Help with Dometic WH-6GEA water heater

[Atlee]

I have a still under warranty 2021 Coachmen Freedom Express 20SE (Select Edition). [This is basically the same as the discontinued higher level 204RD with some items stripped out to lower the price point]. It has a Dometic WH-6GEA water heater. It was working at the beginning of our trip, last weekend. At the end of the trip, it had stopped working completely. It will not work on gas or electric.

I have checked the AC circuit breaker in the electricity distribution box. It's ok. I checked all the DC blade fuses, and all are OK. I also checked the small 2 amp DC mini ATO blade type fuse located on the circuit board itself. It appears to be OK.

Any ideas what would cause this? I have a multi-meter. What contacts should I test to see if the circuit board on the heater is dead? What should I check for any electricity getting to the water heater.

Thanks.

[jgaltr56]

I have the exact same problem with my 2021 Work and Play. It worked for about 5 days on shore power 120VAC and about 2 days on propane before stopped heating water yesterday. I just ordered a replacement MPD 93305 control board. It arrives Wednesday, I'll let you know if it fixes the problem.

[Atlee]

Originally Posted by jgaltr56

I have the exact same problem with my 2021 Work and Play. It worked for about 5 days on shore power 120VAC and about 2 days on propane before stopped heating water yesterday. I just ordered a replacement MPD 93305 control board. It arrives Wednesday, I'll let you know if it fixes the problem.

I would order one also, but I had to pay about $100 +/- for an appliance that's still under warranty.

[jgaltr56]

Yep and they know most people won't wait for a dealer to fix it. RV warranties are mostly worthless for minor stuff. Better to learn how to fix it yourself anyways.



I also bought a few thermal cut off fuses. My buddy had he same problem and thinks it is most likely the culprit but we'll see. I will return the control board if that's not the problem.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Atlee]

So far, I've talked to Dometic. Pleasant conversation, once I got through. I was told they much prefer to have an authorized dealer do the warranty work. So I checked in with General RV who is an authorized Dometic dealer. They are booked solid through the middle of August. So a dealer is a non starter.

I want to check a couple of other wires the guy on the phone call suggested. After that, I'm going to ask that I be sent a replacement board be sent to me.

[jgaltr56]

I replaced the thermal fuse which I confirmed was bad with a continuity check.


That did not fix the problem. Replacing the control board fixed it. It's working at the moment but I don't understand what caused the failure to begin with. That was the first time I used LP so hopefully it was a faulty fuse which took out the board. We'll see.


On another note, my slide is jammed closed and I can't get it out. I can't get it in for repair for another 3 weeks and now need to cancel 3 camping trips. Wonderful quality in a new RV.

[bikendan]

Did you not know that you can use an independent RV shop or mobile RV technician to do warranty work? You just have to get pre-approval from FR and be willing to be reimbursed. Some will get the pre-approval for you.

[larryb0103]

The thermal fuse in the wire going to the thermostat went bad in mine yesterday. I replaced that and all is good. I have a 2 month old Forester 3041ds.

[Atlee]

Update:

Turns out the culprit was the thermal fuse. I had put it together without the thermal fuse in place, and the water heater began to heat. So installed a brand new thermal fuse from the RV store, and now it heats on both gas and electric.

I will get a spare to carry with me when on trips.

[jgaltr56]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Did you not know that you can use an independent RV shop or mobile RV technician to do warranty work? You just have to get pre-approval from FR and be willing to be reimbursed. Some will get the pre-approval for you.

Yes I did. I made several calls and the phone support from Forest River was courteous and helpful. Unfortunately reality is everyone is booked out months for warranty work and we have trips on the calendar so I need to get it fixed ASAP. Now I will need to use it with our bedroom slide stuck and unusable for at least a month AND need to pay for the repair out of pocket and hope the RV service center will get reimbursed eventually and then pray they will give me some kind of refund later on. If I were to wait for no out of pocket warranty work they won't even see me until September. Mobile RV techs won't touch slide work. I didn't mean to get into a debate about the merits of warranties. Just wanted to share information on a fix.

[jgaltr56]

Originally Posted by Atlee

Update:

Turns out the culprit was the thermal fuse. I had put it together without the thermal fuse in place, and the water heater began to heat. So installed a brand new thermal fuse from the RV store, and now it heats on both gas and electric.

I will get a spare to carry with me when on trips.

Glad you got it fixed. I am concerned that it got hot enough to blow a thermal fuse to begin with. They are designed to protect from runaway fires, not normal operation. I am going to replace the thermostats too just to be safe.

[jgaltr56]

So I tested the water heater today using LP. I set my phone alarm for 10 mins. It was out before I came back 10 mins later. Checked the thermal fuse and it was blown. The control board is still good. A new thermal fuse allows it to fire up again. My next step will be to replace the thermostat.

[jgaltr56]

Apparently we are not the only ones..read the reviews here



https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoo...wh-6gea-219438



I was able to get into a repair center. Let's see what they find out