the connector
New Harness (93312)
https://pdxrvwholesale.com/products/...-harness-93312

G6A-8E parts
https://pdxrvwholesale.com/products/...8e-rebuild-kit

fame89 · 10-21-2022, 04:06 PM

Value track test out ok.

I do see some corrosion on the red connector. I'll try replacing it.

Is the board ok? I bought it off an ebay seller, not directly from dometic.

I'll post an update tomorrow

Old-Biscuit · 10-21-2022, 04:21 PM

Grounds.....

Make sure Ground connections are clean/tight
Green wire from circuit board (ground to frame/to DC NEG), and solenoids grounds

fame89 · 10-22-2022, 02:48 PM

so I got it working. I did have to clean a massive amount of corrasion off the terminals.
Root cause was the switch wasn't wired correctly. I had to tear apart the whole switch/wiring to correct it. Appreciate all the help.

Old-Biscuit · 10-22-2022, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fame89

so I got it working. I did have to clean a massive amount of corrasion off the terminals.
Root cause was the switch wasn't wired correctly. I had to tear apart the whole switch/wiring to correct it. Appreciate all the help.

Thanks for update.

Surprised about switch......you were getting DC on Brown and spark so switch was sending DC to circuit board

fame89 · 10-22-2022, 07:36 PM

I had the blue wire and the ground (green wire) wired together. I had to wire the ground wire (green) correctly back to neg DC from the power supply, not the neg DC from the board. I think because of that, it was sending voltage back over neg DC causing it to think the board was in overload mode.

They also had the switch pins messed up. It was NOT exactly easy, but we got it working!

Appreciate the help.