Broken Atwood RV Water Heater (Troubleshooting and Repair)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- WARNING - use disconnect switch to shut off battery before you test any continuity. Or check voltage threw fuse to ground using DC volts setting.
Our water heater would not cycle on after about 5 times of using it. This is a Atwood 6 Gallon Propane only RV water heater. Model number G6A-8E. My method of troubleshooting is to test the cheapest items first, fuses, breakers and connections and then move onto more expensive items for testing like the circuit board.
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I am an electrician and I can tell you that dielectric grease is not a conductor. It does keep out moisture that can cause corrosion.
Also testing a live 12 volt circuit with your multi meter in the buzzer mode can damage your meter. The way to test the fuse (while it is still plugged in) is to set the proper voltage range (DC volts) then test for power at the supply side of the fuse and other lead to ground this should read12v.
Then test from other side of fuse to ground and if you still have 12v your fuse is good and if it reads zero then fuse is no good.
But for the novice it would be easier to pull the fuse and use the continuity setting (buzzer).
When you tested the fuse (if it had been burnt out) you would have put 12volts DC across your meter and possibly ruined you meter.
Thank you and good points, I was under the impression that it was conductive, but I guess not. I am not sure why my multimeter did not get damaged because the circuit was live. I probably should pull the fuse check for Continuity and do a voltage test to ground like you were saying. Also not all the fuses would have 12v going threw them during the test correct?
Touring Treadwells if power is on to the panel or if the 12 volt batteries are connected in the system then there is power to the 12 volt fuses. The reason your multimeter was not damaged was because the fuse was not damaged and the current to flow through it to its destination. But if the fuse was burnt out the current would want to travel up and through your meter to complete the circuit therefor damaging your meter. It is just like when birds sit on a live wire and doesn't get hurt. It could also be that no current was flowing through the fuse at the time when you tested it.
Touring Treadwells you can think of electricity like a water pipe. The voltage is the amount of pressure and the amount of flow is the current measured in amps. This is why low voltage circuits like 12 volts DC do not flow through you very easily because your skin has a lot of resistance but when the pressure or voltage is higher like 120 volts and you touch it you get a shock if you are grounded but nothing happens if you are not grounded just like a bird on a Wire.
My husband and I were looking at same water heater in my airstream 2016 Bambi and all of the red wires melted! Thoughts?
@@debbiedouglas62657:24
I'm parked and using electric only. A friend thought she was turning off lights in Restroom and hit reset button for water heater......WHY ?? IDK.
I went through entire gambit EXCEPT testing this board.
Thank you so much for the viewer friendly ❤ video.
For a nearly 70 year old widow woman, the friendlier, the better.
I really appreciate you ❤
God Speed
You are very welcome!
Thank you so much Touring Treadwells. I got lucky and did not have to replace the circuit board. My thermal couple was bad and she fired right up. Seriously appreciate your skills.
You are welcome!!
Thanks so much! This probably saved me at least $100.00. It was the thermo fuse! I tried to get one from Home Depot. The gentleman sanded off the corroded end. I went out to my trailer and put it in and everything worked. My trailer is stationary at a seasonal park so I would have to have a service call otherwise. Thanks Again!
Your very welcome, mine corroded again. I put more dielectric grease on it to prevent it.
Thanks for the detailed video. I was having an issue with mine and no clue what to do. Using your video I found that my fuse wire was just corroded and once I cleaned both ends it fired right up.
Glad I could help
Thanks for a clear explanation! I had the same issue and traced it to the circuit board. As you saw the new replacement board is different in size and configuration which makes me suspect that the original circuit board was a defective design, my unit lasted about one year. Also, my local airstream dealer said he keeps a lot of these circuit board units in stock - for a good reason! Aside from a few minor issues we really like our airstream.
Thank you for the video. You’re right, yours is the only one with the circuit board bad. So, mine tries to light, sparks, but doesn’t light. I replaced the circuit board and still doesn’t light. So I’m checking the solenoid valve tomorrow.
Thanks for the video. Thankfully my husband has a ohm meter. Atwood was super nice and is sending me a warranty replacement since ours is less than a year old. I took a chance and called them direct after I had tested everything like you showed. Enjoy your trip. We are boondocking on BLM land near the Utah border!
