RV Water Heater Not Igniting Or Staying Lit - Troubleshoot - RV Maintenance And Cleaning
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2020
- My RV Atwood water heater was not lighting or staying lit. I checked some components and cleaned everything to get it working. Links below.
You can read more about RV Water Heater Maintenance on my blog at:
www.rvhabit.com/post/rv-water...
(Affiliate) Links:
• See Atwood 93868 Mobile Products Spark Probe Single Sense on Amazon: amzn.to/32mfiFI
• See Atwood 91447 Thermostat Assembly on Amazon: amzn.to/32jb3ur
• See Atwood 93866 Mobile Products Thermal Cut-Off on Amazon: amzn.to/32feqCC
• See Atwood 91365 Circuit Board Kit for Water Heaters on Amazon: amzn.to/3j42uu5
• See Atwood 91638 Main Burner on Amazon: amzn.to/2Qtqrit
• See Atwood 92742 Orifice Main Burner on Amazon: amzn.to/3l9g1Cv
• See Atwood 90028 3/4" Relief Valve on Amazon: amzn.to/3j7DGBk
• See Dometic 93844 Gas Valve on Amazon: amzn.to/3ghqlVz
• See Atwood 91857 1/2" Drain Plug Kit on Amazon: amzn.to/2Enytqi
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#rvwaterheater #rvmaintenance #Atwood 
Хобби
We have been without hot water for 3 months now. Tonight, we all took hot showers. Thank you so very much. You made a loyal subscriber here.
Wonderful! So happy when I hear success stories. Happy camping.
Right with you lol. NEED a hot shower, I stink LOL
After watching dozens of videos no one could explain the simple procedure that you just demonstrated in your video!! Thank you sir!! God bless you for helping simpletons like me! Lol🙏🏻🤙🏼🙌🏼
Hi Drew, Glad it helped!
I agree 100%
Well done, thanks for making an intimidating part of RV'ing seem a little less stressful
Half the battle is understanding how it works. Once you understand that part the rest is easy. Thanks for watching and happy camping!
That's what I was thinking, exactly.
Thank you for not being a lame showman!!!! no false voice, music, jokes, yelling, etc. Your information is so concise and explained so that a 71 year old woman can understand and follow ;)
Thanks so much for your support
VERY well done. As a video producer, I must say your shots were great, steady and you went right to the topic. You didn't try to be funny, add a lot of fluff, or other useless banter. You taught me a lot about the water heater, and I solved my "no light" problem thanks to you. I was getting the clicking of the sparker, but no ignition, so I was using my torch to light the heater when propane was needed. The problem was the gap between the sparker and the grounding rod. Also cleaned the water deposits off the screw and wind adjustment slide and it's igniting every time now with no hassle. I'd give you an A in my class, but I wouldn't be a good journalist or English professor if I didn't remind you not to use the word "basically." Also a good tip is, even though you may be using electricity all the time, use the LP option about once a month just to make sure all is clean and working. Keep up your good work and educational tips.
Excellent comment and tips. Thanks for watching and taking the time to respond. Always exercise all parts of the RV. Anything not used will certainly fail when needed.
I just watched a crap load of these and this one was the best one because of the hands-on expertise. It was greatly informative and also straight to the point. . It was easy to watch the entire duration. Good focus on the topic. Thank you.
Thanks so much. Hope it helped.
Wow, what a great video! Thanks for taking the time to put it together and especially for explaining how both the electric and gas process works. I learned more from this one video than from all the other ones on RUclips put together!
I'm camping without my husband and the water heater didn't work. Thank you for your video, it saved the day (week) for me, knowing what the different parts were helped me to not be afraid to unplug the igniter and plug it back in. It's working now all thanks to you and your very well made video. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Great job!
Thanks for the tip. I have the exact same water heater with the same problem. The connection was a bit corroded from the water seeping occasionally from the relief valve. Also a miller had crawled into the tube where you regulate the airflow. Cleaned it all up and runs like a champ! Thanks!
Hi Jon, Glad it helped and for taking time to comment.
