Help with water heater

[seansbrew]

Hello all,



I recently purchased a used Rockwood Freedom 2280.


I have a propane only suburban water heater. When I turn on the unit (after purging propane of air) nothing happens.



I have a single switch inside with a light next to it.



There is no ignition.


When checking for voltage I can find no evidence of 12 volt power. at the switch, or thermostat.



I do not smell any propane.



I checked all the fuses with a meter and they are all good.



What am I missing?

[Wishyouwerehere]

sure the gas tank is turned on?
does your gas stovetop work when turned on?
Should be a manual for the WH in the dealer package that came with it.
did ya ask previous owners about it?

[Mr. Dan]

Is your battery connected and fully charged? Have you disconnected or changed your battery recently?

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by seansbrew

Hello all,



I recently purchased a used Rockwood Freedom 2280.


I have a propane only suburban water heater. When I turn on the unit (after purging propane of air) nothing happens.



I have a single switch inside with a light next to it.



There is no ignition.


When checking for voltage I can find no evidence of 12 volt power. at the switch, or thermostat.



I do not smell any propane.



I checked all the fuses with a meter and they are all good.



What am I missing?

One of the first questions I always ask in troubleshooting, is how exactly are you checking for 12 volt DC voltage using the multimeter. Specifically, where are you placing the red and black probes at?

[tomkatb]

Find the model number on the unit. Literature is out there.

Most came with the ability to use electricity. Sort of hidden switch behind the burner/ignition. Not always.

The switch with the light is probably the gas circuit turn on.

Modern water heaters use 12 volt to light the pilot. So check the power first. Make sure the cooktop works.

[seansbrew]

The battery is fully connected and charged (13.8 volts when checked with meter).
The stove top, refrigerator, furnace interior and exterior lights all work.



This is the only item that I did not observe working before I purchased it due to inexperience.



This unit is propane only with one thermostat and no heating element.



With the inside heater switch in the on position, I checked for voltage at the thermostat (removed black cover). I grounded on the gas housing and placed positive on the contacts that are on the left and right of the dual thermostat switch. The reset is not popped out. I followed a video on how to check for a bad thermo.



For the inside I placed red probe to the back of the rocker switch contact and black probe on back of red light (the one right next to the switch) terminal.



I thought about disconnecting all terminals and checking for corrosion or poor contact.



I did find a 1 foot piece of wire that was cut out from somewhere, could not find where. it was just laying on top of the water heater inside the trailer.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by seansbrew

This unit is propane only with one thermostat and no heating element.

For the inside I placed red probe to the back of the rocker switch contact and black probe on back of red light (the one right next to the switch) terminal.

OK, let's try to delve deeper. Assuming you have the Suburban SW6D model water heater.

To check for 12 volt DC voltage, you basically have to put the red probe on the 12V+ wires/terminals and the black probe on a ground 12V-.

The water heaters switch inside the RV is just a switch on the 12v+ line. You need to turn it on and put the red probe on one terminal of this switch, Now for the 12V-, we need to put the black probe on a good ground, which can come from the DSI fault light, but this direct ground is only going to be on one terminal of the fault light. If you do not know which of the two wires to the fault light is the ground, you may need to try both terminals on the fault light to get a 12V-/ground. You have to have a good ground to test for the 12V voltage with the multimeter. I would prefer something other than the fault light ground, but that may all that is near by to use.

Here is the schematic for a SW6D water heater. I have actually edited to to label the terminals on the switch as A&B, and then the DSI fault light as C&D.

Let's test for voltage at the switch first by making sure your multimeter is set to test for 12vDC. The put the red probe on A and the black probe on C. If no voltage then change the black probe to D

Still if no voltage, then change the red probe to B and the black probe on C. If not voltage still, then change just the black probe to D.

Let us know if you get voltage on any of this.

[seansbrew]

Ok, so I checked the switch for 12v exactly the way you showed me how.
I did not get a reading on my meter, but just to be sure I checked the battery again (to ensure my meter was reading).

I pulled the junction box out and found the red and white wire that runs to the hot water tank switch completely disconnected. Just to be sure I jumped the wire to to my meter and got a closed loop.

Speculation? Next course of action?

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by seansbrew

Ok, so I checked the switch for 12v exactly the way you showed me how.
I did not get a reading on my meter, but just to be sure I checked the battery again (to ensure my meter was reading).

I pulled the junction box out and found the red and white wire that runs to the hot water tank switch completely disconnected. Just to be sure I jumped the wire to to my meter and got a closed loop.

Speculation? Next course of action?

Let's try to talk the same terms here so as to not get confused. The pic you have above seems to be of your Electrical Distribution Panel inside the RV. It should be where all your 120 volt AC (circuit breakers) and 12 volt DC (fuses) get their power from. This will probably also be where your converter is also, as I am thinking I can see the converters fan partially in the pic you have above. Let's not call this a junction box per se so as to not get confused with the water heaters actual junction box, which is different and in a different location.


