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Topic: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine (Read 715 times) previous topic - next topic

Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

No spark. Electric is working normally. Should I replace the spark generator or this module?

1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #1 –
Jeff,

Start by verifying that you do have 12+ VDC to the module (often the ground is the problem).

When on propane, you should hear TWO things:  click from gas valve opening (can also feel it). Clicking of ignitor working.

Do you have both, one but not the other, or neither?

If gas valve opening, but no ignitor spark, check that the ignitor is not shorted.  Mud dubbers houses often do that!
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #2 –
Thanks Brett. Where I deploy the switch nothing happens. No spark, no gas that I can hear.
1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #3 –
12+ VDC at the control board/module AND good ground?
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #5 –
Looks like the circuit board has been replaced, would definitely check the ground
previous 1984 35 ft ORED 250 HP 3208 Cat       
previous 1998 40 ft U295 CAI 325 hp Cummins
previous 2003 40 Ft u320 build #6140 450 Cummins M11.                                                         
1999 Mazda Miata
Ron, Nancy, Tipper the cat, Max The dog
1997 U 270 36 ft build number 5174 8.3 Cummins

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #6 –
No joy. My multimeter isn't working and we are traveling.
1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #7 –
One of the most common failures is the thermal fuse. In your picture, it is the piece of wire with the white cover. It is tied with a small zip tie. You can bypass it by pulling the spade connector off the top end and touching it to the T-Stat connector at the bottom end. Try bypassing the thermal fuse to see if the furnace fires. Don't run the furnace without the thermal fuse.

A lot of campground stores will have the fuses. If the fuse is the problem, and a replacement fails too soon, try flushing the flue with lots of water. Sometimes daubers will build nests in the flue and restrict air flow. That can cause enough "back fire" heat to repeatably blow the thermal fuses. BTDT.
J D Stevens
1997 U295 CAI 36' Build #5085
2002 Subaru Outback
Motorcade 16869
Bellville, TX

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #8 –
Check the fuse on the module (electric fuse, not thermal fuse)

Mine kept blowing the fuse semi-randomly. The cause ended up being a short in the thermostat circuit. Took me some wiggling and testing to find this. I replaced the thermostats ($10 for the thermostat and the safety...come as a kit) and installed them. No more problems blowing fuses after that.
1998 U270 34'

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #9 –
Quote from: krush –
Check the fuse on the module (electric fuse, not thermal fuse)

Mine kept blowing the fuse semi-randomly. The cause ended up being a short in the thermostat circuit. Took me some wiggling and testing to find this. I replaced the thermostats ($10 for the thermostat and the safety...come as a kit) and installed them. No more problems blowing fuses after that.

Thanks Krush. Is the fuse in the picture I posted?
1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #10 –
Jeff,

Good luck! I have the same symptoms that you reported originally. Will follow the suggestions you received.
 
Thanks,
 
Trent
Trent and Jean Eyler
2000  U295  4003  WTFE  ISC  350
Build#5603 MC#17385

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #11 –
Quote from: wolfe10 –
When on propane, you should hear TWO things:  click from gas valve opening (can also feel it). Clicking of ignitor working.

I performed Brett's test and heard both things. The fist click, then 2 or 3 smaller clicks. Then, a whoosh of sound, followed by flame and a low-level, continuing sound of gas burning under pressure, like a miniature jet engine. Every thing seemed to be working properly.

But I do have some more questions:

    When you turn on the electric water heater switch (at the foot of the bed), it glows red. I assume it is heating the electric heating element, and will continue to do that until you turn it off. What is the normal length of time to get hat water using electric?

    When you turn on the (propane) water heater switch (at the sink), it turns on a red and green light on the switch. Pretty quickly the red light goes out but the green light stays on. Is this normal operation? It seems like the red light used to stay on as well as the green light. Any thoughts? What is the normal length of time to get hat water using propane?

    When you have both the electric water heater switch and the propane water heater switch on, what happens? What is the normal length of time to get hat water when using both electric and propane?
 

I appreciate any advice anyone can give me to help understand the workings of my water heater. Reading through the original FOT manual and the Atwood installation manual did not explain it well.

Thanks,

Trent




Trent and Jean Eyler
2000  U295  4003  WTFE  ISC  350
Build#5603 MC#17385

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #12 –
You need to verify that the switch at the base of the bed is not for the engine block heater rather than 120 VAC water heater element.
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #13 –
Quote from: wolfe10 –
You need to verify that the switch at the base of the bed is not for the engine block heater rather than 120 VAC water heater element.
Brett,
 
No, the block heater switch is on the right side, at the end of the bed. IIRC, I unplugged the block heater plug so that "switch" is available for some other 120 VAC use.
 
We seem to have survived our second Winter of Foretravel ownership much better than the first. Our goal is to use a lot of diesel for our "winterization" next year. The couple next to us at the pre-Perry camground we picked, fulltime for 7 months a year. They spend their Summers in New York State.
 
Trent
Trent and Jean Eyler
2000  U295  4003  WTFE  ISC  350
Build#5603 MC#17385

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #14 –
The switch by the sink for heater has a green and red light. They both come on at first then if the flame lights and stays on the red one goes off. If it comes back on it means the flame has gone out and you need to find out why??

If you use both electric and propane to heat water it will get hot pretty quick and once up to temp' the electric element will go off(plus the gas will shut off again till water again needs to heat up)  to help water reach set upper temp'. You CAN use both at the same time but why??
If your red light used to stay on before then it means it was NOT working on gas.
JohnH
Coachless, now use aircraft. 2003 Ford Travelair TC280 class C. Super shape. Just for 1 yr .
1994 Ford E350 ClassC,total renovation inside and out. Now sold.
2000 U295  36' Cummins 350 c/w Banks Stinger, Resonator upgrade,Solar, LED lites.Residential fridge with slide out pantry. Build 5674. Sold
ex 92 GV 022C ored Cummins. Sold
ex 95 GV240 cat 3116. Sold
2017 Mini cooper s & 2016 land Rover LR2 HSE  LUX.
jhaygarth@aol.com    SKP #130098
treat everyone as you would like to be.
 

Re: Atwood water heater - propane not working, electric is fine

Reply #15 –
John,
 
Thank you for the explanation of the lights on the hot water tank switch. (Jean really thanks you, since she is the one that was convince that it used to stay on. Yeah, yeah, *I* was the one writing the message. but she was looking over my shoulder "proof reading" for me.)  :-[
 
Trent
Trent and Jean Eyler
2000  U295  4003  WTFE  ISC  350
Build#5603 MC#17385