Suburban Water Heater issue in Pup

[Luvtofishkc]

Hi All,
Brand new pup owner here with a water heater issue that I need help with. Just brought home a new 2020 Rockwood 232ESP Folding camper. I had to drive 620 miles round trip to pick this up from an out of state dealer since none were to be found in my region of the country. Now that I’m home, I find an issue with the water heater that appeared to be working fine during the walkthrough at the dealership. On this camper the heater is located in the dinette slide out. I’ve found the only way the heater will light is if I push the slide out in a few inches during the ignition phase of the heater. If I flip the start switch with the slide out fully extended the heater will attempt to light but seems to be getting zero LP fuel and will not fire up. Push it in 3 inches and it fires right up. If I then pull the slide out all the way, the heater immediately goes out. Does anybody know what is causing this craziness?

[5picker]

Sounds like the flex supply hose that feeds the water heater is being pinched/kinked or the control wiring that goes to the water heater has issues as the slide moves in and out. The flex hose and electrical wiring are usually on a folding arm or some sort of apparatus that moves with the slide.

Can you look up under the slide and make sure the routing is OK?

[Luvtofishkc]

On this camper, the tank is located under the dinette bench. The wiring, LP flex hose and water lines are routed down through a hole in the bottom of the bench box. The dinette floor is raised about 5 inches which provides room for routing them underneath. From outside underneath the camper I see where the gas line is routed up through the floor but don’t see any issues with it. But your right, the act of pulling the slide all the way out must be kinking the flex line flat where it exits the camper below. I’m going to get a flash light and see if I can see down in the hole in the floor of the dinette bench. I’ll report back in a few.

[Luvtofishkc]

Okay, problem solved. I pulled about 10” of excess flex hose up through the floor of the bench. I’m now able to fully extend the slide out without killing the heater. That excess flex hose must of been getting in a kink when the slide out was pulled all the way out. Woot!!! Your comment helped me narrow the problem down. Thanks!

[5picker]

Glad you found the culprit.
Thanks for coming back and telling us the resolution.
Your results will likely help others in the future!