Question about Atwood GC6AA-10E Water Heater

[Joey55]

Hi, after replacing a lot of parts on my water heater I finally found the problem which was the 12 volt relay that supplies power to the heating element. I took the old relay apart and found it to be very cheap made. I can not see how they rated it at 30 amps. The contact had literally burned out.

Has anyone replaced this relay with a better relay such as those used on vehicles that can handle the amperage ? If so, what did you use ? Thanks

[Joey55]

I'm still hoping that someone has tackled this problem but I plan on doing some research such as finding out the amp draw on the DC side so I'll be able to look for a compatible relay. I'll post the findings here. It has really surprised me to find the cheap quality of the original relay what it is. I can not see that the original relay can handle much amperage at all on the AC side, very poorly designed.

[Topperace]

I have been looking for a suitable alternative than the Zettler or other one that comes up when you search for the Dometic part number for the relay...
I finally decided just to order several of the relays and put in my parts bench stock...they are junk...poor installation location IMO as well... very hard to get to where the water heater is located in our Fver...

[RAurand]

HELP
I have a 2016 Jayco 28BHBE
Has the Atwood GC6AA-10E Hot water heater.
This afternoon I started de-winterizing my trailer. Trailer is winterized with NOTHING in the water lines and the Hot Water Heater. All lines are drained, then antifreeze pumped thru the lines then low point drains opened to drain the lines, then use 30 psi of air to blow out the lines. Hot water heater is completely drained. Trailer is parked slightly tail low so when it rains, it runs off the back of the trailer.

Anyway. Put about 25 gallons of water with a small amount of Clorox solution to fresh the water tank and lined. UN-BYPASSED the hot water heater. As the hot water heater got about 3/4 full 9I wasn't watching under the bunks) the hot water heater started leaking about 3=4 gallons of water on the floor. Fortunately, I caught it and cut open the chloroplast and the other stuff above that and got the water draining out. Removed 3 feet of wet insulation that is under the floor but floor appears dry and so in the insulation past 3 feet back. Got all the water wiped out and got fans blowing in there right now.
Good Sam says NOT COVERED!

i AM GOING TO TRY CONTACTING ATWOOD. IT APPEARS THE WELD HAS A SMALL CRACK IN IT ABOUT 3/4 OF THE WAY TO THE TOP.

Anyone have issues with a cracked weld on this hot water heater?
Guess it is going to have to be replaced?

1st photo, floor above is DRY!
2nd photo, at the very back where my finger is, there appears to be some wood. I made a couple slits to let water run out along here.
4th photo, pulled the chloroplast down to let water run out.

[JFlightRisk]

According to etrailer the replacement (complete heater) for it has been discontinued, but posted a recommendation to someone that needed a new one here:

https://www.etrailer.com/question-532188.html

I'll see if I can find availability for a new tank if you want to replace yours. Plan "C" is to take yours to a welder that works with aluminum, and have your OE tank repaired.

EDIT:
Amazon shows a tank, if it matches yours.

https://www.amazon.com/Atwood-Gc6aa-...A%3D%3D&sr=8-2

[norty1]

Was it leaking before you winterized it?

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by norty1

Was it leaking before you winterized it?

No. Not to my knowledge.
But I know there was no water in that tank!

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by jflightrisk

according to etrailer the replacement (complete heater) for it has been discontinued, but posted a recommendation to someone that needed a new one here:

https://www.etrailer.com/question-532188.html

i'll see if i can find availability for a new tank if you want to replace yours. Plan "c" is to take yours to a welder that works with aluminum, and have your oe tank repaired.

Edit:
Amazon shows a tank, if it matches yours.

https://www.amazon.com/atwood-gc6aa-...a%3d%3d&sr=8-2

thank you.

[RAurand]

Has anyone had this tank welded? How did it work after welding it?

[RAurand]

Ok, I am starting to get ready to start putting the underbelly back together. What have you all found will work the BEST??? Black ETERNABOND tape or black RV UNDERBELLY TAPE, or GORILLA TAPE?

Pros, Cons??

[TCNashville]

I use black Gorilla tape to seal mine and so far it's held up well. I probably wouldn't use Eternabond tape in case you had to go back in as that stuff is almost impossible to remove.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by TCNashville

I use black Gorilla tape to seal mine and so far it's held up well. I probably wouldn't use Eternabond tape in case you had to go back in as that stuff is almost impossible to remove.

Thank you. I will try that.

[missileer]

I have a 2017 Jayco Eagle 336fbok with an Atwood GC6AA-10E water heater. Yesterday I turned off the electric switch to the water heater because i was putting a Y on the faucet. Turned the water back on and turned on the electric switch. The light on the switch did not come on. Checked the water heater and it didn't seem to be working. Turned on the propane and the water heater eventually came on and the water heated up. Later the propane went off and did not come on again. Water was luke warm this morning and my wife could not take a shower. I checked on Youtube to see what to check and I checked all the circuit breakers and fuses. They were all ok. Checked continuity on the outside of the water heater on the thermostat and everything seemed to have continuity. I started to take of the plug that makes the spark but didn't want to take it all apart so I put it back together and made sure I blew out all the dust that was in there. The propane started back up and has been working since. My question is what may be keeping it from working on electricity? Could the heating element be causing the problem and how hard is it to change it out. We took the wall out a while back to change out the check valve so I can crawl in and get access to it. The only problem I have now that I didn't have then is I broke my hip back in September and also I have a bad back. Just wondered if it could be something else that would be easier to fix.