Suburban hot water heater

[benf]

Hi all. Looking to tap into this forums vast knowledge. I had my first issue with my 2018 roo 233s this past weekend. My suburban hot water heater with electronic ignition faulted in propane mode after working properly the first day. It will ignite for a few seconds and sometimes up to a min before going out. It will then try and ignite again and light before going out a few seconds later. I blew out the nozzle and swapped propane tanks with no improvement. Any ideas? I really don’t like using the electric option but like going to the dealer less. Thanks!


Ben

[Scrapper]

Have you followed the troubleshooting outlined in the service manual located in the Library section of the forum?
Forest River Forums - Downloads - Plumbing, Propane and Water Systems

It's the 4th link down.

[5picker]

You said you blew out the nozzle but I'm not sure what exactly you mean by that. Have you run a brush through the burner supply tube? Spiders and bugs love to build webs/nests in there.

Why don't you like using the electric option?

[benf]

Originally Posted by 5picker

You said you blew out the nozzle but I'm not sure what exactly you mean by that. Have you run a brush through the burner supply tube? Spiders and bugs love to build webs/nests in there.

Why don't you like using the electric option?

I took the clip out and removed the propane nozzle to see if it had any debris in it. I inspected the burn chamber but didn’t think to check the burner supply tube. I will do that tomorrow. Thanks! Ben

[jeff64]

Since you had it part this far, did you take compressed air a blow out burner chamber, remove igniter, clean with wire brush the igniter bracket, the mounting stud an nut and reassemble ? That is the ground circuit for the igniter. Mine gets crusty at that point and so far has cured it . Beyond that maybe circuit board

[nomad297]

Try cleaning the flame sensor with some emery cloth/paper. Maybe bend the sensor slightly to place it more into the flame.

Bruce

[modaholic]

I wouldn’t use emery cloth , too abrasive. I use a dollar bill and have had great results.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by modaholic

I wouldn’t use emery cloth , too abrasive. I use a dollar bill and have had great results.

A dollar bill?
Got anything a little less expensive?

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by modaholic

I wouldn’t use emery cloth , too abrasive. I use a dollar bill and have had great results.

I like a Skotch pad

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

I like a Skotch pad

I think you just offended some Scotsmen!

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I think you just offended some Scotsmen!

Lol. Sorry. No wonder spellcheck complained.

Some of these....

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by benf

Hi all. Looking to tap into this forums vast knowledge. I had my first issue with my 2018 roo 233s this past weekend. My suburban hot water heater with electronic ignition faulted in propane mode after working properly the first day. It will ignite for a few seconds and sometimes up to a min before going out. It will then try and ignite again and light before going out a few seconds later. I blew out the nozzle and swapped propane tanks with no improvement. Any ideas? I really don’t like using the electric option but like going to the dealer less. Thanks!

Ben

Do your range burners light and burn steadily? If they are erratic or low, it indicates a propane supply problem. Since you indicated that you changed propane tanks, it is possible that the flow-valve in the new tank has tripped. (This is a safety feature that limits flow if initial flow is too fast--if the hose is broken, for example.)

Reset it this way.

• Turn off the tank valve.
• Disconnect the hose from the tank.
• Wait 30 seconds or a minute.
• Reconnect the hose to the tank. Make sure it's snug.
• VERY SLOWLY open the valve on the tank. If you open it too fast you could trip the flow safety again.
• Now repeat the burner test on the range. If the burners look good, the water heater should also work correctly.

If you still don't have good operation of the range and water heater, suspect a bad regulator, where you attach the tanks.

Larry

[moose074]

.On my north trail air would somehow gets in the lines . I thought I was out of propane or tank wasn’t on. After leaving stove on and lighter next to it it lit a after a few moments once stove burned normal tried my fridge again it worked might be same problem with water heater

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by moose074

.On my north trail air would somehow gets in the lines . I thought I was out of propane or tank wasn’t on. After leaving stove on and lighter next to it it lit a after a few moments once stove burned normal tried my fridge again it worked might be same problem with water heater

This happens to almost everyone, but only when the trailer has sat unused, with propane off, for several days.

In this case, however, the OP has stated that it worked fine one day and but the next.

Larry

[moose074]

You are totally correct and air in the lines probably wasn’t his initial problem. However since he blew out the lines he might now have air in the lines.

[Skip3762]

I have a 2018 Avenger ATI 20RD. Had exact problem. Dealer switched out electronic board under warranty with no problems since. Said they replaced a lot of boards.

[DouglasReid]

I do have one question..............

If your water is already hot, why do you have to heat it?

Just a pet peeve of mine, it is a "Water Heater"....that makes water hot.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by modaholic

I wouldn’t use emery cloth , too abrasive. I use a dollar bill and have had great results.

Emery cloth is just fine. I have been working on residential and commercial water heaters for the last few decades. Emery cloth is what I have always used for cleaning flame sensors — it’s what just about everybody who works on gas water heaters uses. For about eight years now, there are very few gas water heaters produced that use a thermocouple — almost all use flame sensors in conjunction with a thermopile now. Both the flame sensors and thermopiles are subject to carbon buildup which reduces their sensitivity which will cause the control valve to “think” there is either no pilot flame or no burner flame. Since these two devices are so sensitive and have a very low range of what the correct operating millivolt generation is, they tend to fail pretty often. With this being the case, I service a lot more gas water heaters today than I did about eight years ago. I pull the entire burner assembly out and clean the flame sensor and the thermopile with emery cloth — the same stock I use for cleaning my copper tube to prep it for soldering. Sometimes the cloth is fresh off of the roll and very rough, and sometimes it is as soft as a tissue — it doesn’t matter — the only difference is, the newer my piece of emery cloth is, the quicker I get the carbon off. I haven’t damaged a flame sensor or thermopile yet.

You are not going to hurt a flame sensor by cleaning it with emery cloth.

Bruce

[benf]

Ok quick update. Thank you all for all of your help so far. I blew out the burner tube and cleaned off the igniter. The stove works perfectly and I have let that run for a while.

Original issue was the flame would turn on and run for a min and then go out. The heater would try and ignite again and would not.

Now it doesn’t seem to want to light at all even though I can hear the igniter trying for 3 consecutive attempts. I believe it is definitely a propane flow issue. I am boondocking Thursday so I don’t have time to deal with bringing it in so I purchased a new suburban valve assembly and control module off amazon not knowing which it is. I will have $125 into it but hopefully will have it up and running tomorrow. Gotta love amazon prime. I’ll let you all know. Thanks again!

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

I do have one question..............

If your water is already hot, why do you have to heat it?

Just a pet peeve of mine, it is a "Water Heater"....that makes water hot.

Sometimes it makes hot water hotter. Is cold water really cold? It's all relative.