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Old 05-07-2022, 06:04 PM   #1
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6 gal Suburban water heater not firing on propane and heating correctly on electric.

Forest River Vibe 311rls 6 gallon Suburban water heater. Correction in titile NOT heating correctly on electric


When I turn the propane heat switch on inside the camper the red light does not come on and nothing happens. I suspect the controller board is doa but I cannot locate where it is. Its covered with a 4x4 inch plastic white cover and I saw it 5 years ago cause I had problems with it not firing then but it turned out to be just a funky connection on the plug. In the meantime I had gotten a replacement under warranty and still have it but for the life of me I cannot locate where it is at now and I have looked for it everywhere apparently except for where it is located. Does anyone know where they stash these things on a Vibe 311 rls?

On the electric side I have fairly hot water for 5 seconds then it goes to luke warm. I checked the voltage on the two thermostats. The upper one has .3 volts and the bottom one has 12 volts. I suspect both should have 12 volts? I have 120 volts on the heating element.

This worked fine last year and when I got it out and de winterized these two problems came up. The water heater is full and the tank has been bled of air.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated thanks, Joe Schulte
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Old 05-07-2022, 06:28 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by vmfa View Post
Forest River Vibe 311rls 6 gallon Suburban water heater. Correction in titile NOT heating correctly on electric


When I turn the propane heat switch on inside the camper the red light does not come on and nothing happens. I suspect the controller board is doa but I cannot locate where it is. Its covered with a 4x4 inch plastic white cover and I saw it 5 years ago cause I had problems with it not firing then but it turned out to be just a funky connection on the plug. In the meantime I had gotten a replacement under warranty and still have it but for the life of me I cannot locate where it is at now and I have looked for it everywhere apparently except for where it is located. Does anyone know where they stash these things on a Vibe 311 rls?

On the electric side I have fairly hot water for 5 seconds then it goes to luke warm. I checked the voltage on the two thermostats. The upper one has .3 volts and the bottom one has 12 volts. I suspect both should have 12 volts? I have 120 volts on the heating element.

This worked fine last year and when I got it out and de winterized these two problems came up. The water heater is full and the tank has been bled of air.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated thanks, Joe Schulte
Your bypass valves are not set correctly and the hot water is mixing with the cold water.
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Old 05-07-2022, 06:32 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by vmfa View Post
Forest River Vibe 311rls 6 gallon Suburban water heater. Correction in titile NOT heating correctly on electric


When I turn the propane heat switch on inside the camper the red light does not come on and nothing happens. I suspect the controller board is doa but I cannot locate where it is. Its covered with a 4x4 inch plastic white cover and I saw it 5 years ago cause I had problems with it not firing then but it turned out to be just a funky connection on the plug. In the meantime I had gotten a replacement under warranty and still have it but for the life of me I cannot locate where it is at now and I have looked for it everywhere apparently except for where it is located. Does anyone know where they stash these things on a Vibe 311 rls?

On the electric side I have fairly hot water for 5 seconds then it goes to luke warm. I checked the voltage on the two thermostats. The upper one has .3 volts and the bottom one has 12 volts. I suspect both should have 12 volts? I have 120 volts on the heating element.

This worked fine last year and when I got it out and de winterized these two problems came up. The water heater is full and the tank has been bled of air.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated thanks, Joe Schulte

It's really hard to follow your descriptions, with how you are using the terminology but I think I understand somewhat.


As far as the luke warm water, let's check the bypass valves behind the water heater. This is also where you are going to find the module board you are talking about, but we aren't going to discuss that yet. Please read this thread (link below) and let me know what you find as far as the bypass valves. If you can take a pic with your cellphone (if applicable) of these valves behind the water heater and post it here, it will help tremendously.


https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...st-103381.html


We will proceed after you do that in the thread link above.
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Old 05-10-2022, 11:36 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by boondocking View Post
Your bypass valves are not set correctly and the hot water is mixing with the cold water.
You are correct and you figured out what the problem is! I appreciate you responding to my post and supply the answer to the problem.

As for the propane side not working. I located the controller board. It was taped on top of the water heater. I unplugged the plug on it and reconnected it. It would then fire for as long as the spark igniter was sparking then go out.
One would think the thermocoupler was at fault. However in this unit per se there is no actual thermocoupler. The nearest thing I could figure is the spark igniter detects the flame. I removed it and cleaned the surface contacts up where it mounted and got rid of the lime scale. When I put it back together it fired and continued to heat after the spark ignition quit firing.

So I am good and appreciate your assistance and caring enough to respond to my post, Joe Schulte
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Old 05-11-2022, 12:19 AM   #5
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You're welcome!
Real glad to hear that you got it working.
Happy Camping my friend.
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Old 05-11-2022, 07:33 AM   #6
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Well,Joe.. Thank You For Your Feedback Regarding Just How This All Turned Out For You! These Fine Folks Constantly "Go To Da' Wall" To Render Assistance. Their Reward Is You Getting Back To Them!!
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