Awesome glad I could help
Excellent video. I have the exact same HWH and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working with propane or on shore power. Tested the circuits and fuses with my multimeter and everything checked out. But when we took it in we discovered that the inline thermal cutoff fuse (on the HWH itself) was intermittent. My continuity test showed it was good but when wiggled it would go off and on. Replaced that fuse and we were good to go.
I'm glad it was a cheap fix
Awesome!!!! You just fixed the reason why my hot water heater wouldn’t light. It was the long inline fuse on the brown wire. Thank you.
Welcome glad we could help
Wow. Saved me significant trouble and money! Water heater wouldn't ignite on a used Lance 2285 I brought up from Florida. Found a bit of corrosion on the igniter fuse (?). Dipped it in baking soda & water. Fired up! Many thanks!
Very welcome!!
Caig DeOxit D5 is best for corrosion and connection point maintenance. Also dip your test leads in a drop of D5. They work better. It is critical to check the ground lug points to chassis ground. Treat them with D5 when possible.
Thanks for the detailed video. We were dry camping for the first time this weekend and the water heater decided not to start. Looking for options to fix and will use your tips to troubleshoot.
Bummer, hope the video helps
Good job, you have one more thing to do. Adjust the air mixture valve! You want to see a perfect blue flame and with minimal air noise!
You might have solved the issue in this video by replacing the circuit board, but keep in mind you should also check to make sure it's not your thermostats (where the red and brown wires are connected). You can test these by simply bypassing the thermostat and E.C.O and seeing if the water heater clicks on. Connect the one brown wire directly to the other brown wire, and connect the one red wire to the other red wire to bypass thermostats, and if this gets the water heater to ignite then you know it's not the circuit board, but faulty (and cheaper) thermostats.
Jayme Schroeder, I agree with you how did he know that the circuit board was bad and not the thermostats? That was great advice on how to bypass them.
good point, one more cheaper item to check first!
I tried that hooking the wires toghter The hot water heater come on when I turned the gas on so all I need to do is replace the thermostat that is where the two brown wires hook up
Sounds like it
Not everybody is as smart as you, glad i am though. It saves so much money and time
Thank you so much you saved me time and money by checking the little thing I was going to take my camper to camping world cause my hot water heater wasn’t working and after watching your video it ended up being the breaker my son turn it of
Super glad we could help it's always a simple things to break first or kids haha
Thank you for sharing this video! We are grateful and this worked for us and being first time owners of a 21 yr old RV. Thank you!
Very welcome
I appreciate your video. I have the same atwood heater and have same issues. Ruined out weekend trip. Now time to test everything like you did. Thinking it will be the circuit board as well. Thank you for a great video
Very welcome glad I could help. Make sure you pull the fuses to test them or test to ground or shut off battery
Good stuff!!! Mine just went south this weekend. 7/7/19. 2019 Jayco White hawk 30 RLS. 6 weeks into operation. Not happy .
Oh no what happened?
Be sure to test your ECO AND THERMOSTAT for continuity before assuming the board is bad!!!
Agree but how to test these?
Same continuity test
Dielectric grease is a good call for that In-Line fuse that he used it on.
Do Not Use it when it could cause a connection between positive and negative wires (or terminals)...that is, when + and - are close together, and the grease could bridge the gap.
That's what (i think) he meant about cases where it could cause a short ✌
Nice video. And great information to have handy when my Atwood hiccups. Thanks!
The people keep making detailed videos like this is gonna put mechanics outta bizzness 😜
Ok I lied u saved me hundreds 🤑
Haha glad we could help!
great video, we watched it a couple of times to build our confidence up lol it was the thingy that helps so you don't blow up at night. Thank you for this detailed clip. You are a life saver, now off to Lake Superior for some Coho!
Glad I could help have fun
Very helpful video ... need to try out your troubleshooting suggestions to see if I can figure out my problem
Ordered the replacement board from Amazon, along with the thermal cutoff, 30 second install, works great. Thanks for posting this video !
