HWH kicks off

[mharrel]

My Suburban HWH won't stay on. When it shuts down, I have to turn off the electrics and the gas, wait 5 mins and turn everything on again. This used to happen every 2 or 3 days, but now it is happening about every day. When it works, it works great. When it is not working, it comes on for about 5 secs and turns off. It's a 6 gal--SW6, but I can't find a model number anywhere. It is all gas, has an ingniter--no pilot. Do I have to bite the bullet and buy a new HWH or is there a fix. It is three years old.

[Kuba]

Did you get this issue solved?

[mharrel]

Not exactly solved, but at least diagnosed. It has a bad electrode, igniter I have always called them, [it's a DSI system] and I have found that I can manually light it when it doesn't want to work. It can get exciting when the gas builds up because the igniter isn't sparking, and then it sparks causing a minor explosion. Anyway, we have reliable hot water and we will be home in a few weeks where I have more time and better tools. As for the times when it lights for five seconds and goes off--it seems to have stopped that.

[Kuba]

Bad thermocouple?

[mharrel]

I doubt it is a bad thermocouple. Usually, when they go bad, they stay bad. I may replace it though, when I have the HWH apart. Someone has suggested it may be the "module"--not even sure where that is. If I have to replace that, it may make more sense to get a new HWH. It has now worked perfectly for three days.