EDIT: Inside the Electrical Distribution Panels cover, you may see the make/model of the distribution panel, can you let us know what this is too so I can find a wiring schematic for it? It appears from your pic that you may have something similar to this pictured below:





If the red/white wire does indeed go to the water heaters switch and is indeed the 12V+ wire, it should be connected to a power source/fuse in the DC portion of the panel inside your Electrical Distribution Panel. Can you post a pic of where all the 12 volt DC fuses are and if they are labeled to what items they go to.


I'm wondering if the previous owner had a problem with the water heater blowing fuses and disconnected the power wire. It's all guesswork at this point.


Can you also please post a pic of the water heater, on the outside of the RV, with the access door opened. A pic will tell us exactly what it is that you have. Example pic below:

[seansbrew]

pics

[seansbrew]

pic

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by seansbrew

pic

Excellent. You have direct spark ignition and no electric heating element. This is indeed a Suburban SW?D only water heater. We have to ask all these questions.

[wmtire]

With no reference or text from you, I have no idea where these wires are that you have in these pics. Need more details from you. I also edited post #9 above to ask for the electrical distribution panel make/model.

[NavyLCDR]

The top picture above looks like the grey wire from the DC fuse panel which would come from the fuse marked Grey, which would be 12-volt DC +. The green/white wire in the bottom photo would be from some 12-volt DC electrical load. In theory, those two wires should be connected together. I would pull the corresponding DC fuse out first.

Grey in the previous photos is the second fuse from the top.

[seansbrew]

The Gray wire is coming off of F2

Green and white can be found on the back of the water heater power/on switch

Red and white also on the back of the water heater power/on switch.

WFCO model WF-8735P

[seansbrew]

pic

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by seansbrew

The Gray wire is coming off of F2

Green and white can be found on the back of the water heater power/on switch

Red and white also on the back of the water heater power/on switch.

WFCO model WF-8735P

OK great, I will refer to your electrical distribution panel as WF-8735 from here on. The manual for it is located at this link below and specifically page 11 in the manual/link will explain the DC board and page 12 explains that each fuse circuit has wire lead connections that you attach to your DC powered items (which your water heater DSI will be one of these). We are assuming it's that grey wire you have shown earlier, but you may want to trace out all the other stuff to make sure. Remember, you are at the RV, we are not.

The manual will also tell you to make sure you disconnect the battery before attempting any wire connections to the DC fuse board.


https://wfcoelectronics.com/wp-conte...-Manual-RP.pdf

[wmtire]

Lets go back to this pic of the ON/Off switch (red/white,green/white wire) and DSI Fault lamp (yellow, spliced white wire).






Now, As per this wiring schematic below



The A&B terminals from the switch will have field wiring (wire color which is decided by Forest River) will have either the red/white wire or green/white wire going to the WF-8735 for the 12V+. We are assuming it's the red/white wire but you need to make sure as you are there. The other wire from the switch which we are assuming is green/white will go to the junction box of the water heater. Suburban usually will provide about a 15" lead from the junction box of a red and blue wire, so the green/white wire will most likely be connected/spliced into a red wire coming from the water heaters junction box. That takes care of the two wires from the DSI ON/OFF switch.


Now the DSI fault lamp which are the C&D terminals in the schematic above will have one wire going to the water heaters junction box and the other wire going to a 12V-/ground. I am assuming the white wire is going to be the 12V-/ground and the yellow wire will go to the water heaters junction box, which will most likely be connected/spliced into a blue wire coming from this junction box. However you are there, and can confirm this is how it is.


Also remember, that the field wiring going from the switch and DSI lamp could be actually spliced several times in the path from the switch/lamp all the way to the water heaters junction box. Could also change wire colors too, so you need to make sure to trace it all out.



Here is a pic I edited of the back of the water heater and I labeled the junction box, module board, as well as the blue and red lead wires that go to the switch and DSI lamp. Forest River also could have done away with these two lead wires and sent their field wiring all the way to the junction box, which you need to confirm as you are there.

[wmtire]

I gave you all the information in the previous posts so you can determine what is wired or not wired correctly. We (including you) have no idea what the previous owner has done OR messed up. They could have replaced the water heater and then tried to wire it all themselves, Electrical Distribution panel. etc. Seeing all those yellow wire nuts makes me wonder what all has went on.


It's all guesswork, but you are there and can trace out everything. Let us know what all you find. Pics behind the water heater of the junction box wiring will help too.

[BillyBass]

is it possible that u have a web in the tube .need to take apart and clean with a pipe cleaner bc its naked to the eye