You are welcome glad we could help
Thank you for the very clear explainations! You helped me solve my issue!!
Cheers
Thanks for the tips! Mine needed a new panel as well.
Glad it helped!
Thank you for such a detailed video. It helped me eliminate everything that I can see on the outside. Do you have any tips on how do diagnose problems with the 120V heater? My Atwood works fine on propane but quit heating with shore power electricity. I checked the breaker and it is fine.
I haven't seen one in person so I'm sorry I can't help
Great video thank you I've been watching a few and yours was like mine. You were also straight to the point.
I have the exact same airstream sport 22. Thanks for this video, I thought something was wrong with the gap where the spark was. I did the thermostat wiring test with no luck. (And all other fuse tests). These factory installed circuit boards must be garbage. Guess I have no hot water for the rest of my camping trip. I'll follow up after replacing board. I'm so disappointed. Its brand new 2019.
They are junk and the dealer knew it because they have the new part number in stock! Is it not cycling at all?
@@touringtreadwells5750 it was the circuit board. I found an RV store close by ,they had boards in stock also. Dealer told me it was the 5th one he sold this week. I replaced the board and it fired right up. Thanks again for posting the video. Now we will see how I get treated by airstream with the warranty process....??
@@gregcarroll7286 our process the dealer handled that we bought it from best of luck
House furnaces not heating/odd cycles? ...common fix is to clean the flame sensor.
Great video..........I appreciate your easy to follow solutions and explanations.
Thanks for video! Had same problem on Freedom Elite. Used the link to order board and works great now!
Awesome glad I could help
Thanks so much for the video! Much appreciated! Nice job!
grate video.i have a G6A-4E it sparks its getting gas thermostat is good i think its the gas valve.so if its sparking the circuit board is ok? thanks to jayme for tip on checking thermostat.
This was so helpful thanks so much
Dielectric grease. Rule of thumb. The grease would literally rather die than be conductive.
Passing voltage through dielectric grease causes it to break down at that point it becomes conductive but also sacrifices it's ability to repel water, coat services for anti corrosion and *wash-away* static buildup. Dielectric grease that has voltage flowing through it breaking it down causes mortgage too close early I.e arks and Sparks thusly short circuits, especially to ground.
You want to put it on your electrical connectors where they are rubberized to create a seal for keeping the environment out and never on the metal contacts!! imagine your spark plug wires. You put the grease where the rubber boot touches the porcelain only and never where it connects in the top-center IE very back of the boot or on the spark plug nipple.
When you go to replace spark plug wires and plugs and you find nasty crusty yellowish fried dielectric grease all jammed up in the boot and on the nipple of the plug.. that's exactly why it's time to change the wires in the plug but in some cases simply cleaning that junk off will suffice. Suffice it to say it keeps rubber rubbery and elastic so that it can heat up and expand to make a new seal in such occasions each time it happens which is exactly what you wanted to do because bad hardened rubber doesn't create a seal to keep the environment away are out of the inside. Where the electrical terminations are.
Another fun fact is that we call them terminations where two pieces of metal touch and create a connection. A termination in the sense does not mean that we have destroyed the connection between two points of contact.
Dielectric-Greece and anti-seize which is conductive by the way are both insulators.
Fun fact auntie's are only conductive because they have metal particles in them but they are not used as a conductive Grease.
846 is an electrician's Greece. A fluid or a grease must practically fulfilled three or four things depending on application. One it must act as a lubricant. Two it must typically act as a heat transfer. Three it must act as a detergent and in the case of electricity instead of washing away rust or corrosion per se it in actuality washes away the presence of static electricity build up. And 4 it must act as a coating in order to keep materials or metals safe from the environment so as to not rust or corrode.
Think about your car and ask if water fulfills all four of those requirements for your cooling system and Bob's your auntie.
Good information. All I have is a heater switch. Is that the switch? I'm new to this... sorry for the ignorance...
Is it the same model heater?
Thanks for the clear info
It should not be that loud. You need to adj the aperture on the gas tube to close the opening for a clean blue flame and no noise.
