Atwood Hot Water DSI - Someone Please Explain!!!

[Roosevelt008]

I am hoping someone can please explain to me "normal" operation of the DSI hot water tanks or at least how you use it while camping. We are on our second unit with propane only (no electric) 6 gallon DSI hot water tank. Our previous units were the old style use a lighter and hold the pilot and I never had a problem with them. I've had two of the new DSI hot water tanks in two different units and both have went in for warranty repairs. The problem I'm having is that we flip the switch (with water tank full and propane on) and it lights and works great. Then, randomly, the DSI fault light comes on and we have to reset it, then it works great again. NO ONE has yet to explain to us if you leave the switch on all weekend or if you turn it on and off as you need to use hot water. Are there "bugs" in these new DSI units? Is this "normal" to have the DSI Fault light come on and lock you out for no reason? Insight would be appreciated!!!! The PDI, dealer, and Atwood seem to be of no real help in explanation other than "flip the switch and it should work". The manual is useless and troubleshooting online does not address this. I've searched here and online and it doesn't appear to be a huge problem. Did I just happen to get two DSI circuit board lemons in a row? HELP!!

_____________________
2001 F250 7.3 Diesel
2016 264BHW

[DanNJanice]

Originally Posted by Roosevelt008

I am hoping someone can please explain to me "normal" operation of the DSI hot water tanks or at least how you use it while camping. We are on our second unit with propane only (no electric) 6 gallon DSI hot water tank. Our previous units were the old style use a lighter and hold the pilot and I never had a problem with them. I've had two of the new DSI hot water tanks in two different units and both have went in for warranty repairs. The problem I'm having is that we flip the switch (with water tank full and propane on) and it lights and works great. Then, randomly, the DSI fault light comes on and we have to reset it, then it works great again. NO ONE has yet to explain to us if you leave the switch on all weekend or if you turn it on and off as you need to use hot water. Are there "bugs" in these new DSI units? Is this "normal" to have the DSI Fault light come on and lock you out for no reason? Insight would be appreciated!!!! The PDI, dealer, and Atwood seem to be of no real help in explanation other than "flip the switch and it should work". The manual is useless and troubleshooting online does not address this. I've searched here and online and it doesn't appear to be a huge problem. Did I just happen to get two DSI circuit board lemons in a row? HELP!!

You must have gotten two lemons or they have some type of design flaw. We have an Atwood DSI, and it works perfectly. Just flip the switch and it lights and heats water. No need to turn it off or anything.
Atwood (or any competent dealer) should be able to fix this easily. You might even be able to have it fixed by a residential heating and AC shop.

[RVhiker]

When using propane, I generally leave my propane switch on all the time and I do not experience faults. Something is wrong with your water heater. There is an Atwood manual hosted on this site; the Manuals link is at the top of the page - Home, Forum, Photos, Manuals.

Several things could be wrong with yours. The ignitor, wiring to the ignitor, adjustment of the ignitor (the first thing I'd check) or the control board. Could be the gas valve, but probably not. Could be junk in the orifice or in the tube, but probably not.

[Roosevelt008]

That's been my understanding is flip the switch and that's it...Atwood did tell me in 2014 and some in 2015 they had a bad batch of circuit boards make it out of the factory. Perhaps I'm the lucky one that got two of those!! The manual posted in the Manuals section was actually very very helpful and informative...thanks RVhiker!

[Seann45]

Don't just flip the switch.. turn it off wait a min then back on...

[Roosevelt008]

Correct Seann45....I wasn't clear in my post. It's always been my understanding that using the DSI was as easy as flipping the switch on and that was all there was to it. You are correct though that when it goes into "DSI Fault Lockout" that we flip the switch "off" for a few minutes then switch it back "on" and it resets and works fine. My complaint is that we shouldn't have to do that, hence, there is a problem with the unit. It's in the shop as we speak...I'll let you know what they find out.

____________________
2001 Ford F250 7.3L Diesel
2016 Jayco 264BHW

[Roosevelt008]

***UPDATE***...Apparently my unit did have one of the bad circuit boards from Atwood during the 2014-2015 time period. Of course, it locked out on us after every single tank of hot water but didn't duplicate nearly as bad with dealer. They are going to replace circuit board under warranty. Our prior unit went through 3 circuit boards and now this one.....unbelievable!! I am surprised this doesn't seem to be a bigger or more common issue on this site.

[hbravo]

Originally Posted by Roosevelt008

***UPDATE***...Apparently my unit did have one of the bad circuit boards from Atwood during the 2014-2015 time period. Of course, it locked out on us after every single tank of hot water but didn't duplicate nearly as bad with dealer. They are going to replace circuit board under warranty. Our prior unit went through 3 circuit boards and now this one.....unbelievable!! I am surprised this doesn't seem to be a bigger or more common issue on this site.

Not a bigger problem here because you seem to be getting all the bad units 😏

Good luck with this one!

[Roosevelt008]

Originally Posted by hbravo

Not a bigger problem here because you seem to be getting all the bad units 😏

Good luck with this one!

LOL! Glad I could get all the lemons so you guys can enjoy camping with no hot water issues!!

[TWP723]

<-------- has plenty of hot water!