Gas Water Heater Trouble

[Joan617]

'Morning Gang
DW took a cold shower this morning and was not happy. Gas Hot water heater is not running.


I'm learning about gas gauges on another thread, but for now I have established that we have propane (range and house furnace set to gas, all working).


Following the manual, I have tried resetting the heater (all off, gas, off, wait, gas on, electric water heater on, gas heater, on) and have observed no effort for ignition, nor the 15 second interval for re-tries.


Checked the breaker/ fuse panel and see no line dedicated to the gas water heater. But everything there seems nominal.


We are new so I am fully braced to take the lashings if I have missed something silly and obvious but I could use some troubleshooting suggestions. I need a shower.


Thanks
Angus

[Joan617]

Still working on this.

Can someone tell me where the ECO Reset switch is?

[ALJO]

Power off should reset.

[Joan617]

Hold the presses.


Found the itty bitty 2 amp fuse just below the circuit board connect or to be blown. Off to the store!


And then hope there is nothing systemic wrong to blow the fuse.

[Joan617]

So replacement fuse blew right away. So I have a call into the dealer for an authorized local repair (replace circuit board?).


In the meantime, I've had the electric side of the heater turned on all day; even if slower than gas, shouldn't I have a tank of hot water?


DW is pushing me out the door for a shower at the RV park facilities...


[BTW, those ATM/Mini sized fuses are REALLY hard to find in 2 amps. Often one in an assortment for $8+. Found them at NAPA - loose behind the counter for $0.80 each. I bought a bunch]


-Angus

[Foretm]

Electric is slower, but within an hour or so you should have some hot water, so I agree with the plan, circuit board is likely the culprit. You could try a slightly larger fuse in amperage but likely will blow as well.


Maybe try to turn the electric side off and replace the fuse to see if that helps?

[Joan617]

Thanks. This is precisely why we did this week's shakedown a mile from our stix and bricks house. We have until April when we go real FT - sooner if the house sells. Tomorrow we put the RV in storage (across the street) and we return to being muggles until the next adventure.

[Foretm]

That was smart to do the shakedown very close, I do the same time anytime I get a different rig. We just upgraded to a class A back in late december, and we camped in it at our home for a few days like we were off somewhere. Found a few items its going back next week to have resolved. All in all a great experience, but those that grab and go are usually disappointed before too long.


God luck on the FT, sounds exciting. The DW and I are not planning to FT ever, but my job allows me to work from home, so we have discussed her quitting and heading out for as long as we desire in the next year or so. Very much looking forward to that.

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by Foretm

Electric is slower, but within an hour or so you should have some hot water, so I agree with the plan, circuit board is likely the culprit. You could try a slightly larger fuse in amperage but likely will blow as well.

Maybe try to turn the electric side off and replace the fuse to see if that helps?

Jayco service dept agreed with our collective diagnosis that it is the circuit board and confirmed that the failure would impede the electrical heating function, since the board ran "the whole thing". They said that This failure is not uncommon and, when pressed, they allowed that many full-timers keep spares. When I explained that I was four hours from my dealer and offered to replace the part myself, They referred me to Dometic to get the part under warranty. No push-back.


Dometic folks were nice but at first wanted me to go to a dealer. When I explained everything and they looked at my zip code, they quickly agreed to ship the part to me right away. For me to buy a 2nd spare from them out of pocket would have been $165 + shipping, but they encouraged me to go on-line to Amazon for other OEM suppliers to save money.


Amazon had Dometic/ Atwood spares in the $120 range but not my particular circuit board number. Ebay and similar vendors had "like new" used ones of my part # from "new but otherwise damaged" units for $85 - $100.


We will wait and see how we fare with this warranty replacement then consider options for on-hand spares.


All in all the customer service from all parties was satisfactory, even nice.


Another thing I have learned is to take pictures of parts and appliance placards - with model #'s, part#'s and serial #'s and keep them on file on the phone and backed up on the laptop. This will speed parts replacements and warranty claims in the future and save call-backs.

Thanks everybody
Angus

[Joan617]

Happy ending.
Yesterday we rec'd the new circuit board from Dometic, within 5 days of my request. Two screws out and in, swap some wire connector plugs, turned on the switches and WHOOSH. Ignition and burner.


Props to Jayco and Dometic for recognizing my situation away from the dealer and just agreeing to send me the part under warranty with no push back.


BTW thanks to a recommendation Joan saw somewhere here, we purchased a handheld sensor made by Dometic to measure gas in the cylinders. A little smaller than a magic marker, you hold it against the cylinder at various places up and down the tank and it uses ultrasound to detect fuel (or not) on the other side of the wall. About $35. Y'all prolly know about it but its new to us and will be handy for future troubleshooting and tracking usage.