Brand new G6A-8E Water Heater short cycling

[DallanC]

Greetings,

I have a brand new toy hauler that has had hot water heater problems since the first trip out. I returned it for warranty work and the repair attempt took 5 weeks, and the dealer made it worse! We intend to return the trailer to the dealer at the end of the camping season, but I refuse to pay many 10's of thousands of dollars only to have my trailer sit at the dealer all summer. I'm more than willing to fix minor issues than wait on the dealer.

So quick history: Brand new 2020 Eclipse Attitude 19FBG trailer with a G6A-8E Water heater. The initial problem was the hot water heater started up just fine, but would not cycle back on after the hot water was used. The dealer took 5 weeks, "adjusted the gas" and said it was fine. I took the trailer home, found the heater turned on just fine but now would never shut off...! And the gas was completely out of wack sounding like a jet engine.

Some quick googling showed me similar issues solved with new thermostats, so I ordered some new ones (remember, this is a brand new unit!) and swapped them out and re-adjusted the gas. The heater started up just fine, ran great then shut off when the water temperature was 138F at the faucet. We ran the hot water out and the heater restarted and heated up the water just fine.

I thought we had it solved!

So, this past weekend we went camping again (2nd trip out in the new trailer), and noticed that after the hot water heater properly heated up the tank and shut off, it would cycle back on after a few minutes, run for about 1 minute, shut off... repeat, indefinitely until I turned off the power.

Could I have gotten a bad set of thermostats or is this more likely now pointing to a board issue? I thought I was pretty careful to make sure the thermostats were in full contact with the tank, but I will double check that again when I get home.

I can deal with this quirk for the remaining summer camping trips, at least we have hot water for showers. If it sounds like a board the dealer can deal with that come fall... although I am extremely unhappy with their service currently.

IDK what else to try. The unit is new, looks great with no corrosion on any wiring.

Thanks, in advance!


-DallanC

 

[SpencerPJ]

I can not fix your water heater, but welcome to the RV Forum.  Other smart ones will come along and give advise.  Don't be discouraged about epic pathetic Dealer Warranty service.  We hear it all the time.  Actually, I've never heard of a Dealer with Good Warranty Service. 

Maybe this Atwood troubleshooting guide can be of value
http://beamalarm.com/Documents/atwood_water_heater_troubleshooting.html

 

[DallanC]

Thanks for the response. I did find that document and look it over, but it doesn't have a section on short cycling. I could break out the multi-meter and test all the voltage / resistance levels across the board, but as its under warranty I'd rather let the dealer deal with it once camping season is wrapping up.

The short cycling is annoying, but we can work around it for the moment. If there was something simple to check out or cheap to replace I'm more than happy dealing with that myself.


-DallanC

 

[SpencerPJ]

Here's an interesting thread on another Forum, read response #5. I know yours is newer, but it still could be a defective control board
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/atwood-water-heater-short-cycles-video-416632.html

 

[DallanC]

So I carefully removed the T-Stat last night. It seemed like it had been seated flush with the tank, but still I rubbed the face of the T-stat with a scotchbright pad. I then did the same with the tank surface. I very very carefully reinstalled the T-stat (took a couple tries, twisting it in would sometimes misalign it).

All reinstalled I fired it up, it heated up quickly, when it hit max temp it shut off... I then started my timer and waited... and waited... the short cycling didnt happen!

So apparently the T-stat wasn't completely flush with the tank? If it wasn't, it wasn't off by more than a few thousandth's. So I'm happy, and I do appreciate the comments and suggestions.

-DallanC

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As soon as I started reading your topic I knew I was going to suggest re-seating the thermostat, but I see you did that and it worked. That's the #1 cause of short cycling.  Probably #2 and #3 as well! I'm confident your original thermostat is fine too, so keep it for a spare.

 

[SpencerPJ]

Thanks for telling us the fix  ) 

 

[DallanC]

You are welcome.

I always make a point if I ask for help, to later post the solution / fix. This in turn helps people who are searching for their own answers. I hate coming across a thread with the exact same issue I have... yet no followup with the answer.

-DallanC