No hot water

LO

longhorn1

Ouch, that stings!
Joined
Nov 25, 2013
Messages
2,826
Location
Carmel, Indiana
Turned on the gas. Turned on the hot water heater (red light came on and could hear the the water heater kick on. Ate dinner and wife went to do dishes and no hot water. The red light was off
We turned it off and back on and no red light and no kick on of the hot water heater. To complicate things we forgot our butane grill starter which we use to light the stove. 1st night of a 9 day trip, no coffee with no way to light the stove. Any ideas on why no hot water and no no red light? I will get a butane starter tomorrow. jd
 
No matches as a backup? Lighting my hot water heater is a pita. No idea why the stove lights quickly but takes forever to light the water heater.
 
If unit hasn't been run in a while, 8 legged critters may have found a home in the works. Mud daubers also have an affinity to small tubes. At night with the outside water heater door open, have someone flip the heater on while you watch for combustion, then look for any obstructions like webs or dirt.

If you have internet, search for "atwood dsi water heater troubleshooting". There are videos that may help.

Paul
 
To follow on with Paul's suggestion, I copied the following paragraph from this Atwood manual (top of page 5). I like its details on clues to an obstruction and how to clear it.

-------

Spiders, mud wasps, and other insects can build nests in burner tube. This causes poor combustion, delayed ignition or ignition outside combustion tube. Listen for a change in burner sounds or in flame appearance from a hard blue flame to a soft lazy flame or one that is very yellow. These are indications of an obstruction in burner tube (FIG 9-C). Inspect and clean on a regular basis.
a. Remove air shutter screw (FIG 9-A) and slide air shutter (FIG 9-C) down burner tube.
b. Run a flexible wire brush down burner tube (FIG 9-C) until it is visible at end of burner tube.
c. Vacuum burner where it enters combustion tube.
d. Return air shutter to original position and replace screw.
e.The orifice, burner tube and shutter must be aligned so that the shutter is not binding on the air tube.

-------

This Atwood Water Heater Troubleshooting manual may also be helpful. It appears to be a bit patched-together but has info in the step-by-step instructions that I don't see in the factory manual.
 
Thanks guys. Headed up to the camp store. I was a boy scout, obviously not prepared. When I store the camper I cover the the water heater door with a large sign magnet cut to the door size. Once I can light the stove, I will know whether I have any propane and can change tanks if necessary.
 
Hi longhorn1
Can you verify 12v thru switch to water heater. If you have 12v at w/h module. Check the ground, back to battery for complete Circut.
No lite I believe is the indicator that unit is operating or not. If you have power might need to cycle a few times to prime the propane
Russ
 
The news isn't good. I lit the stove so I have propane. I tried the switch and nothing. I opened the water heater cover and found the bundle of blue, brown, red, and green wires melted (just to the right of the relief valve), and the brown wire below the relief valve under the "T" below the P-T. The shrink tubing is also melted. 3 year old camper and I can't believe what I'm seeing
The camper has been flawless. Hopefully I will hear from Stan, sure the warranty has passed. 20170318_164134_resized.jpg
 
longhorn1 said:
The news isn't good. I lit the stove so I have propane. I tried the switch and nothing. I opened the water heater cover and found the bundle of blue, brown, red, and green wires melted (just to the right of the relief valve), and the brown wire below the relief valve under the "T" below the P-T. The shrink tubing is also melted. 3 year old camper and I can't believe what I'm seeing
The camper has been flawless. Hopefully I will hear from Stan, sure the warranty has passed.
attachicon.gif
20170318_164134_resized.jpg
Click to expand...
JD, I suspect you had a spider web/nest in the gas tube before it dumps in to the burner. That happened to me in our travel trailer. As long as there is wire to work with at each end of the melted area, it's not an expensive repair. It can be done by you if you want.

I now poke a good sized piece of trimmer string through the tube every time I take the trailer out.
 
Mr. Sage, I think you are right. I found the black plastic box and what is plugged in there have slight burn damage so the flame went straight up burning the wires and the side of the box. The wires I could probably do but the lower part has clear plastic that covers over something different than a wire. I have a magnetic sign sheet cut to fit the door. Perhaps shrink wrap over the opening and then close the door. jd
 
jd-

Given the heat damage, it's likely the thermal cutoff (also known as the thermal fuse) on the power wire to the thermostat was blown.
The manual describes it under Electronic Ignition Maintenance at the bottom of page 4. It says...
-----
The thermal cutoff is a device installed in the power supply line. This device will shut off electrical power and stop heater operation when activated. For example, if an obstruction within the flue tube should occur, such as described above in the Preventative maintenance section, the burner flame/heat may contact the cutoff, resulting in a melting of the fuse element incorporated in the thermal cutoff. In order to restore power and proper operation of the water heater, the obstruction must be removed and the thermal cutoff must be replaced.
-----

I believe we see it in your photo..... (click to enlarge)

thermalcutoffprobAnnotated.jpg

I also found this youtube video where the tech replaces the thermal cutoff. It covers the troubleshooting and replacement process but fails to emphasize how important it is to clear the obstruction that caused the problem in the first place. If you don't clear the obstruction, the flame will still be diverted up out of the burner tube and will destroy the new thermal cutoff.