I'm going to tear into mine tomorrow!!
Yes! Found out 2 weeks ago that the hot water was not staying lit. You saved our trailer a trip to the shop. Cleaning it got it working again!!!
Hi Frank, Great to hear!
Thank you after listening to your video description, I found and fixed my problem. My spark probe was defective and cracked. I also replaced my thermal cut-off. Then I adjusted my air/gas mixture. Great video and congratulations.
Hi Jacques, awesome glad to hear it. Happy camping.
Lou, great maintenance video on the Atwood water heater. I didn't have any problems with my unit but I did clean up the burner tube alone with the thermal cut-off terminals. I did adjust the air/gas mixture. Doesn't sound like a 747 taken off. Kept those maintenance video's coming our way. I too have a 2016 GTS Forester with the same appliances / equipment.
Hi DJ, Yes those water heaters can get very loud. I think the 2016 GTS is a great rig. They did everything just about right. (except the split rear bed).
@@RVHabit the split rear bed with the window head board and the pull down shade, not a good design!
I finally got fed up with the shade and put a rice paper window film on the back window. Works out excellent and no more fighting with that shade.
Because of your thorough and well put together video I was able to troubleshoot why my (propane) water heater ignited but then stopped every time I attempted to start it. This is a 26 year old water heater. I went through every step you outlined. I checked the wires for conductivity and discovered a few wires were corroded and the spade connectors weren't tight. I checked the overheat safety for continuity. I checked the burner pipe for blockage and corrosion. There was lots of rust. I cleaned the orifice with carburetor cleaner. I checked the igniter gap. I checked that the round plate in the burner tube was centered. I re-adjusted the flame so it burned quiet and blue. I actually have a new water heater that I can replace it with but the work involved is too much right now. I'm at the tale end of a 2 month restoration on this motorhome and I'm exhausted. You saved me a lot of work. This rig was rarely used and this water heater should have a few good years left in it. Many thanks!!!
Great to hear when my videos are able to help someone.
I followed your directions and got it to fire right up and stay lit. So glad it saved us a service call. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, that's great to hear. Happy camping 🏕
Absolutely great video on showing us what to look for and do , my hot water heater is exactly doing what the one you were working on, I’ve tried a few things but ran out of daylight but I’ll be back at it in the morning, my wife had forgot to turn the hot water switch to off and came back to town for 3 days and when she came back to the trailer this happened not her fault though I probably would have done the same thing ,
Likely the best video explanation of how this Atwood/Dometic water heater works, thank you very much! Ordering a few parts to get ours back in operation.
Awesome, thank you!
Outstanding! Easy to understand what you're talking about, and good shots where you can see what you're talking about. Thank you for doing this.
Much appreciated!
Nice Job, Lou. Great close ups with the video. I miss our Atwood Water Heater. The only problem we ever had with it was the same that you had, the ceramic insulator on the igniter had a small crack in it that prevented the heater from running on gas. We changed it out and was good to go. Now we have the On Demand Heater, still hate it. LOL
Yes, I like the Atwood water heaters. Not quite sold on the On Demand water heaters.
Very informative video. Ready to ditch my old Atwood, but after watching this video, I remedied the propane start/stop/start problem. Thanks for your guidance.
Hi Noah, Glad it worked out. Thanks for watching.
Great tips Lou, I am working on a RV preventive maintenance (PM) calendar. This is a great idea to take notice. Good Job!
Hi Tim, Understanding how things work is half the battle when it comes to maintenance.
Thank you so much for this video. It helped me understand the workings of the hot water heater and how to properly take it apart for cleaning.
Hi Cheryl, glad it helped. Happy camping.
Looked at a lot of videos this is probably the best one I’ve seen on that Atwood Water heater it was very thorough and very informative thank you very much
Hi John, Wow, thanks!
AMEN
This is one of the best troubleshooting videos I've ever seen. Excellent, thanks so much!
Hi John, Thanks for taking time to watch.
100% just maintenance ! Really appreciate the video. All cleaned and it no longer shuts off. Thank so much!
Great to hear!