You did good! Your right yours is the only one.
so you telling me that I still need propane gas to make it work ???....
my Tanks are both empty....😂
This was very helpful.... thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Yeah, silly Airstream put in a propane only heater. Cheapos.
I miss the heater in my 2000 Dutchman. It ran on park grounds power or propane with flip of switch. Propane is commodity I like to save for cooking/heat. Wish I could change the one in our 2010 'Cloud 27FB to dual heating.
Yes it would be nice to have both and save the gas
Thankyou for this !!
Bro you are the man! Thanks for this video, helped lots!
Glad we could help! Stay safe
I'm having the same issue not working on gas but it does work when Im hooked up to regular electricity.
I haven't dealt with the electric/ propane one. But the troubleshooting for propane should be the same
Check thermostat and limit switch before you go to the circuit board
Hello Touring Treadwells. I am having an issue with my water heater and I can't find any videos that speak directly to my problem. My water heater works on Electric but not on Propane. Using the Propane switch only I get the red light after 3 attempts of lighting. I have my Propane on, tanks are full and my stove and furnace work. I've checked fuses inside and out and they are fine. Any suggestions on how to trouble shoot the water heater not lighting with only Propane?
Does it ignite at all? I am not familiar with the duel heating units. Have you tried unplugging from shore power?
🙏
I'll try it thank you
Why would you heat hot water? Just wondering.
Because it will get cold if you don’t.
This just earned my subscription!
Great job. Same heater on 2016 Bambi FC, all red wires melted. Thoughts?
Sounds like your solenoid has an issue if those red wires lead to that. The other red wire leads to the thermostat. Or you could have had a fire in there if other wires are burned
So can I replace the red wires or do I need to replace the control?
Do wires come with control or solenoids? Ill replace the brown wire and fuse first.
The control does not come with wired
Great video thank you
What about replacing the gas valve? How close do the replacement models have to be?
Not sure
Ki
I have a Atwood gas an electric once the water heats it will kick the power or gas off the red light will come on once it
Cools off the water it will relight again what can it be
+Tyler Nobles sounds like the thermostats...
do these water heaters turn off automatically when it gets to temp
I have one that ignites but it won't stay lit can you help me out
Can you hear the solenoid click off when it shuts off?
So you are saying that the newer version circuit board the plug on the wire harness is up on the top part of the board sitting horizontally intead of vertically. Correct?
If that be the case the one in my motorhome is the newer version.
Whatabout that 2A fuse. I don't see any fuse on mine. What about yours?
I dont have the rv anymore so I don't know. But if you Google the circuit board numbers you might find old numbers
Good Vid!
Great video! I just purchased a '95 Prowler with a heater that looks the same. It's a GC6AA-7. Almost the same. I looked at a manual and it said the C stands for combo Gas/Electric. The AA refers to element type. Does that mean it should also be able to heat on electric only, or does that just refer to an electric spark? I have a battery cutoff switch coming this week and will be troubleshooting the heater hopefully this weekend.
It has both elements both electric and gas.
@@touringtreadwells5750 Thank you! Here's a funny. I was looking at a schematic to look at element types and saw a switch that it said would be inside the camper. Well, I never flipped that switch. Only the breaker. I imagine I may find that this was the issue. Haha
That's why I always check the cheap things first!
Awsome -- thanks
Your camera work is giving me motion sickness lol
Have you had anymore issues with your heater since replacing this circuit board?
No I have not.
Why would you have to Heat HOT WATER? My water heats cold water and makes a little warmer for me to shower etc.
Nice job god bless
Thank you
Adventure!! Make it work!
My heater will trip GFI outlet when electric turned on and element seems to test good.
Could be a faulty GFI. You can buy a GFI tester to see if that's the case
That shirt is way too nice for this job.lol
Haha I just got out of work and the wife wanted to shower
I have the same water heater and mine is sparking but I don't think I'm getting propane in the tube both Brand new filled tanks ? What do you think I should look at.
