Water Heater won't light.

[kev2504]

I seem to have a problem with my water heater. It is a Suburban model
SW10DE. It worked great Friday night and Saturday morning. Saturday evening I noticed the red light was on, so I turned it off and went to bed.
Sunday morning I turned the switch back on, it tried to light 3 times and stopped trying. I do have propane, because the heat works, and the stove.
Any help would be appreciated.
Kev

[Shawomet3]

Mine didn't work when the batteries were low (about 50%-not really dead, though). When I plugged in again it fired right up.

[Hokiehall]

There is a chance the circuit board may have gone bad. It happened to me. Once the board was replaced, everything worked fine.

[KyDan]

Could be one of several things.
Bad thermocouple
bad/stuck gas valve.
bad board
bad connection

On a previous trailer that was in it's first year, my hot water heater
quit working. It was gas only.
There was a multi wire socket on the edge of the control board.
I pulled it off and re-plugged it several times to "clean"
the contacts and it started working and continued to work
for the next 4 years.
So I say-- unplug and re-plug any wires you can find
on the heater and give it another try.

Good luck!

[kev2504]

Where is the circuit board located, and how do I get one?
Thanks

[Hokiehall]

Any RV supply store will have them. It will be located near your water heater, probably behind it. It will probably be very difficult to get to. Mine was under warranty when it went bad so I had the dealer replace it. The service man had to turn several different ways the human body is not supposed to turn to get to it. They will run about $100 - $125 or so.

[kev2504]

Mine might not be too bad, it is located under the sink.

Is there a way to test the board, with a meter to see if it is bad?

[Hokiehall]

Originally Posted by kev2504

Mine might not be too bad, it is located under the sink.

Is there a way to test the board, with a meter to see if it is bad?

I don't know but I doubt it. When I took mine in, they didn't try to test the existing one, they just replaced it. Maybe someone else here can answer that.

[Crossfire]

There are two rubber covered reset buttons on the face of the heater near the gas supply tube. Did you try pushing these? Sometimes they need to be reset for the auto igniter to work

[kev2504]

Yep, I checked them, but they were not resetable. I also tried a long lighter when it was trying to light. I think it is the board, because that is what controls the fuel valve. I don't think it was getting fuel. I talked to the dealer, and he suggested unplugging the board and re plugging it in.
I just ordered a new board, and will try that after it comes in.
Kev

[OSCBRADLEY]

Hope you dont mind but I'm gunna jump in on your thread...you said you noticed the red light was on? I was under the impression the light should be on, no? this past trip I turned on the hot water switch inside the trailer but didnt really get any hot water so I went outside, pushed the reset buttons behind the rubber, pulled the cotter pin and switched the electric switch to on....water was kind of hot but leaned more toward the warm side. Question is, should the red light be on or off, do I need both the inside and outside switch to be on?

[Hokiehall]

Red light should be off. It will come on while lighting but when the heater is lit, the light will go off. If it stays on,the water heater is not lit.

[kev2504]

I agree.
My Suburban heater has a 3 try lighting board. It will try to light 3 times, and if it doesn't light it goes into lockout, and the light comes on. You can turn the switch off and wait 5 seconds and turn it back on, and it will try again.

[OSCBRADLEY]

Thanks, makes sense

[kev2504]

Well, I replaced the Board, and it still won't light.
I think I need to replace the fuel valve. When it try's to light, I have voltage going to the valve, but it seems that I don't have any gas.
It seems that the thermostat and high limit switch work, because I tried to bypass them with a wire, and it didn't matter. So the only thing left is the fuel valve.

Kev

[MikeInColo]

Just went camping over Memorial day and I had kind of the same issue. I checked it when I was at home (and plugged into shore power) and the water heater would fire off perfectly everytime.

When we were dry camping, I would get the electronic ignition ticking about five times and then it would quit. I solved the problem temporarily by turning on the water heater inside the camper, running outside and holding a lighter behind the ignition area (it would fire right up when doing that).

I believe that my problem is that I'm having issues with my batteries (low charge--they were consistently at 1/3 power all the time. I would charge them with my generator for about an hour a day but they don't hold a charge well.) I think that would explain why it works when I'm plugged into shore power but doesn't work when dry camping.

You may want to double-check your battery power as Shawomet3 suggested in a post above.

[kev2504]

My battery is fine, and my converter is new, and works great.
When the heater try's to light I have voltage at the valve, but no gas. It varies from 12 to 14 volts. It is hard to read because it bounces all over.

[kev2504]

Update, I replaced the fuel valve, and it works great.
So all said and done I spent $160 to fix, plus I have a spare board.
Not too bad.
Kev