Atwood Water Heater Not Working - Amber light on circuit Board?

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Dadgumit

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Joined
May 22, 2020
Posts
5
Good Morning!
I Have a 2016 Coleman bumper pull trailer.
When I went to turned the water heater on this morning the red light stayed on. So I grabbed my multi meter and checked the 2 AMP fuse and thermal cut off. All good. When I turned it on to test the spark I noticed that the circuit board has 2 LED lights. 1 of them is on (Amber) and a steady tone is emitting when I turn on the water heater. I have plenty propane and the stove inside works. The electric spark does not even attempted to light and no propane flows. I ASSUME that it is a defective circuit board... But i wanted to see if any of yall knew what the steady tone amber light ment on the board before I went and spent money I did not have to. Thank yall! 
 
First, welcome to the forum.
I don't have an answer for you but it would help if you gave us the make and model number of the heater.
Don't assume the board is bad. A board that's only 4 years old shouldn't fail IMHO but I'm sure it does happen from time to time. For starters, I would unplug every wire going to the board and everything else out there then clean the contacts. A pencil eraser is good for doing that. Then plug and unplug the wires 5 or 6 times to try and clean the mating terminal. Then try the heater again. Many times it's only corroded plugs.
 
Thank y'all so much for answering! Below is  the info ...
Model -G6A-8E
6 gallon

I can't find anything online. I've checked all the connections and they seem brand new barely any wear.
 
That's the next-to-latest model and I'm pretty shares the circuit board with the 9e and 10e model, but I find nothing to indicate any troubleshooting lights on it. Nothing in the service manual either.  The circuit board is potted (sealed), right? The only light would normally be the lockout (non-ignition) light on the remote switch.  I'm mystified!

Edit: I found a good photo of the board and it looks to have two leds adjacent to the 2A fuse. No description of their purpose, though. There seem to be multiple versions of the board with different physical layouts and not all of the leds. Maybe that's why there is nothing about it in the service manual.
Here's the one that has leds:https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atwood-91367-RV-Water-Heater-Control-PC-Circuit-Board-93865-93253-/391748399624

In any case, I'd look at the igniter first, including the wire from the board.  If it does spark and light, the flame sensor will not give its ok and within 6-8 seconds the board will close the gas valve and go into lockout. It signals that by putting voltage on a wire intended to be connected to a light on the remote switch. It could also light an led, so that's a possibility. The ignition board could have failed, but that is relatively low in probability vs the igniter wire and sparker tip.
 
Ok thank you for the research! I looked everywhere as well. I unplugged the ignition wire to see what happens when I turn it on. It does a flashing LED flash 3-4 times and a long tone. When I plug it back in and try it, it is the same problem as before. It will not even attempt to light. No gas no light nothing... except the steady tone and the amber light :/ I am confused and not sure what to replace. I dont even know what to test with the multi meter that I haven't already. Everything has power. But the what I assume is a relay for the gas does not flip. So I assume something is wrong in the 1st or 2nd steps that flips a shut off protocol in the beginning. Any ideas what to replace ? I am guessing the circuit board .... but that seems unluckily.
 
I did order the spark and ignition wire 15$ in Amazon. I will update with results. Thanks again we will see
 
Be careful about deciding the gas valve doesn't open. It doesn't stay open long, no more than 10-15 seconds, so easy to miss.  You have to be there and watching carefully to check it.  The controller board opens the gas valve and almost immediately pulses the ignitor, then waits around 6 seconds to read a voltage on the flame sensor built into the ignite. If no voltage to confirm a flame, it closes the gas valve again and turns on the "ignition failed" remote indicator wire (which is normally wired to a light on the remote switch).


Things to check:
1. Thermostat is calling for heat (continuity across the thermostat). There will be no attempt to light without that.
2. ECO is closed (continuity across the ECO)
3. Thermal cut-off is closed (continuity)
4. Failed igniter or igniter wire
5. Bad connections at the edge of the circuit board

Yes, it could be the board, but that's the last part to suspect. And the most expensive to gamble on a replacement.
I think that if the ECO was open, it would still spark but there would be no gas (it prevents power from reaching the gas solenoid). However, the thermal cutoff removes power from the ignition circuit, so no attempt to light.  Ditto if thermostat remains open (not calling for heating).
 
If it tried to ignite and didn't check the gas path before you buy any parts.  The gas tube is easy enough to remove, as is the orifice/jet.  Spiders love the smell of propane and it only takes a tiny bit of web to mess up the laminar flow enough to stop ignition.  I use a very thin piece of wire (a guitar string actually) to clean out the orifice.  Be gentle, you don't want to scratch it.  The tube can be cleaned with a piece of cloth.

Make sure your gas is on at the tank.  Light the stove to get as much air out of the lines as possible.  It may take many attempts to get the air out of the line to the water heater.  If the stove doesn't work the problem probably isn't the WH.

Good luck.
 
Alright! Looks like it was the spark in the electric ignition. Ordered one from amazon ($15) and just installed it. Everything works perfectly now. (Atwood 93868 Spark Probe Single Sense). So we can safely assume that the Amber LED on the circuit board ment no spark. Thanks again everyone! Cheers!
 
Dadgumit said:
Alright! Looks like it was the spark in the electric ignition. Ordered one from amazon ($15) and just installed it. Everything works perfectly now. (Atwood 93868 Spark Probe Single Sense). So we can safely assume that the Amber LED on the circuit board ment no spark. Thanks again everyone! Cheers!
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:)) :)) :)) ;)
 
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