Water heater problems

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
H

hoeky_b

Active member
Joined
Feb 26, 2015
Posts
29
Location
BIG SKY COUNTRY
I cant get my water heater to work. first problem is no spark coming from igniter, next with butane lighter ---nothing lights. All this tells me that the spark igniter box is faulty and wont let the gas valve open.
                                            anyone else have ideas? and where can I get parts for something this old?
 
Try disconnecting all the connections to the circuit board. Then clean all the contacts. A pencil eraser works good for that. After cleaning the male part of the connector, plug the in and unplug it several times to try and clean the female connection.

This will have nothing to do with your issue because you're not getting spark. But while trouble shooting remove the burner tube and make sure spiders haven't built a house inside.

Do you other appliances work on propane?

Do you have 12 volt DC power going to the circuit board?
 
1993 Oakland---water heater is g6a-6e model. I have heard of a company called dinosaur electronics that carry them for around $75.00.  has anyone done business with them?  how would you test them?
 
Many people here swear by the dinosaur boards. They are apparently much better made than the originals. Follow the suggestions above before buying one though.
 
hoeky_b said:
1993 Oakland---water heater is g6a-6e model. I have heard of a company called dinosaur electronics that carry them for around $75.00.  has anyone done business with them?  how would you test them?
Click to expand...

hoeky_b
Most RV places and mobile RV techs have electronic board testers...(some will test boards at no charge).
 
I cant get my water heater to work. first problem is no spark coming from igniter, next with butane lighter ---nothing lights. All this tells me that the spark igniter box is faulty and wont let the gas valve open.
Click to expand...

Whoa! Let's not start replacing circuit boards when the nature of the problem has not yet been determined.  Atwood heater circuit boards are very robust and rarely need replacement. Possible, of course, but not at the top of the list for probable causes.

Could be just the igniter, or even just the wire from board to igniter. Or a slightly out-of-position igniter electrode. Any of those cause a "no spark" and no ignition.  The gas valve will close within about 20 seconds of the first attempt to spark if no flame is detected, so you cannot manually light a DSI heater once the ignition cycle ends.  That's a safety design.

Download an Atwood heater service manual for some further help:
http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/atwoodwaterheater.pdf
 
Alfa38User said:
Many people here swear by the dinosaur boards. They are apparently much better made than the originals. Follow the suggestions above before buying one though.
Click to expand...

I am one of them and I have the credentials to support that opinion, Very well made products.
 
Thanks everyone for all the replies.
after some head scratching--I checked all the electrical wiring and found the problem---loose connections on 2 of the 4 poles on the switch. reworked them and all is well--for now.
again thanks everyone
 
hoeky_b said:
Thanks everyone for all the replies.
after some head scratching--I checked all the electrical wiring and found the problem---loose connections on 2 of the 4 poles on the switch. reworked them and all is well--for now.
again thanks everyone
Click to expand...

Good for you. Thanks for getting back to us.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 914 (members: 30, guests: 884)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,962
Posts
1,388,275
Members
137,716
Latest member
chewys79
Back
Top Bottom