Thank you! I am visiting and staying in a friend's RV and the hot water quit this morning. I will try this first thing tomorrow. But this video is exactly what I need. I looked at this panel and got super intimidated. Nothing made a lot of sense. And that's not normal for me.
I will let you know how it turns out.
Hi Karen, sometimes knowing how something works is half the battle. Good luck.
Thank you for your video. My wife picks on me for watching RUclips RV repair videos but I keep teller her you never know what you might learn. My water heater worked fine but sounded like a jet engine. After watching your video, I adjusted it, and now it is quiet with a nice blue flame.
Hi William, That's great. Watching videos is a great way to learn. You don't know what you don't know. Happy camping.
You're awesome!! I just adjusted the air flow like you showed towards the end of the video and it fired right up!!
Hi glad it worked.
Wow. I did exactly what u did and it fits up now. I took it apart and sanded connections on thermal fuse, blew out jet, blew out curved gas pipe, put it back together and it works. Suggestion tho, I had an extra screw, finally figured where it goes.. take photos before u start. Thanks for video
Yes if you are not familiar with something always take a picture before starting. I usually forget and regret it.
Absolutely perfect instruction. I feel totally confident that I can troubleshoot and get the pilot light up and blue flaming. Thank you
Glad it helped
Great video, and very informative. My Camper sat for a while and I was having an issue with ignition. gas was flowing, but had to use a lighter to light it. Looks like a bad spark probe. Cleaning out everthing else while I am in there. Thanks!
Hi Will, Great to hear!
Very informative. You helped my husband and me get our heater working great. We did find a small crack in our sparker and will be ordering a new one. Thank you!
That is awesome!
Great video! Went out this weekend and mine was doing the same thing. It would lite for a few seconds then shut down. The electric worked thank God. Will try your tips. Hopefully have the same results
Good luck!
Couldn't get my heater to ignite after spraying for wasps. Thought I was going to have to replace every electrical component in the box. 😮 Followed the steps in this video, and my water heater works like a charm. Great information well explained.
Great to hear.
Simple steps to follow, propane and electric were not working.
I changed thermostats and fuse earlier. Cleaned out the little orfic has plugged with white powder , cleaned out all good thank you .
that's great to hear. Happy camping.
Thank you, now to tackle the electrical heater issue.
Great video. Having the links to products in the description helped a ton! Order 3 parts.
Hi Paul, Awesome, thank you!
Thank you very much for this walkthrough. One additional thing I noticed on my Atwood fix, while the sparker bases were intact the rods themselves had some carbon buildup. I gave them a light sanding as well as the connector tabs and adjusted the sparker gap to the proper measurement. As per your advise I carefully removed the gas nozzle tip and gave it all some compressed air. It’s been very dry here. Reassembled and it fired right up. Sweet blue flame. And adjusted the the air to gas window to a gentle roar. 👍🏼
Awesome, great to hear.
Thank you for the great video. My particular problem was gas would not light reliably. I adjusted the air mixture tube, and walla! starts every time. Subscribed!
Glad it helped
Thanks so much for de-mystifying the solution to my problem. This is exactly what I needed. I haven't tried it yet, but it gives me great optimism moving forward and I feel sure it will work.
Good luck!
Nice job Lou. You made it very simple for us. Stay safe.
Hi Al, Thanks 👍
Figured out it was corrosion on my igniter that was my problem but I checked everything else you pointed out while I was fixing it! Thanks!
Nice work!
I just wanted to thank you so much for the helpful video. I sent $2.00, I didn't even know that was a thing, but I'm glad I could pay something back for your help and expertise.
Hi and thank you again. I hope this helped you get everything running smoothly. Happy camping.
Thank you. I think that's what is wrong with ours. We out at our camper today but visiting on Father's day and looked you up. Once we get back to campground I'm sure this will get our hot water back to work. So thanks.
Your welcome and Good luck!
I have to do things by myself these days and need Ideas for that and brush up for all those things I thought I knew. Looking forward to having a long connection with you all.
Happy to help!
