Suburban water heater problem

[Kheren]

I suggest that you start by downloading a copy of the Suburban Service Manual and use the troubleshooting guide.

Yeah we have that and it hasn’t helped a bit. Videos from random people have been more helpful. Thank you.

 

[Kirk]

Here is a much better service manual to download. I posted that one by mistake. Starting on page 22 there is a troubleshooting guide. Get your meter and trace the 12V power supply following this schematic. There must be 12V power to the circuit board for anything to work.

When trying propane you can hear it click but nothing, no smell of propane. The toggle inside turns red and then off after a few seconds.

I overlooked part of this before. In normal operation, when you turn the inside switch on that should start the process. When operating properly, the red light should turn on at first, then after few seconds it should turn off, indicating that the circuit board has sensed heat from the burning propane. If the propane does not ignite, that red light should stay on until the switch is turned off. If you have someone to help you, I suggest that you open the outside access panel and then have a helper turn the switch on. You might hear the propane valve open and usually you can also hear and see the propane burning by looking into the burner area on the lower right. That red rubber lead is the high voltage lead to the ignition probe. Even if the propane does not light, you should be able to hear the snapping sound of the ignition probe sparking. It should try several times if the flame is established, the turn off and remove power to the propane valve. You could use your meter to observe it it is power the propane valve.

 

[Kheren]

Here is a much better service manual to download. I posted that one by mistake. Starting on page 22 there is a troubleshooting guide. Get your meter and trace the 12V power supply following this schematic. There must be 12V power to the circuit board for anything to work.

View attachment 1328851


I overlooked part of this before. In normal operation, when you turn the inside switch on that should start the process. When operating properly, the red light should turn on at first, then after few seconds it should turn off, indicating that the circuit board has sensed heat from the burning propane. If the propane does not ignite, that red light should stay on until the switch is turned off. If you have someone to help you, I suggest that you open the outside access panel and then have a helper turn the switch on. You might hear the propane valve open and usually you can also hear and see the propane burning by looking into the burner area on the lower right. That red rubber lead is the high voltage lead to the ignition probe. Even if the propane does not light, you should be able to hear the snapping sound of the ignition probe sparking. It should try several times if the flame is established, the turn off and remove power to the propane valve. You could use your meter to observe it it is power the propane valve.

Got it. Thanks so much. We put old tstat (left side) back on after the melting. And now electric part is working. We have hot water! Will work on LP side tomorrow. Appreciate your help.

 

[Kheren]

It went cold again by morning even though it was really hot last night on electricity. Back to square one.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It went cold again by morning even though it was really hot last night on electricity. Back to square one.

If it got really hot but later went cold, I would suspect that a high-temperature cutoff opened the 12v circuit to shut it down. That would be a fire & personal safety measure for an overheated tank. Check the part of the service manual that pertains to that. Also check that the 120v feed to the electric element still has power, i.e. the breaker did not trip.

 

[Kirk]

Have you checked what Gary asked yet?