1. Make sure the tanks are turned on😃2. Turn your inside cook top on by lighting it to bleed the air out if you have one
3. Try again and see if you can smell propane by the furnace (be careful)
4. If that doesn't work it could be the board if you haven't updated it yet
Question- I have the same set up. I flip the switch and run out to hear clicking, smell propane but nothing else. It does this 3 times and the Ted fault light comes on. I’ve done this process over and over. I smell and heat propane coming out but no spark or anything.
its probably the circuit board if its the same unit.
I've never heard of a hot water heater. .... I have heard of water heaters however ... :-)
Did you have to order the same part number for the circuit board, or did you get a replacement based on the water heater’s model number?
Replacement based on the water heater number, check Atwood's website for updated part revisions
So there’s no pilot on these
That is correct.
I have an older Atwood water heater in a 1989 Bounder. Sometimes it fires up sometimes it doesn't. I can hear it clicking it seems like it's getting no propane. Ideas?
See if you can smell propane when you hit the switch with the help of someone. Then see if you can see the spark. With the age of the unit I would not be surprised if you had corrosion somewhere
What exactly was it doing? Mine won’t stay lit. So I don’t think it’s the circuit board.
Sounds like thermocouple
New to RVing...when you say warranty covers the part did you contact the warranty yourself and process it? Trying to avoid taking RV into dealership to escape diagnosing fees.
I diagnosed it and the dealer helped me find the right part. They dealt with the warranty end of it. If it's less than $100 bucks it's not worth dealing with the dealer or warranty normally for me.
I have exactly the same water heater. However, the heater turns on with propane. But, it does not with power. I would appreciate, viable suggestions!
What do mean by with power? This unit only gets warm with Propane. They do make one that has electric and gas.
Very very good
I have an Atwood unit that will fire and after a few minutes the burner will cycle down to what seems to low flame. After 30 minutes still had cold water. Help!
check the easy stuff, do you have enough propane? Is the tank valve on? There could also be air in the line, best way we purged ours is to use the normal cook top inside the camper for a minute or two to purge the air out
my Atwood model GC6AA-10E is not getting gas to it but lighter is trying to start but fails , need some advice how to repair it
Do you smell gas or hear the solenoid click?
👏👏👏👍
There is nothing here about the power to the control board. How does it get power. None of the pins are sending power to it on mine.
The power comes the fuse box described in the video. Check one side of a fuse to ground and it should read around 12 volts
He didn't check the thermostats which also could be the cause for the burner not lighting.
How so you get it out if limp mode? Just wait? How long?
It should say in your manual. But you shouldn't have to wait for more than 10 minutes I would say.
It's a water heater... Ya don't heat HOT water!
I catch myself saying it, too
thanks. is the clicking sound I'm hearing the sail switch or does the board click. sometimes the clicks are closer together like it's trying to stay but can't.
You might be hearing the sail switch click and then the gas solenoid right after. Does it ignite at all?
@@BendItFishing yes. you hear blower come on then click and it goes you get heat for 2 minutes then it shuts off and repeats that process multiple times. if you let get going it eventually stays on. a friend of mine said he thinks it's the limit switch? what do you think? in the middle of it shutting off and on sometimes you hear clicking like it's trying to not shut off. I really appreciate your help. thanks in advance.
It's hard to tell. Just like my water heater it has multiple safety devices, the sail switch , which if you know where it is manually hold it open, or it could be the thermocouple is not align with the gas jet. Without seeing it, it's hard to tell. Can you pull the furnace out?
@@BendItFishing I'm going to try to pull it this weekend. the blower sounds normal how can I tell if it slow?would I hear it? I'm not familiar with the thermocouple. how do I know if sails witch bad? any pointers. can the sail with be bypassed. thanks
You can by pass the sail switch by connecting the wires together. Try that first.
If the circuit board is fried will the switch not light up? Thats my problem. No light on my switch since it stopped working.
I can't remember, we haven't had the issue after. The light next to the switch signals that's it's working so it's probably told by the board to turn on. I would replace the board to check
@@touringtreadwells5750 might replace my switch first then the board next. Whatever's cheaper first
Good point you can also test the switch really easy
@@touringtreadwells5750 so I replaced the mini 2a fuse, and miraculously the switch turned on for 3 seconds, ignition clicked a couple times, then fuse blew. Maybe a short somewhere. Fuse arrives Monday. Test #2. Then will replace board next if that doesn't work. Wiring looks good
Trace that fuse back sounds like a short
So there is no heating element, it just runs on propane?