Great video. Thank you. You go over everything in a nice way to make it easy to understand.
Thanks so much.
This is the exact problem I was having. Followed all these steps and mine is working fine now as it seems
Glad it helped. These water heaters need yearly cleaning and maintenance to work properly.
Use you vid the first time before I went from Ohio to North Carolina about a month. Got it going with new control unit. On leaving North Carolina out of there with no hot water checked vid again and now after cleaning video and now I don’t even have ignition at the starter for three times
Many thanks for making this informative and helpful video. We wish we had seen this before we did a couple of other things. 😆Now, we suspect it was simply a clogged orifice all along. Before we got to that though, we tried a new motherboard and we ordered a new gas valve. After we put that on, we checked the orifice and it was completely clogged! We are sharing your video link so others can be informed and avoid our mistakes.
Hi, thanks so much I appreciate it.
Thank you for explaining in detail what to do! My water heater just went out in my jayco Jay flight, going to check entire system tomorrow, now that I know what to do
Hi Andrea, Hope you get it working, Good luck!
@@RVHabit well I’ve cleaned everything drained the tank there was a lot of calcium in the tank itself, but my DSI FLT light is still coming on, I use the electric switch for my water heater instead of my propane. But neither are working (but I don’t have propane to troubleshoot that issue)
I have just come across your video awesome. I have a rv here in the UK 🇬🇧 not many videos go into great detail.
Thanks I look forward to going through your other videos.
Awesome, thank you!
Awesome. I'm learning how to clean n replace the parts. Now I pray after I put it back together it works!
Good luck!
@@RVHabit it worked!!!!! Your awesome!!!! Thank you!!!!
Glad to hear it. Happy camping!
Excellent maintenance advice. I appreciate How you explain every step. Definitely worth the time to look at all video.
I appreciate that!
This was amazing. Not too “techy “. Thanks for an easy to understand explanation
You're very welcome!
Fantastic video, I am having the propane start to make a whump sound when it lights. Going to do all of your steps to correct it. Thank you for all the tips, I will be able to recognize more issues if there are any!!
Hi David Good luck!
Amazing DIY video. Straight to the point only. Thank you
Thanks so much.
I applaud this informational video!!!! You covered everything I needed to know to fix my problem! Thank you so very much for no nonsense, to the point without a bunch of unwanted banter!!! Subscribing and look forward to future videos from RV Habit !!
Great to hear!
Thanks for a great video tutorial, I have the same problem with my water heater and now thanks to you I know what to do.
Great to hear!
Great video. Covering lots of important details. Thanks for educating me on air flow adjustments and fine tuning.
Thanks so much for commenting.
Many thanks for the vid. I am in NSW and had the same issue with the spark initiator...cleaned it up and away it went. Cheers
Good to hear
Thanks so much for your video. Had issues with mine and your video saved the day. Happy camping! Thanks!
Hi Brent, Glad it helped! Happy camping.
MY SUBURBAN 6 GAL. GAS/ELEC. HAS THE SAME ISSUE. I HOPE THIS PROCEDURE CURES IT. THE W/H WAS REPLACED IN 2018. IT SHOULD HAVE A LOT MORE MILES LEFT ON IT. IT'S TIME FOR AN ANODE ROD CHANGE OUT ANYWAY. GREAT TUTORIAL! CHEERS.
Hi Seymour, hope it solves your issues.
Excellent video. My water heater has the same issue - it won't spark and when I light it manually, it won't stay lit.
thank you very much very informative. my electric does not work either. going to look for a vid of that also. and the heater only blows cold air. have some work to do. I was thinking it is a propane problem. but with the electric not working on the hot water heater it has got me wondering. I will get to final answer you have me of to a good start. thank you again.
Good luck!
The best I have seen! You were thorough and touched on the basics. I have one question. Do you turn off all the electricty to the rig, shore power for example? Thanks again!
When testing you need power to unit however you should disconnect all power sources when working on the unit.
