water heater

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jomac

Active member
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Posts
29
We restored a motorhome last year. I bypassed the water line on the water heater so we could used the MH. the water heater had multiple hole in it. Before I removed it I fire it up to make sure it worked and it did. I replaced the tank and put the old controls back on. When I used it, it lit fine but every once in awhile the flame would back down the tube to the orifice. The tube has an adjustment there with slots all around. Does that have to be adjusted a certain way to prevent the flame backing up?
 
The flame adjustment adds or reduces air to the flame to make it burn efficiently.

It sounds like you are losing gas pressure that would normally keep the flame burning out beyond the tip. I would make sue the gas orfice and line are clear and then check other appliances to see if they are burning normally. If everything looks normal the gas supply valve is probably not opening completely.
 
Any obstruction in the gas feed tube will likely disrupt the gas flow enough that it will burn in the feeder rather than the burner tube. Something as trivial as a spider web can do it. Clean the area well and adjust the air/fuel slider so that the flame has just a touch of yellow on the blue and is not noisy. A roar like a jet is bad - adjust until it is a fairly quiet and steady, with no black residue accumulating anywhere.
 
What color is the flame from the burner?  More orange could mean too much oxygen (air) and an undefined, sloppy blue flame could mean too much LP.  As Jeff stated, could be nothing more than an adjustment on the burner tube to get the correct air/fuel mixture to get that defined, neat blue flame we all want.  The thingy with the slots around it is the adjustment for this. 

You mentioned that this RV is a restoration.  Maybe a critter (spider) has decided to take up residence in the burner tube and build a nest.  A common problem.  If so, this will need to be cleaned out.  As Jeff mentioned, if the other LP appliances appear to work properly, then focus on the LP supply to your water heater.
 
The flame is an orange yellow color. No blue hardly at all. All other appliances work great. Stove, oven, and fridge. I had all the parts on my bench for months didn't check the tube. I've had spider web problems with pool heaters over the years. I'll have to check that and try to adjust.
Thanks
 
Sorry I haven't gotten back. Cleaned the tube didn't find anything and adjusted the flame better. Everything is working great!
 
Denmarc---I always thought it was just the opposite;  too much air, (not enough fuel), is a noisy blue flame and not enough air, (too much fuel),  is an orange flame.  At least that is the way it is with an oxy-acetylene torch.
 
wackymac said:
Denmarc---I always thought it was just the opposite;  too much air, (not enough fuel), is a noisy blue flame and not enough air, (too much fuel),  is an orange flame.  At least that is the way it is with an oxy-acetylene torch.

That is my understanding also. I'm pretty sure that Denmarc got it backward.

Joel
 
oxy-acetylene torch may have more than 21% oxygen I would agree any type of blockage in the delivery tube like  spider web can cause the flame to burn back and in some cases there is a one way diode that will open thus shutting off the burner. The air adjustment is for secondary air as the gas blows though the delivery tube  it draws secondary  air in. The flame should be blue with orange tipping the blue the flame the hotter it is. always remember that the PL pressure may not be consistent based on ambiant tempature.
 
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