 
Old Crow. Thanks. I wondered what that was. I'm going to contact Atwood to get a list of atwood certified repair places in the Indianapolis area. I guess my magnet cover didn't keep the critters out so I'm thinking about a screen on the inside of the panel door. jd
 
When you call Atwood, you might also want to chat with Tech Support about your problem just to see what you can learn. I'd describe what happened and let them ask questions. Then get their recommendations on how it should be repaired. One would think, for instance, that the thermal cutoff should blow before the other wiring is damaged too much to remain usable. Is that true?

Also- when calling potential service centers I'd want to ask if they have a board-tester and manometer and have the commonly-needed parts for water-heater repair on hand.

You might also consider mobile RV repair services for something like this. But don't just talk to a scheduler, talk to the tech.
 
Hello longhorn 1
I guess the it's possible that when you tried the first time to lite, the flame came out of the combustion chamber looking for air and damaging the wires. Did you have the magnetic cover on then. Stop at an auto parts get some stake ons and heat shrink tube and repair the wire. Then give it a go. The schematic posted in the Atwood link by previous person showed the battery power going thru the on/off switch to the temperature stat then to the ignition module. With the damage to the insulated stake on might be a simple fix.
Good luck.
Russ
 
I spoke to Attwood and they think something may have obstructed the gas flow in the tube. She also said that the flame did it's job of burning the thermal cut-off but the flame was hotter than what typically happens and burned the wire bundle. She is sending me a list of Attwood service centers in Indy. Think I will have them flush out the water heater as well as checking the tube. Thanks to all of you for your trouble shooting advise. It might be wise of us all, after the camper has been in storage for some time, to remove the tube and use a mirror and a brush and vacuum anything out, and if traveling with your significant other to have them flip the hot water heater on while you watch everything inside the water heater panel. If things aren't right they can flip the switch off. jd
 
Hello longhorn1
If the gas flow was obstructed , how was it able to have enough fuel to burn those wires? Flame(fire) looks for oxygen to burn, which is why I think it rolled out of the combustion chamber. I'll quite bombarding you with my opinion, as you have found a dealer to repair your wires. Good luck on your vacation, hope you don't have any more problems. Hay did you go to UofT, is that why you use the longhorn handle.
Thanks
Russ
 
Finally got the camper into a Attwood repair place. They replaced the cut-off and had me switch on the hot water heater. Immediately the flame came out and started to melt the cut-off. I shut it off and he got compressed air out and blew everything out. Turned it on and the same thing happened. He got a flashlight out and observed the double hole baffle where the flame goes in appeared to be deformed by ice expansion. He showed me a 6 gallon tank that had split open and said the baffle should have 2 round openings of equal size. One was almost closed. My winterizing has been the same. Drain the water tank, drain the hot water heater back into the water tank. Drive with that way to get as much water out of the hot water tank. Add 3 gallons of RV Antifreeze. Run antifreeze from both hot and cold into the sink until pink comes out, same for the outdoor shower. Drain additional from the hot water tank back to water tank, and finally add another gallon of RV Antifreeze. The cost to replace the 6 gallon water tank, cut-off, and melted wires will be around $250.00. Any ideas on what might have caused the damage. I'm going to ask for the tank and take a photo to share
jd
 
5 days prior to our trip night time temperatures were in the low to mid 20's and the highs high 30's low 40's. I waited until the day before to flush, sanitize, and fill the water tank and hot water heater. I also set up a heater inside, set at 60 and opened the cabinets. The hot water heater is exposed to the outside and I wonder if it was possible for the tank to freeze with 5-6 cold hours resulting in the deforming of the tank and specifically the the baffles. jd
 
John, my best guess is you didn't get enough water out of the water heater, or not enough anti freeze in when you winterized. We always pull the drain plug on our travel trailer, put it on bypass, then blow out all the lines before adding any anti freeze. You could be right about the damage happening on that last day, but since you had an internal heater going, it seems like that's a short time to cause enough freezing to deform the burner tube.
 
Steve, thanks I should know more when I see the tank. I did pull the plug once and it was PITA. It is behind the gas pipe and getting a socket wrench was impossible. I thought about just hooking up to water but wondered about the anti-freeze and though I would have to flush everything anyways. The guys said you can use the water heater if you are plugged in and not use gas; I've never seen anything on that and haven't read any posts. I to think that that short period of time should have not caused the damage. I'm going to talk to Attwood again as I don't want that to happen again.
jd
 
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