Water Heater Intermittently Does Not Start

[georgegdc]

Hello All

I have a problem with our water heater starting. It is a 1996 Winnebago Adventure.

There is a switch in the coach to control the water heater. Normally you flip the switch and a yellow LED with “W.H. Pilot” next to it goes on. After about half a second, you hear the propane start burning in the water heater, the LED goes off and then the water heater works just fine.

Lately we have been having trouble. Occasionally after we flip the switch to the “on” position the LED lights and stays lit and the we don’t hear the water heater start. We do a few things such as switch the fridge to propane and turn on one of the burners on the stove or blow out the water heater vent or just turn the switch off and on a few times and then it will start sometimes. We notice that when the water is hot we are more likely to have this “problem”. But many times the water is cold and the LED just stays lit without the heater coming on unless we do some of the above mentioned other things… maybe.

The water heater model is a Direct Ignition Model GH6-6E.
Any hints on how to go about trouble shooting this?
Thanks in advance.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by georgegdc

Hello All

I have a problem with our water heater starting. It is a 1996 Winnebago Adventure.

There is a switch in the coach to control the water heater. Normally you flip the switch and a yellow LED with “W.H. Pilot” next to it goes on. After about half a second, you hear the propane start burning in the water heater, the LED goes off and then the water heater works just fine.

Lately we have been having trouble. Occasionally after we flip the switch to the “on” position the LED lights and stays lit and the we don’t hear the water heater start. We do a few things such as switch the fridge to propane and turn on one of the burners on the stove or blow out the water heater vent or just turn the switch off and on a few times and then it will start sometimes. We notice that when the water is hot we are more likely to have this “problem”. But many times the water is cold and the LED just stays lit without the heater coming on unless we do some of the above mentioned other things… maybe.

The water heater model is a Direct Ignition Model GH6-6E.
Any hints on how to go about trouble shooting this?
Thanks in advance.

Do the simple stuff first.
First thing I would check is to make sure the fire tube does not have a host of Spider Webs. They love to camp out there.
Next would be to remove the Orifice which is located at the end of the gas tube where it enters the fire tube. You may see some rusty debris which you can clean out with some compressed air. Do Not use anything Metalic to clean the orifice. A toothpick will work fine.

[georgegdc]

Thanks Dennis

One of the first things I did was blow out the path that the hot air takes. I assume that is what is referred to as the "fire tube". Brilliant minds think alike. Did not not try cleaning out the gas tube. Will do that.

[wantajustrid]

I don't know your particular model of WH and can only assume yours may have some sort of circuit board on it since it's direct ignition.

Can you hear the ignitor trying to light the gas in the "Fire Tube"?

If not there should be an electrical plug that connects to a circuit board. Mine vibrated loose on my Alpenlite. Pushed the plug in just a bit and all was good.

My circuit board was a little hard to find but an easy fix once it was located. I just followed the ignition wire. It was in the basement of the coach next to the WH tank.

Hope this helps.

[Ray,IN]

It cost me $80 in 1999 for a mobile RV repairman to remove each plug-on wire on the circuit board and replace it 3-4X to remake the connection by scraping away corrosion. WH worked fine after that. Expensive lesson.

[KIX]

............We do a few things such as switch the fridge to propane and turn on one of the burners on the stove............

Based on the above quote from the OP I would suggest renewing the system regulator. Most are less than $25 and easy to change out

[georgegdc]

Thanks all for the posts. Been busy. Sorry for the slow response.

The contacts are corroded in may places. I will try cleaning them. Removing the gas tube looks like quite a project.

Ray,IN, The ignitor is funny. Sometimes we turn on the WH and we do not hear the ignitior then the light just stays on. Sometimes we hear the ignitor and possibly the flame goes on then the LED goes out(like it does when it is working properly) less than a second later the burning stops and then the light goes back on.

[Clay L]

The igniter may be faulty. I would take a look at it and make sure the end isn't crudded up and that it is it the gas stream.
Also the ceramic can have a small crack in it and if the humidity is high it can misfire.

You can watch it while someone inside flips the switch and see if it sparks. That might give you some insight into what is going on.

[richs050]

Hi,
Here is a pretty informative YouTube video about servicing water heaters that may steer you to a solution to your problem.

By the way, I had an intermittent problem with one that did the same thing and it was a crack in the porcelain on the electronic igniter shorting out to the side and not lighting the flame. Replaced the igniter and all was good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXhP5gF0qtA

Good Luck!

Richard

[georgegdc]

Hi All

Sorry for the delay. The problem was intermittent so it did not receive complete attention. But ... what was an intermittent problem became a permanent problem and so got all the attention.

Found a service manual. http://manuals.adventurerv.net/Atwood-Water-Heater-Service.pdf Not the right year but definitely close enough

We were not hearing the igniter sparking. I took the igniter out and bent the electrodes together, no luck. Don task me what I was thinking but I bent them further apart, no luck. Then put them back how I found them.

I pulled out ye old multimeter. 12V(nominal, actually 13 something volts) came to the board when the power went on. However no voltage was going to the ECO. And hence the coils for the gas valves. Turned power off. ECO switch was closed. "Hmm? lets see if we can feed 12V directly to the valves?" Took a paper clip to pick up the 12V that gets fed to the board when the power switch gets closed. Took off the female spade on the valve side of the ECO and hooked that female spade with an alligator clip to the paper clip. Turned on the switch. And it worked!

I highly do not recommend doing this. It is dangerous.

Conclusion thus far. The circuit board is bad because it is not sending voltage to the ECO/gas valves. Ordered a new board. Steep at $130. But... Will see what happens when I install the new one.

[georgegdc]

New board arrived in the mail. Installed it. Flipped the WH switch and for some reason it did not light the first time. But it has been lighting consistently ever since.

Thank you all!