Hot Water Heater issue

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white01ss

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Joined
May 31, 2017
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8
I have a 2012 Forrest River that we bought used last year.  We took it out for our first camping excursion over the long weekend and I happen to discover an issue with the hot water heater.

I am always a double/triple check systems to make sure they are in working order and thankfully my thoroughness paid off.  I lit my manual hot water heater without issue and went back to check it about 5 minutes later, and everything was chugging along.  I went and checked it about 15 minutes later and there was a flame coming out where the pilot light gas line meets the gas valve. (see attached Photo...sorry for the quality it was dark)

Any suggestions on what my issue may be?  Gas valve...burner tube?

The closest RV dealer is about 90 minutes away, so it is not easy to coordinate getting it in to have checked out.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

 
That tube is where air is mixed with the gas before entering the burner. A flame there typically means there are rust flakes or insect nests in the tube, disrupting the flow, and the turbulence allows the flame to move back where it should not be. A thorough cleaning of that tube and the burner area is the first step. Often just a vacuuming will do the trick, but if there are cobwebs or mud dauber wasp nests in there, you will need a brush or something similar.

That tube is also adjustable to control the amount of air that enters the gas flow, i.e. the air-fuel ratio. Once it is burning properly in the burner tube instead of the inlet tube, the flame should be a nice blue-white.
 
white01ss said:
I lit my manual hot water heater without issue and went back to check it about 5 minutes later, and everything was chugging along.  I went and checked it about 15 minutes later and there was a flame coming out where the pilot light gas line meets the gas valve.
Any suggestions on what my issue may be?  Gas valve...burner tube?
The closest RV dealer is about 90 minutes away, so it is not easy to coordinate getting it in to have checked out.
Any advice would be appreciated!!
Click to expand...

white01ss
It appears that the fitting where the pilot light gas line meets the gas valve is leaking.
Can you simply tighten that fitting to stop the leak?

BTW you don't necessarily need a RV dealer.... most propane dealers who do service work can/will service the propane fueled appliances in RVs.
 
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