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Old 05-16-2020, 11:16 AM   #1
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atwood water heater

I have a 2019 seneca 37ts. It has an atwood gc10a-4e gas/electric water heater. The unit has been in service for a year. I have been camped for 1 1/2 weeks on shore power. I am camped on grass. I have been constantly running the wh on 120v. I noticed after a week that the grass was dead under the rear on the coach where the wh is located. Didn't think much about it until last night I noticed hot water running out of the wh compartment. The water was coming out of the temperature/pressure relief valve. The valve wasn't weeping, the water was spraying out pretty fast. The temp of the water was at least 180f if not hotter. I am assuming the thermostat is causing this overheating situation. 2 questions: 1. Are there 2 thermostats, one for ac and one for gas? 2. If what I am seeing is correct, the ac element and thermostat are in the back of the wh. That means I have to pull the wh out to change the thermostat

Any suggestions for trouble shooting/fixing this problem would be appreciated
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Old 05-16-2020, 11:28 AM   #2
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I just replaced my on-demand water heater with a Suburban tank model and have seen the same issue. After heating I would get some water coming out of the housing. Didn't look to see how bad the pressure relief was leaking and the amount of water was not all that much.

According to the manual, this may be a normal thing. I did install a check valve at the inlet so may have induced my problem. Anyway, I have included the owner's manual info regarding this leakage.
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Old 05-16-2020, 11:43 AM   #3
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Thanks for the info Jim.

I had read about the weeping from the relief valve. The flow rate I am seeing is 2-3 gallons per minute. Also the water temp is above 180f. The thermostat should be set to 140f. I believe the ac thermostat is fried and the water temp is running away.
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Old 05-17-2020, 06:57 AM   #4
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There is only one thermostat as the water temp is the same. Have you descaled the unit? You could have scale on the inside that is causing incorrect readings. I would drain the unit and pull the plug to see if you see scaling. If the pressure port has scaling it can jam open and the flow will cause the thermostat to call for heat though it still should shut off at 140 or so.
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Old 05-17-2020, 08:42 AM   #5
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I've had to replace the thermostats on my Atwood [Dometic now] 10 gallon water heater. The thermostats should be located on the front of the unit. {outside]. Pretty easy job and I have spares just in case. This is an older video but shows the location of the thermostat.
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Old 05-21-2020, 12:20 PM   #6
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Okay - final update on my water heater problem. I talked to dometic/Atwood and their diagnosis was a failed thermostat. So I bought the Atwood 91447 kit and replaced the thermostat and the eco switch. While in doing so I checked the air gap and it was fine. Now 141 F is the max water temp. Thanks for the help
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Old 05-21-2020, 12:34 PM   #7
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Thanks for stopping by to let us know the outcome.
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Old 05-24-2020, 10:24 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RVermont View Post
There is only one thermostat as the water temp is the same. Have you descaled the unit? You could have scale on the inside that is causing incorrect readings. I would drain the unit and pull the plug to see if you see scaling. If the pressure port has scaling it can jam open and the flow will cause the thermostat to call for heat though it still should shut off at 140 or so.
I just did my first descaling today on an Atwood 6-gallon tank installed in a 2017 X17Z. I was surprised at how easy it was to accomplish this operation. I fixed an issue with the refrigerator as well (thank you Al Gore for inventing the internet!). Now to figure out why the heater won't turn on..
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