Intermittent Atwood water heater

[JPO1980]

Atwood WH model GCH 10A 4E is intermittent at best on both power sources. It is in a 2006 Journey.

I have a good 14v on input pins (white and orange- electric and gas )

I have a good 14v on brown wires with good connectivity through Tstat and have temporalily bypassed thermo cutoff just to be sure it wasn't a cause.

ECO switch has good connectivity but I only measure 9.7v. I have cleaned all contacts on the 4 and 6 pin connectors and they all appear solid.

I am thinking about changing out board, but I don't remember ever having an intermittent board. If I do change out board I am considering a dinosaur UIB 64.

Your thoughts please.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by JPO1980

Atwood WH model GCH 10A 4E is intermittent at best on both power sources. It is in a 2006 Journey.

I have a good 14v on input pins (white and orange- electric and gas )

I have a good 14v on brown wires with good connectivity through Tstat and have temporalily bypassed thermo cutoff just to be sure it wasn't a cause.

ECO switch has good connectivity but I only measure 9.7v. I have cleaned all contacts on the 4 and 6 pin connectors and they all appear solid.

I am thinking about changing out board, but I don't remember ever having an intermittent board. If I do change out board I am considering a dinosaur UIB 64.

Your thoughts please.

ECO circuit (Red wire from circuit board to/thru ECO to gas valve) should have FULL DC voltage when on GAS
**Are you measuring 9.7VDC at the edge connector or at ECO?

FYI-----ECO circuit should have millivolts when on electric
*Places ECO in control loop if T-stat Fails


Are the spade connectors tight on the ECO terminals?
Are the ECO terminals tight...don't move ?

RED wire is the 'Valve Track'
With circuit board removed and all wiring disconnected you can test the power track using a voltmeter set to ohms scale
Red probe on Red wire edge connector
Black probe on Green wire edge connector
Should have continuity....

Brown wire is the 'Power Track'
Red probe on TOP Brown wire edge connector
Black probe on Green wire edge connector
Should have continuity.....


Intermittent issues........
Grounds...loose/dirty/corroded


Dino board UIB 64...great replacement
Better quality circuits

[JPO1980]

Thanks for the reply.

I went back out this morning to check my readings again. When I touched my vom probe to one of the tstat connections the WH gas side fired up.
Electric is also good now and
has been working all day.

Even though I got over 12v on both sides of the tstat yesterday and the connections felt strong when I pulled them off something was not making a good connection.

I will leave as is for now as we are parked. I have ordered new tstat and eco, and will open it up and get a good look when they arrive to figure out the cause of the intermittent connection. I did replace them both about 3 years or so ago because of a tstat failure.

Thanks again for the reply.

Safe travels

[JPO1980]

Replaced thermostat and made sure all connections were clean and making good contact.

WH is back up and running well.

Thank you Old Biscuit!

[Old-Biscuit]

Thanks for the Update and resolution.

Hot water good!