Water Heater on Propane - North Point 377rlbh

jasonmiddlebrooks · 11-27-2017, 04:21 PM

I did a few stays in parking lots over the past couple of weeks and was wondering about the water heater running on propane. Seems like it did not work like I thought it was suppose to. Everything works fine on electric the water is hot hot. It is a 10Gal tank heater.

1) What is the round light above the water heater propane switch in the command center panel for? When does it come on and why?

2) Are you suppose to just flip the switch on and leave it on like you do the electric switch when connected to shore power? Leave the switch on for days or just turn it on and off when you want to heat up the water.

3) When the switch is flipped on the water heater does light but the flame sounds very choppy and not a roaring sound like I would expect.

All other propane utilities work fine.

The manual was no help with these questions....

Thanks

Robbbyr · 11-27-2017, 05:41 PM

I wonder if you might have a partial obstruction in the burner tube, or if the burner air shutter is out of adjustment?

Does it stay lit and heat the tankful of water?

RedHorse1 · 11-27-2017, 05:45 PM

Spiders, dirt daubers and the like can build “homes” in the burner tube causing a poor flame (or no flame at all). The red light may be an error lamp. I have one between the gas and electric switches. There should be no reason not to use propane and it should make hot water better than electric but it does need 12volts to work.

Robbbyr · 11-27-2017, 05:49 PM

Forgot the other questions!

The light is likely the "lockout" light indicating the flame either did not light or failed to stay lit during the prescribed number of lighting attempts.

I do leave my switch "on", yes it does cycle periodically but I don't worry about it. Others do shut their's off at night. I will shut mine off if we leave the unit for our day trips, it heats pretty fast when we return. If camping with shore power, run almost completely on electric.

jasonmiddlebrooks · 11-27-2017, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

I wonder if you might have a partial obstruction in the burner tube, or if the burner air shutter is out of adjustment?

Does it stay lit and heat the tankful of water?

It did stay on and heated water today while i was messing with it. I am gonna blow everything out with the air compressor and play with the adjustment a little tomorrow and see if i can get a better flame.

I am gonna have to track down why the lockout light has come on several times now. I hope it has to do with the flame not being right and maybe going out. Once i get the flame right i will make sure the lockout is not coming on once it gets up to temp.

Thanks from for the info.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Robbbyr · 11-27-2017, 08:55 PM

The proper propane flame should be mostly blue with just a little touch of yellow at the flame tips. When you make an adjustment, give it a minute to stabilize. And just tightening the air shutter lockdown screw would slightly alter the adjustment on mine, so I had to fiddle with it a bit before I was happy with it!

Dogrunr · 11-27-2017, 10:19 PM

I recently had my 2016 36FBTS returned from the dealer shop following winterizing and warranty repairs. One of the warranty issues was that my water heater would only function in electric mode. When propane was selected the heater would fail to light (several attempts) and I would get that small red fault light.

During repair, the dealer ended up completely removing the hot water heater and discovered that the hot water heater housing was actually resting on the propane gas hose which crimped off the gas supply. I mentioned to the dealer's repair tech that the propane function worked okay during the rig's initial PDI and he said it could have taken awhile for the propane supply line to compress. Something to check.

jasonmiddlebrooks · 11-28-2017, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogrunr

I recently had my 2016 36FBTS returned from the dealer shop following winterizing and warranty repairs. One of the warranty issues was that my water heater would only function in electric mode. When propane was selected the heater would fail to light (several attempts) and I would get that small red fault light.

During repair, the dealer ended up completely removing the hot water heater and discovered that the hot water heater housing was actually resting on the propane gas hose which crimped off the gas supply. I mentioned to the dealer's repair tech that the propane function worked okay during the rig's initial PDI and he said it could have taken awhile for the propane supply line to compress. Something to check.

Thanks this is something I will check also. Never would have thought about that.

namusmc65 · 11-28-2017, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonmiddlebrooks

Thanks this is something I will check also. Never would have thought about that.

We had a similar problem on a new Jayco Eagle. our supply hose coming from the junction box under the trailer was kinked so bad the gas supply was restricted. You have several gas lines running under your rig from the junction box which you should be able to see below the insulation. Find the one going to your hot water heater. Check to make sure they are all running smooth and not kinked anywhere. We had to actually take the junction box loose and re position it to get free flowing gas to all appliances.

jasonmiddlebrooks · 11-28-2017, 01:39 PM

I took the burner tube and orifice off to clean everything. The orifice was all gummed up. I believe from either water getting on it when I open up the pressure relief valve while emptying my tank or maybe just some dirty propane. I cleaned it with some alcohol and got all the white residue off. Put it all back together and I have a really nice quite roaring flame now. I believe that will do the trick for me.

Thanks for all the insight.

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