Hot water heater booms when trying to light off

[Suzanne Lewis]

Can anyone offer fixes for this? The hot water heater lights off sometimes fine no problems, then when its time to relight it will go thru a cycle of clicking to try to light then it will boom, then you have to reset it to get it to go thru cycle again to light. The dealer could not replicate so they were no help. It doesnt do it all the time. Any suggestions. We have a 2008 Salem QBSS bunkhouse. It just bothers me that it does this.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Suzanne Lewis

Can anyone offer fixes for this? The hot water heater lights off sometimes fine no problems, then when its time to relight it will go thru a cycle of clicking to try to light then it will boom, then you have to reset it to get it to go thru cycle again to light. The dealer could not replicate so they were no help. It doesnt do it all the time. Any suggestions. We have a 2008 Salem QBSS bunkhouse. It just bothers me that it does this.

Debris or cob webs in burner tube.
Just needs to be blown out.

[MotocrossCamper]

The little fork fingers may be broken or with heat have moved away from their original position. Just fixed a friends last week. The fingers had moved so much it was not generating the spark necessary to ignite. It had to fill up with gas first and then the weak spark would finally ignite it causing flames to shoot out the side and a big boom. If you look at it when it's dark out you should be able to have somebody turn the water heater on from inside while you look in there and you should be able to see a very distinct bright flash for a spark, if not you need to replace it or very carefully bend them back where they need to go, use extreme caution because they are very hard to bend and break pretty easily.

[MikeInColo]

I had this exact same situation.

It turned out that if I removed the cover plate to the hot water heater and tried to light, I would get the clicking and then a whoosh with no start. When I replaced the cover and tried to light it, the hot water heater would work perfect every time.

Hope this helps.

[LKicklight]

Ours makes the same bombing noise when she lights off, then the whole time it is running, the sound is very loud, sounds like a jet engine running...Could this be our problem also?
LKicklight@aol.com

[AVid]

One of the causes of the "boom" is the ignitor is mis-aligned in relation to the burner tube. The combustion chamber will fill with propane until it reaches the ignitor, then...well "boom". Most of the time a good cleaning and check of the ignitor placement is all you need.

John

[novaken1]

Yep, mine did that too until I cleaned it out.

[andyflyfisher]

You have a spark delay. It can get bad enough to cause damage. You can have the dealer check the positioning of the electrodes and fire the ignitor as many times as needed to test.

If your dealer cannot replicate the problem and you have the problem whether the door to the water heater is open or closed get the dealer to replace the spark ignition with a standing pilot light. It may use a little more propane but it won't be dangerous.

You have many answers and they may have worked for the posters. Try them and if you still have the delayed spark go old school and be safe. JMHO

[DAISY BOYKIN]

Clean out the gas (PROPANE) tube, a spider or bug or trash has gotten into the gas tube, causes uneven ignition. You can simply remove the tube or use a air hose to blow the tube out. It is the tube that has the gas jet at the beginning of the tapered tube. If you remove it, make a mark exactly where it is set or bolted to the unit. This should be the correct air mixture adjustment.