Supposed to leave tomorrow morning. Water heater won't light

[dugwms]

We have a 2016 Flagstaff 26RLWS. We were getting it ready for tomorrow when I noticed a bit of water dripping out of the relief valve for the water heater. Did some searching, said to open the valve to clear any contaminant that may be there. Did that, now it won't light again. It's been a couple of hours. The lighted switch comes on but the red led for DSI does not. Typically, the red led comes on for 15 seconds or so then goes off. The red led does not come on now. It was working before. I've checked gas and breakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by dugwms

We have a 2016 Flagstaff 26RLWS. We were getting it ready for tomorrow when I noticed a bit of water dripping out of the relief valve for the water heater. Did some searching, said to open the valve to clear any contaminant that may be there. Did that, now it won't light again. It's been a couple of hours. The lighted switch comes on but the red led for DSI does not. Typically, the red led comes on for 15 seconds or so then goes off. The red led does not come on now. It was working before. I've checked gas and breakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

1 - Is the water already hot? If so, then there is no need for it to light....yet. The red LED won't come on until it's time (low water temp.) for it to fire up.
2 - If it's a Suburban water heater, is the on/off switch located behind the propane valve "ON"?
3 - Check the fuses in the distribution panel. The propane side of the heater works on 12 volts DC power. When you let some water out of the overflow, it may have shorted and blown the fuse.

[dugwms]

Fuses and breaker are fine. Switch behind burner is for electric mode and it is off. Water isn't hot any longer. I guess we'll just run it on electric, I just like the quicker recovery time of gas. Thanks!

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by dugwms

We have a 2016 Flagstaff 26RLWS. We were getting it ready for tomorrow when I noticed a bit of water dripping out of the relief valve for the water heater. Did some searching, said to open the valve to clear any contaminant that may be there. Did that, now it won't light again. It's been a couple of hours. The lighted switch comes on but the red led for DSI does not. Typically, the red led comes on for 15 seconds or so then goes off. The red led does not come on now. It was working before. I've checked gas and breakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sometimes, especially when the water heater has lost it's "air bubble" water expansion will cause the pressure/temperature relief valve to leak somewhat. Yes, contamination could cause it to leak but the usual cure is to shut off heating element and gas, then drain water heater. Replace plug and re-fill. A small amount of air will be retained and will act as an expansion chamber. Expanding water has to go somewhere and unless there is some air to compress, out the valve it goes.

Now for the punch line. When you opened the valve to clear any possible debris did you by chance flood the gas burner unit and/or soak the igniter element. If the insulator gets wet it will merely short the spark to ground rather than at the tip where it lights the gas.

Take a hair dryer or compressed air and blow out the area around the igniter electrode and try again.

FWIW, I have never had any debris cause the temp/pressure valve to leak and if I did open the valve I'd be sure to make sure the water didn't wet down any of the heater components. I think it should have it's own pipe taking the water out of the compartment, just like the ones on you home water heater, but that's not the way the factories build them. Pipe costs money I guess.

[5picker]

You received some good suggestions... how did you make out?

[Dmax07]

Mine turned out to be a transistor burnt out on the controller board located on the side of the hot water heater insulation. Replaced controller board $100 works fine now. Going to replace the transistor on old board and keep it for a spare.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by rracer5

1 - Is the water already hot? If so, then there is no need for it to light....yet. The red LED won't come on until it's time (low water temp.) for it to fire up.
2 - If it's a Suburban water heater, is the on/off switch located behind the propane valve "ON"?
3 - Check the fuses in the distribution panel. The propane side of the heater works on 12 volts DC power. When you let some water out of the overflow, it may have shorted and blown the fuse.

I forgot 1 more thing to check. In the pic attached you'll see the black rubber membrane (upper left) with 2 circular indents that cover the 2 reset switches. 1 is for the 110v side of the heater and the other is for the 12v side. Press both of them. If one seems to push in and lock then maybe that was the issue, it needed to be reset.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by TitanMike;1981988FWIW, I have never had any debris cause the temp/pressure valve to leak and if I did open the valve I'd be sure to make sure the water didn't wet down any of the heater components. [COLOR="Blue"

I think it should have it's own pipe taking the water out of the compartment, just like the ones on you home water heater, [/COLOR]but that's not the way the factories build them. Pipe costs money I guess.

IIRC there are plumbing codes which limit just how much you can put on the OPV outlet. One restriction I've seen on residential allows only a straight-down extension to within 6" of the floor, whereupon it runs into a floor drain. The fear is that too many elbows and restrictions could clog from a slow leak and then defeat the purpose of the OPV.

As for me, it annoys me to have the drips (and rust stains) at the heater door and down the side of the rig. I've considered cutting a hole in the door and using a copper elbow and a couple of short segments to extend the OPV through the door. Not what DW would think of the aesthetics.

Larry

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

IIRC there are plumbing codes which limit just how much you can put on the OPV outlet. One restriction I've seen on residential allows only a straight-down extension to within 6" of the floor, whereupon it runs into a floor drain. The fear is that too many elbows and restrictions could clog from a slow leak and then defeat the purpose of the OPV.

As for me, it annoys me to have the drips (and rust stains) at the heater door and down the side of the rig. I've considered cutting a hole in the door and using a copper elbow and a couple of short segments to extend the OPV through the door. Not what DW would think of the aesthetics.

Larry

in my house the valve has close to 20 feet of piping on it to route the water outside the building. All to code.

[dugwms]

Tried the water heater in the morning and it worked fine. I'm gonna guess it dried out and all was well. Not leaking from the valve anymore either. Thanks everyone.

[keith52]

Originally Posted by dugwms

Tried the water heater in the morning and it worked fine. I'm gonna guess it dried out and all was well. Not leaking from the valve anymore either. Thanks everyone.

Good news!

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by dugwms

Tried the water heater in the morning and it worked fine. I'm gonna guess it dried out and all was well. Not leaking from the valve anymore either. Thanks everyone.

Next time it leaks from the OPV and you're in a hurry, just open a tap for a second to relieve the overpressure. Just need a second or two.

I'm usually a little skeptical of Pressure Reducing Valves (PRV) for RVs, but this is one instance where they make sense. If the initial pressure is lower, the final pressure after cold water has heated will also be lower, maybe low enough to not trigger the OPV.

Larry