Question about American Standard water heater

[Trooper#1]

Hi all,
Relatively new to RVing, and wondering why my American Standard water heater wont light.
Gas is turned on
Water heater switch in trailer is turned on
By pass valve in rear cabinet is not set to by pass
The light for the water heater switch inside the trailer turns on red....then goes off.....then comes back on and stays red.
Could someone tell me what I'm missing? I do not have the manual to go with the heater.
Any help would be appreciated....photos included.
Is it something simple, like the switch in the rear cabinet.....which is "ON".....I or O?
Thx

 

[Rene T]

Do the top burners on your gas stove work OK?
The bypass valves have nothing to do with the heater lighting

 

[Trooper#1]

Rene T,
Yes, all burners on the stove work....water heater actually ignites but only stays lit for about 5 secs and then goes out.

 

[John From Detroit]

Rene T,
Yes, all burners on the stove work....water heater actually ignites but only stays lit for about 5 secs and then goes out.

Control board is not sensing FLAME ON this may be due to several things ranging from bad thermocouple (rare) to bad connection (Rare) to bad control board. Bad flame too.

 

[Trooper#1]

Rene T...
Thanks......the issue I have is that this water heater is no longer made, and a google search did not give me any answers as to where or how I can order spare parts such as the control board.
Where in the photo of my heater would I find the control board to see if I can get a number off it?

 

[Old_Crow]

Rene T...
Thanks......the issue I have is that this water heater is no longer made, and a google search did not give me any answers as to where or how I can order spare parts such as the control board.
Where in the photo of my heater would I find the control board to see if I can get a number off it?

Try here for a new control board:

Replacement boards for Dometic

 

[bigbAZ]

Rene T,
Yes, all burners on the stove work....water heater actually ignites but only stays lit for about 5 secs and then goes out.

Make sure the flame sensor is clean, and that the terminal where it connects to the gas valve is clean and tight. Sometimes this is a spade connector and those are known to corrode.
A flame sensor is similar to a thermocouple and generates a signal when heated which keeps the gas valve open. You can gently clean it with a Scotchbrite pad and make sure it is in the hot part of the flame.

 

[TXMOOSE]

That's crazy. I worked for American Standard in Texas, in receiving. Never knew we made mother boards. Thought it was just bath and kitchen fixtures.

 

[John From Detroit]

That's crazy. I worked for American Standard in Texas, in receiving. Never knew we made mother boards. Thought it was just bath and kitchen fixtures.

Some companies buy ____ From other companies. Re-brand it and sell it . (Many fill ins for that blank)
I hate mentioning the name here but In fact back around 2006 when the world went Peanuts.

Well we found hundreds of companies selling US PEANUTS.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Rene T,
Yes, all burners on the stove work....water heater actually ignites but only stays lit for about 5 secs and then goes out.

As John said, the fact that it lights briefly and then goes out almost surely means the flame sensor is not working or not being detected. Could be a bad flame sensor (it's along side of or part of the igniter) but more likely just a corroded connection where the wire returns to the controller. The first step is to clean that wire connection using something like a pencil eraser to remove surface grime or oxidation.

The heater model number ought to be on that sticker at the left of the photo. Find that and see if there is a manual on this site.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

That's crazy. I worked for American Standard in Texas, in receiving. Never knew we made mother boards. Thought it was just bath and kitchen fixtures.

American Standard made a whole line of water heaters too, but I don't think they are in that business anymore.

 

[Trooper#1]

Thanks Gary....
Unfortunately the American Standard site only lists manuals for domestic water heaters....no RV heaters listed. I've searched the model number on google with no luck.

 

[Trooper#1]

And now the good news ....
After taking an air hose to the burner tube I managed to blow out a few stinkbugs....I cleaned all the connections and sprayed with electrical spray and re assembled.....and guess what?
It works fine now.
Thanks to everyone for the help.

 

[OldWEB]

Hi all,
Relatively new to RVing, and wondering why my American Standard water heater wont light.
Gas is turned on
Water heater switch in trailer is turned on
By pass valve in rear cabinet is not set to by pass
The light for the water heater switch inside the trailer turns on red....then goes off.....then comes back on and stays red.
Could someone tell me what I'm missing? I do not have the manual to go with the heater.
Any help would be appreciated....photos included.
Is it something simple, like the switch in the rear cabinet.....which is "ON".....I or O?
ThxView attachment 1337488

Looking at the picture of the water heater, is there a piece missing from the exhaust? It seems like a square-ish outline where the three screw holes are. If you do not have the piece, I dunno if you should try to get it running.

 

[Trooper#1]

Thanks OldWEB....it's just the shroud from the exhaust.....I took it off for access.....works fine now so will be putting it back

 

[TXMOOSE]

I was going to say but thought it was stupid if cleaning the electrical system and check for if any possible kinks , happens alot when even just cleaning up and taking things in and out.
That's cool though glad it's all working. Part of my spring clean up on my vehicles is taking the CRC to everything, I do spark plug ends, fuses, fuse boxes. You know if I can reach it and there's some kind of spark connection I hit it to.
Again , glad you fixed it up.

 

[TXMOOSE]

Hey, I was looking at your pictures and I'm sure as you said you have this handled now but maybe it's the pic or my eyes. Since your at it those ends looked a little corroded, unless you already solved that problem then sorry for butting in. I like to besure everything is done before before I wrap the present back up, lol.