Soot from water heater

[KenandCarol]

I've always used the electrical side since I've had hookups. In my sons driveway driveway I used propane for 4 mornings and had nice hot showers.
When I broke camp yesterday I noticed a stain of soot coming from the water heater vent and up 3 feet on the side of the coach. Now neither the gas nor the electrical work.
Atwood 6 gallon in a 2017 Sunseeker 2250. Wires look ok, breaker is ok. Smells a little burnt. I'm on the road and using the phone app so troubleshooting will propably wait until i get home. Looking for ideas or if anyone has seen similar.

[realebill]

clean out the burner tube. maybe not getting the proper air /propane mixture.

[5picker]

Depends on what the soot is from.

As mentioned if the burner tube gets a spider web or mud dauber nest, then it could be coming from an improper burn mixture in the burner tube.

That shouldn't have anything to do with the 120v AC side.... unless... we've had reports of the improper burner flame flaring up inside the outer panel and burning some of the wiring.

You are going to do some diagnosing.

[KenandCarol]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Depends on what the soot is from.

As mentioned if the burner tube gets a spider web or mud dauber nest, then it could be coming from an improper burn mixture in the burner tube.

That shouldn't have anything to do with the 120v AC side.... unless... we've had reports of the improper burner flame flaring up inside the outer panel and burning some of the wiring.

You are going to do some diagnosing.

That's what I'm thinking. There is no visable wiring damage but there is a burnt smell. Very faint. It does look like something flared because all this soot happened in just one morning.

[5picker]

Do the other LP appliances work correctly?

Maybe you have a LP regulator going bad?

Again, that shouldn't have anything to do with the electric side.

[KenandCarol]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Do the other LP appliances work correctly?

Maybe you have a LP regulator going bad?

Again, that shouldn't have anything to do with the electric side.

Other propane apl work fine.

[KenandCarol]

It was a bad propane regulator.

As a side note, on the Atwood water heaters there is a Thermal Cut-off that cuts the power by opening up the incoming power wire to the thermostat. It is set for 190 degrees F and is designed to shut it down if fire gets out of the firebox. It kills power to the gas and electrical sides of the WH and has to be physically replaced once it opens.

[chaps2018]

Woild be very interested in your diagnostic path to determine the regulator at fault.

[KenandCarol]

That was easy, I took it to my local independent RV Service center.
I can handle the electrical and most mechanical and even plumbing issues myself. I'm not to sure and don't have the tools to diagnose propane issues. It was obvious that flames went outside the burner box and I could have shot gunned it and replaced the regulator myself but I decided to let my repair guy do it right.

[OREddie]

I've got a similar issue on my Forester 2017 MB Ws 2401. Of course soot wouldn't appear if one's using electric unless something's on fire but I do see a significant accumulation after using gas to heat water.

Naturally C02 in the coach would also be a concern. Did your shop figure out what was wrong?

[KenandCarol]

I believe that mine actually did catch fire and had a flare up. Both the electric and propane over temperature fuses opened up like designed. I ended up with a new WH propane regulator. I also picked up some spare of the OT fuses. If I had one I could have replaced the electrical OT link and had hot water for the rest of the trip.

https://smile.amazon.com/Atwood-9386...er+parts&psc=1

If you are getting a lot of soot you might want to make sure the burners are clean and there are no spider web or insect nests in there. I haven't had a regular soot problem so I'm not sure.