Hot water heater help! - Page 2

derrickcassel · 08-22-2018, 02:00 PM

I too had an issue with this. On our first trip in our new camper the hot water heater worked the first night but not the second night. I was frustrated and did some reading on it and ended up just replacing it with a replacement OEM board that I bought on Amazon. I'm hoping that they made corrections to whatever the issue was. As of now it's still working fine and I'm waiting on a reimbursement check from Jayco for the cost of the board.

ENCS · 08-22-2018, 03:14 PM

I have a 2018 Jayco SLX 24RLS. Hot water heater ignition board when out twice. Now I have it in the dealership AC not cooling. They are replacing it. Not a happy camper

Rcemerat · 08-22-2018, 06:37 PM

Most times you may find that the air adjustment is wrong and the heater is not venting the exhaust correctly. You may need a small adjustment to the burner.

twfulton · 08-22-2018, 07:12 PM

I had a similar problem with the furnace. the high voltage terminal of the ignitor was too far from ground to reliably make a spark. I bent it to close the gap and now it works reliably. tom

kluza2786 · 08-23-2018, 06:52 PM

Maybe a dumb question, but where is the control board located for an Atwood water heater? I think that I may have a bad one also.

199LIB · 08-23-2018, 07:01 PM

Here is a reference.

Mine is located right above the pilot light/ignitor. Having had this issue 3 times, the boards will work for a period of time (a few hours before malfunction occurs or worse, not at all) and then click and not ignite the propane after the hot water heater switch is turned on.

GABob · 09-04-2018, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHV_FRK

Ok... dumb question, but how are you filling and purging your water heater?

Before I turn anything on I fill the water tank then switch to city supply. I open the pressure relief until the tank fills to the relief and then I purge the kitchen sink on hot and cold. This fills the cold line and purges as much as you're going to get out of the top of the tank.

I think some people are heating with too little water and burning out items. Usually it's the electric heating element.

Sorry in advance as I'm totally new to this, and this may be a dumb question, but how can you tell if the hot water tank has filled? I just sanitized the lines, and switched over from bypass to open. Can I assume that it will be filled, or is there a way to confirm? Asking as I don't want to mess up a new system.

Thanks!

hoppers4 · 09-04-2018, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHV_FRK

Ok... dumb question, but how are you filling and purging your water heater?

Before I turn anything on I fill the water tank then switch to city supply. I open the pressure relief until the tank fills to the relief and then I purge the kitchen sink on hot and cold. This fills the cold line and purges as much as you're going to get out of the top of the tank.

You really don't want to purge the water heater with the pressure relief valve. There needs to be a pocket of air at the top of the tank to prevent the relief valve from weeping when the water heats up. You need some expansion room and the outlet of the water heater allows for this air pocket. You can ensure the water heater has been filled when you're no longer getting a continuous flow of air out of any hot water faucet in the RV.

CHV_FRK · 09-05-2018, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoppers4

You really don't want to purge the water heater with the pressure relief valve. There needs to be a pocket of air at the top of the tank to prevent the relief valve from weeping when the water heats up. You need some expansion room and the outlet of the water heater allows for this air pocket. You can ensure the water heater has been filled when you're no longer getting a continuous flow of air out of any hot water faucet in the RV.

The outlet The outlet is actually slightly higher than the purge so that seat is always wet. There still is the appropriate air pocket above because there is no way to purge that air without turning the tank on it's side. Purging also exercises the valve and flushes the seat which should be done from time to time anyway. It's just a quicker way because typically your water heater is next to your hose hook up and control valves. I believe you can typically waste less water and the first burp isn't going down your tanks.

And back to the original purpose, you are 100% positive you have enough water covering your heating element. Doing it from a faucet you have the possibility that the tank bypass is still open and you are not filling the tank at all!

CHV_FRK · 09-05-2018, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GABob

Sorry in advance as I'm totally new to this, and this may be a dumb question, but how can you tell if the hot water tank has filled? I just sanitized the lines, and switched over from bypass to open. Can I assume that it will be filled, or is there a way to confirm? Asking as I don't want to mess up a new system.

Thanks!

And you answer your question, burping the valve is the only way to know 100% that you have the tank filled. It will not hurt a thing. If you do end up having a weeping pressure relief valve then it was due to be replaced anyway.

I have always exercised my valves, not just on the camper and I have never had a valve that required replacement. Now if you took possession of something older that had never been done and you tore the seat doing it and now it leaks.... again, it should be replaced anyway.

Don't believe me.... Here's Tom Silva

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug6gi2053wE

paul_ottawa · 09-05-2018, 10:52 AM

With all this talk about the pressure relief valve, I have a question.

When we were camping, we would turn off the hot water tank (when we were on electric and when we were on gas) at night, as there was a high pitched tone that came on while it was heating (I have been told in another post that that was normal).

One thing I did notice though was in the morning when I would turn the HW tank back on is I would get a bit of water coming out the pressure relief valve. I assume that was because the system was still pressurized and the act of heating the water made it expand and the pressure relief valve did it's job (once the water was heated up (and kept heated for the day), I did not notice any more water coming out).

So, was the water coming out normal?

Thanks,
Paul

MMoran · 09-05-2018, 12:07 PM

Dude,

I'm on my third board. My very first trip was a bust because it wouldn't work after the first 3 hours. The second one I got was bad right out of the box. I open purchased another from etrailer.com and just received my reimbursement check on that purchase. That one lasted one trip. Went camping again over the long labor day weekend and this one has quit now too. I've about had it up to my gills on this camper. Bought brand new in May. So far it's had three control boards for the water heater and our second trip, we had hot water but no AC - it spent two weeks in the shop getting a brand new AC put in to fix a "brand new" AC. My next camper will NOT be a Jayco.

oldmanAZ · 09-05-2018, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMoran

Dude,

I'm on my third board. My very first trip was a bust because it wouldn't work after the first 3 hours. The second one I got was bad right out of the box. I open purchased another from etrailer.com and just received my reimbursement check on that purchase. That one lasted one trip. Went camping again over the long labor day weekend and this one has quit now too. I've about had it up to my gills on this camper. Bought brand new in May. So far it's had three control boards for the water heater and our second trip, we had hot water but no AC - it spent two weeks in the shop getting a brand new AC put in to fix a "brand new" AC. My next camper will NOT be a Jayco.

I hear your frustarastioin, but be aware that JAYCO doesn't make the water heater or AC. It's likely you could end up with the same water heater and AC brand with a different trailer manufacturer.

MMoran · 09-05-2018, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

I hear your frustarastioin, but be aware that JAYCO doesn't make the water heater or AC. It's likely you could end up with the same water heater and AC brand with a different trailer manufacturer.

I suppose that's true. Jayco is letting these issues ruin their brand though, in my opinion.

CHV_FRK · 09-05-2018, 04:00 PM

Paul, it can be normal. Would you like it to be, probably not. The spring maybe a little weak. With weeping you will get more buildup and should flush it more and it will fail ultimately sooner. Is it going to be the end of the world, probably not. If you have concern about the pressure you might find a place to cut in a fitting to allow you to put a pressure gauge on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMoran

I suppose that's true. Jayco is letting these issues ruin their brand though, in my opinion.

I agree with that. Another guy I know has a camper like mine and had the board issue. Found that the wiring was substandard which is a Jayco issue. The crappy boards or the voltage drop weren't helping each other.

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