Water Heater Problem

[mgb922]

Hi I'm new to this forum and our wildcat 32 QB. Had some strange stuff happen this week. Was setting up and some of the lights in the front weren't working. The bad fuse indicator was lit but when I pulled the fuse it wasn't bunts. Stuck it back it and worked.

The bad thing that happened was when I turned on the water heater and nothing but the ignitor was snapping. Opened the panel and the solinoid on the gas valve was melted. One would think it would have been fused but????

Any thoughts

I'm also looking for a wiring diagram but I understand they are non-existant.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by mgb922

Hi I'm new to this forum and our wildcat 32 QB. Had some strange stuff happen this week. Was setting up and some of the lights in the front weren't working. The bad fuse indicator was lit but when I pulled the fuse it wasn't bunts. Stuck it back it and worked.

The bad thing that happened was when I turned on the water heater and nothing but the ignitor was snapping. Opened the panel and the solenoid on the gas valve was melted. One would think it would have been fused but????

Any thoughts

I'm also looking for a wiring diagram but I understand they are non-existent.

Tim,

First, welcome to the forum. I hope you find some time this winter and spend it with us.

Second, Fuses can not always be visually checked "good." A blow can be a microscopic separation in the wire or at the attachment points. Plugging it back in, can arc the break and re-"make" the connection until the next shock "blows" it again. The only way to check a fuse "good" is with an Ohm Meter.

The gas solenoid has me scratching my head though. The furnace is fused on the DC side, but it will only blow if there is a current pull exceeding 15 amps. You can have a nice fire from a high resistance connection without drawing more than 15 amps. Corroded terminals can get hot enough to melt plastic and start fires without blowing a fuse or tripping a circuit breaker.. Maybe that was your problem.

As to wiring diagrams; they do not have one since they don't use one at the plant. They have shop drawings and giant spools of colored twin wire for each gauge they need. In my Flagstaff every 30 amp DC circuit was run with the same Green and Yellow twin wire. This photo has runs for my tank heaters and BOTH slide out motors, all with the same wire type.

I have also attached a "generic" wiring diagram. VERY generic.

[mgb922]

Yes I see waht everyone is talking about. Your schematic shows a red wire coming from the 12v bus going into the command center then turning to yellow to the switch then coming out of the switch as a blue wire into the module and blue off the module to the indicator lamp and brown to the gas valve?????? All these colors must mean something to someone. But I'm sure my system is very similar to yours in that the water heater is powered by 12v. So if I'm getting 12v fromt he brown wire with the switch on It should be just a gas valve replacement. If there is more of no voltage from the brown wire I'm looking at a module too. I'm wondering too if I may have gotten a small lightening strike and the solonoids where the end or exit point. Either that or a good size power surge.

[Rebel702]

My dealer warned me about the electrical wiring process on RVs. He has watched at the factory and seen the results in their service dept how each worker does their own thing on running wires. No standard layout getting from point A to point B. The ladies making the wiring harnesses also do not use consistent colors, just grab a wire and go. Makes it fun for service techs.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by mgb922

I'm wondering too if I may have gotten a small lightening strike and the solenoids where the end or exit point. Either that or a good size power surge.

I seriously doubt either of those two caused your problem. Both would cause much more damage to your electronics than a toasted solenoid or two. A short in the winding due to a thin spot in the wire's lacquer coating would be enough of a high resistance short to overheat and burn the solenoid. I would just order a replacement for that assembly and any other obviously toasted items and check it out.

[mgb922]

Update:
I called Suburban and a guy came out to look. What happened was a flash back on the burner tube burning the gas valves solenoid and which shorted the control module. He got it working but there was low pressure coming into the burner tube which would have caused the flash back. We looked at the pressure in the line and it seemed ok so he's thinking the gas valve was clogged causing low pressure in the burner tube and the flash back. Hopefully it'll be under warranty.