Great video and information, thank You. At what point would the thermostat need to be replaced. What would be the trouble at the multimeter end or other.. After I do a routine flush my HH will light then shut off 3 times or a few sets of 3 try. then, I turn the switch off, say a prayer, and it starts for good again. It's bee off and on like this for over a year. I will do all the servicing you menton here, I am sure it will help !!
Thank you so much! It definitely helped me out! New sub alert! 💯
Glad it helped and Thanks for the sub!
This was very well done. We have the same situation of heater not staying lit. Went through your steps cleaning, replaced thermofuse and igniter. It still doesn't stay lit. 3 lighting cycles. No continuous lighting. Ugh. 😢 next step?
Hi, obviously I can't diagnose a problem here however if you have done all the testing in the video you may have an issue with the control board. Check out this video ruclips.net/video/wgk-vaFD4kg/видео.html
My wife and I cut short a mini trip due to no hot water. Lit fine at home, but after a 4 hour drive, no flame. Got home and followed the same procedure you demonstrated. The gas lit within a couple of seconds. Thank you so much for posting this video. You saved this old guy a few dollars!
Just wanted to say thank you and that your video helped me main burner had mild blockage debris rust etc
Great to hear!
Your videos are so well made..... keep up the great work 👍
Hi Gary, Glad you like them!
Man great video. Wish it had been at the top of my list. Fortunately you have the same one as me so all your info was spot on. Luckily my gas side of heater just came on but I am going to check everything that you did when I get home.
Hi David, Glad it was helpful. I have another video about changing out the control board if you find that is the problem. Good luck.
Thank you. Things to try. My propane is not working either. Does not light. It seems to try. I smell the propane but no go.
Followed your directions and got the hot water heater going while out camping.
That's great to hear. Glad it helped. Happy camping.
Hi, friend. I can't find a spec for what the voltage should be at the ignitor coil. Also, seems like the ignitor also functions in place of a thermocouple? is there a test you're aware of for it beyond just continuity?
Thanks.
Thanks! Very helpful as we troubleshoot the water heater on our new to us rig! Nice video!
Glad it helped!
Thanks for this. My Atwood will not light. I do hear the sparks but no gas smell.
I don't know if it was your accent or not, but you were pronouncing it "selenoid" or "salenoid" instead of "solonoid". Excellent water heater tutorial! Thank you so much.
That is my Jersey accent lol.
Yeah i watch Rv maintenance channels there very helpful. Good stuff👍
Yes they are! Thanks for watching Darryl.
This video is amazing! I've learned so much thank you! I have a silly question and maybe I missed this part... do I have to turn all the electric off to the trailer when working on this since you were working with the propane area?
Hi thanks so much. It is always recommended to turn all power and gas off when working on the RV.
Thank you Fella, very helpful. 👍
Thank you so much for the water heater tutorial, totally fixed my hot water heater!
Hi Jayce, Glad it helped!
Lou to the rescue. I'm not so upset after finding this video. If the wire going to the sparker hadn't broke while cleaning I'd not have seen this. Excellent 👍.
I don't have a new part on hand . Can the wire be reconnected on the electronic side
I would not try to patch the wire. I would purchase a new one. There are links to many of the items in the description box.
Excellent tutorial...Easy to understand:)
Mine stopped working on gas as well last weekend. After troubleshooting, it fires up on gas sometimes, but not all the time. Going to take it apart and check .
Checked and put back as everything looked fine. I ended up buying a new control board and currently awaiting arrival.
I received the board Thursday, installed and tested it today. Fires up with no problem.
It was really helpful. I was able to fix my water Heatar, Thank you so much for your nice illustration.
You are welcome 😊
Great video. Clear and concise. Very helpful. Thanks!
Thanks Michael.
best explanation of all of this that I've seen so far really great video
I appreciate it. Thanks for watching.
This was very helpful. Mine was working earlier this week but very loud. Now it won’t light at all and just leaks out gas from the mixing chamber. Shouldn’t it shut off the gas if there’s no flame?
Hi Rachael, yes the control board should cut the gas off if no flame is detected. Leaking gas can be extremely dangerous. You should have a qualified technician service the unit.
