Suburban Water Heater Won't Light!

[Ontherock]

Hi:

The Suburban water heater (SW6D) in our trailer has never given me any trouble until tonight. It is a propane only version with a re-ignitor. It almost seems like I have a gas flow issue as it doesn't even want to light the pilot, let alone the main burner. Both the furnace and the stove are working fine. I tried cycling the gas control through off-pilot-on-pilot-off several times and finally got the main burner lit for a while. I closed the access door and let it run for a while thinking I may have just had a stuck valve but a few minutes later it was off again and the re-ignitor was trying in vain to light the pilot. Any suggestions?

[aceinspp]

Check and see if pilot tube is plugged. May have had spiders or mud dobbers plug up. Later RJD

[Ontherock]

Can I use compressed air to just blow around the tip or do I need to remove the pilot tube completely to clean it out?

[Ontherock]

Update!

Used the air compressor to blow out the gas heating chamber and all seems to be working great now - thanks!

[Mr. Dan]

Good for you, rock! Thanks for reporting back with your solution. That makes us all more knowledgeable.

[gickes]

I had this same issue as it turned out there was still enough hot(warm) water in the tank that the heater apparently felt that there was now need to light. after purging some of the water in the tank it started right up. no problems since.