This is just propane, they do make one that has both
Could someone tell me how to find/access the electric heating element in this brand and model of heater?
Thank you.
Should have two large wires going to it
hi, I have atwood 8531 iv furnace. it starts runs for 2 minutes then shuts off. this repeats about 10 to 15x then the heater works fine. could this be the sail switch? I hear a clicking while this is happening. I'm on a seasonal site in bucks county pa and can't move the trailer. no repair man will come here. any help would be appreciated.
Could be, make sure the fan is clean and lubricated. If the fan doesn't spin fast enough the sail switch will stay open and prevent the ignition. These fan collect a huge amount of dust because most are not filtered.
Do you have any carpets covering registers?
My Water Heater ignites when turn the switch on and heats the water. After the water gets hot it shuts off and will not reignite itself. Is it supposed to reignite after the water cools down? I have replaced thermostats and Ignitor. Is there anything other than the board that might be causing this
It should keep igniting when the water hits the low temperature point. Like if you were taking a long shower. Does the red light turn on when the water gets cold.
@@BendItFishing I have not noticed. The water heater has not worked since we bought the camper. The dealer we bought it from checked it and said they had it fixed but when we went camping it did the same thing. Red light on the switch does come on when you first turn it on and stays on.
Is it the same model as the one in the video? Does it try to ignite when it gets cold or does it not do anything? The low thermostat is suppose to complete the circuit to tell the control unit to reignite the system. Check continuity on the low temp thermostat wire. If its good replace electronic module
@@touringtreadwells5750 Yes it is the same model as on the video and I have never noticed it trying to reignite after the water cools down. Thank you so much for all your help, I really do appreciate it. Kenny Walker
Try the Amazon link to buy a new module if that's the problem. It's in the description.
Where is the heater element. I think mine needs replacing. Works on gas but not electric
Mine is just gas. If you have electric you will see a thick cable going into the element. Refer to the manual
WRONG TEST PROCESS TO TEST FUSES. USE THE VOLT METER AND CHECK FOR VOLTAGE AT EACH SIDE OF THE FUSE. GROUND TO POWER SUPPLY GROUND AND POSITIVE LEAD TO EACH SIDE OF FUSE.
So I've been told. My method works when the circuit is dead to test the fuse but not the complete circuit.
The first time my board went out the electric heat would still work but the gas wouldn't light, this time nothing works.
Interesting, ours is only gas
I replaced the circuit board and the red/clear thermal cut off boot and it clicks lights, continues clicking while lit then shuts off:(
Can you smell or hear propane? Sounds like a fuel issue
@@touringtreadwells5750 it lights, so yes I see propane but the clicking continues and then the flame cuts out. I’m going to try replacing the Spark and Sense electrode
Sounds like a bad thermocouple, it's the item that heats up to let gas stay going. If that's not working gas will come in the. Shut off
I took the front panel off the heater and it stopped doing the turn on ignite and shut off it messed up once and now it's running fine. do you know what this means? would you be willing to facetime?
Is that where the air intake is? Sounds like a loose wire.
@@BendItFishing disregard thst it failed with cover off also. when got to the squirrel cage and cleaned it. the wheel was little hard to spin. it did not spin to freely. I cleaned it and sprayed wd40. it started getting dark so I stopped and did not change out the limit switch. it got ugly. thanks for helping.
The fan should spin freely, it is probably that good luck
@@BendItFishing how are you? thought I would tell you I ripped into the heater this weekend and replaced the limit switch and the flame sensor.jeez what a day. it did not fix the issue. I'm down to a bad board. although you would think if it was bad it would not work evetually. same thing it turns on for about 30 seconds shuts off and repeats about 12 times then works.
@@brianu3536 bummer hope it's not to expensive
I'm not getting water to the sink or the tub but I have hat water
Turn the sink to hot for a long time and it should work. The lines have lots of air in them. Or go under the sink and see if it has valves
@@touringtreadwells5750 and I didnt see any valves