I just fixed mine by pulling and re-inserting the multi-pin board connector due to slight corrosion.
great video looks like cold showers for this winter again !
Great video but one question, how do you test the electrical element ? and do all WH have one ?
I just have to say here at 2:36s this is the most brilliant explanation I have ever heard! Bravo. I'm troubleshooting now suddenly no hot water gas nor electric. Similar looking Atwood Unit. See if I can learn something here. Hope so cause getting cold outside. Unlike most videos which are confusing guesswork, this so crystal clearly explained. Man, where can I make a donation. Bravo! Surprisingly I got the same unit on my "Yellow Submarine" haha! Which kind of sand paper to use for cleaning up those rusty points?
Hi James, thank you very much. I feel once you understand how something works you will have better success in diagnosing any problems. As for sandpaper you really can use any common sandpaper grit. I used 220. If you have no electric or gas make sure the unit is getting power to the control board. If it is getting power you check power after the board. If you have the same unit as mine, it is reported that Atwood did have some bad boards back around 2016. The board says *Zhongding* on the side. I have this board and plan to change it out as a precaution. Good luck.
My propane fueled rv heater just quit. I checked the ground wire lug where it screws into heater cabinet. I cleaned some corrosion off and reinstalled it. Heater works again.
Great tips, and maintenance practice. Good video 😎
Thanks! 👍
Best video for an old and new Atwoods
Thanks so much
Hi, great video ! I just bought a motor home and it seems i only have one switch to turn off the 12 Volt. But vavious stuff stays turned on. So i assume i would need to just shut down some master breaker to stop the 12volt from flowing to the floor propane sensor for example ? thx !
Hi, there should only be one disconnect switch to turn batteries off. There are certain items in the RV that may be wired directly bypassing the disconnect switch. One such item that is common is the LPG Detector. To truly disconnect batteries just remove the negative wire from the battery.
Hi Lou thanks for the video, did you ever replace that spark arrester I am having trouble with mine could not get past the rivet that they attached, how did you get past it thank you
Hi Mike, The spark arrester should come with a metal bracket that attaches to the burner tube. Mine was held in with a small screw. If your is riveted it can easily be removed by drilling through the rivet. Good luck.
Hi there! Great video.
I am having the same issue with the flame going out after just a few seconds.
I did all the cleaning steps and installed a new igniter, but the flame still goes out after a few seconds. Do you have any other ideas on what the problem may be?
Thank you
Excellent video, Lou. My son-in-law did some plumbing and got an '05 Trail Cruiser. Decent shape but water heater not working. There's a red rocker switch on the top of cabinets below front of sink. Turn it on and it stays on a few minutes and then will cycle one-off if I remember correctly. Is that switch used when heating with electricity? I haven't found any other switch that would be to select gas or electric. His heater looks identical to the one you have. Guy at RV center said it could be Atwood, Suburban.... Appearance wise I see Atwood. I'm gonna go through it like you did and see if I can get gas to work for now. It's 3 hrs away at hunting club. Thanks for the tips.
If it is a suburban they have a rocker switch outside in the corner of the water heater. Good luck
Great video sir, this was exactly what I was looking for to help me out with my problem. I wish others would make better videos like this one without all the other nonsense. Subscribed to your channel ❤
Great to hear!
This popped up in my recommended after I tried to Google more troubleshooting info for ours. We spent our first weekend in our new (to us) trailer and the water heater would work on both electric and gas, but it was overheating and tripping off on a fault.
Once I got back on Tuesday with my tools I found that it was overheating to 180°F, tripping the ECO, which I assume causes the board to lock out and send a fault. The main TSTAT was still closed and calling for heat. It had good contact to the tank, I went back and replaced it last night. The trailer is being used for a rental this weekend so I hope they don't have any issues. It's a decent heater
If I was to guess without running tests I would have done what you did and replace the thermostat. Hopefully that corrects the problem.
I'm a plumber/oil burner mechanic/gas fitter... if I can't figure it out and fix it I'd be a little embarrassed at myself lol
LOL, you will have no problem.