Suburban dsi water heater gas turns on for 5 seconds

[233s]

Hi all. I have a 2017 roo 233s, and the suburban water heater ignites for about 5 seconds and goes out. Then the fault light comes on. Repeats three times and then stops.

I know it’s not the gas supply because I have the fridge, furnace and stove/oven running fine. It’s happened like this ever since I bought the trailer. The electric works on the water heater, so I’ve had hot water. However, on the last trip, I just left the gas water heater switch on, and every time the hot water got too cool from showers and such, it would run through the cycle of three times lighting for 5 seconds on and then shutting off.

I opened the water heater door to see if it wasn’t getting enough air, but it does the same thing. I bought the trailer used, but it’s still only about a year old.

Sorry about the long post, but wanted to give all of the details. Any idea what might be going on?

[bigt1739]

Bad thermocouple maybe? The thermocouple is there to “prove” a flame is present. If the burner lights and the quickly goes out, that means there is gas and ignition...so my guess is the thermocouple is not proving the flame is present and the gas valve shuts. The thermocouple looks almost like a nail sticking into the path of the flame....that would be my guess

[donniedu]

Partially plugged gas orifice, burner tube blocked with an incect, bad thermalcouple. Start with the easy stuff.

[wmtire]

Suburban also has had a bad batch of control module boards, that you can get replaced under warranty.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...se-139033.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ng-143588.html

[233s]

Thanks all for the quick responses. Thanks for the heads up on the recall. Looking at the posts about the defective suburban board issue, it doesn’t appear that I would get spark.

So, I think I’ll first check for blockages in the airflow and see if the thermocouple is tight and not dirty. I’m assuming it’s a pretty inexpensive part to replace.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll be reaching out to suburban. Thanks again for your help!

[HangDiver]

I had similar problem. I used an air compressor to blow out the gas orifice and I was shocked at how much junk blew out. No more problems.

[233s]

That’s even easier. Thanks for the tip. I’ll give that a shot, and see how it does.

[dustman_stx]

The cable that runs to the ignitor also carries a signal back to the board telling the module that ignition has occurred. You either have a bad ignitor lead or a bad board. If you do a search, you can find a Suburban doc that tells how to troubleshoot the cable. You'll need a multimeter to test it.

[AdamKam]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

The cable that runs to the ignitor also carries a signal back to the board telling the module that ignition has occurred. You either have a bad ignitor lead or a bad board. If you do a search, you can find a Suburban doc that tells how to troubleshoot the cable. You'll need a multimeter to test it.

Had same problem, it was the circuit board. Took out and replaced myself,was easy fix.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by AdamKam

Had same problem, it was the circuit board. Took out and replaced myself,was easy fix.

I just replaced the board on mine as well. But mine would neither spark nor stay burning if I manually lit it. According to the Suburban lit, if no spark, replace circuit board. If lighting but going off, check ignitor lead. So, I'd check the ignitor lead first and if it checks out replace the board. I think the ignitor lead is significantly less expensive than the board, but mine was replaced under warranty so I can't readily confirm that without some research.

[UT_Grandpa]

I replaced my board after the third trip. I took off the old one, wrote down the model number and serial number of the heater and the dealer gave me another. Simple fix. If you peal back the sticker on the bottom of the circuit board you will see the failure (hot component)

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by 233s

Hi all. I have a 2017 roo 233s, and the suburban water heater ignites for about 5 seconds and goes out. Then the fault light comes on. Repeats three times and then stops.

I know it’s not the gas supply because I have the fridge, furnace and stove/oven running fine. It’s happened like this ever since I bought the trailer. The electric works on the water heater, so I’ve had hot water. However, on the last trip, I just left the gas water heater switch on, and every time the hot water got too cool from showers and such, it would run through the cycle of three times lighting for 5 seconds on and then shutting off.

I opened the water heater door to see if it wasn’t getting enough air, but it does the same thing. I bought the trailer used, but it’s still only about a year old.

Sorry about the long post, but wanted to give all of the details. Any idea what might be going on?

NOW some times I have to stand and look at mine to remember how something works, but are you judging by the red light going off, or the water or not heating.

When the burner cycles off might the water be hot, but the winterizing valves not open?

[mlawler506]

Do you have the water heater switch set to Gas? There is a little switch by the water heater inside the compartment

[233s]

Thanks for the response tom48. I know the water is not hot when the gas ignites and then shuts off immediately because I’ve tried it when first arriving at the campground. So, it can’t be hot yet.

The electric part of the heater works, so the water will eventually get hot. As the hot water gets used for showers, the gas part of the heater will automatically ignite again, and then immediately shuts off again.

I haven’t had the trailer back home again since our last trip, but I should get it home in the next couple of weeks to try some of the suggestions everyone has recommended.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by mlawler506

Do you have the water heater switch set to Gas? There is a little switch by the water heater inside the compartment

The little switch is for ELECTRIC, not gas. The gas switch is the one inside the rig on the control panel.

Note that you can run both together if you like. It will recover faster and give you a LITTLE bit longer run before it gets cold.

[233s]

Thanks for your reply mlawler506. I didn’t know there was a gas switch in the compartment. There is an on/off switch for electric in the compartment, and then the dsi switch on the control panel inside the coach. Is there another switch inside the compartment for gas also?

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by 233s

Thanks for your reply mlawler506. I didn’t know there was a gas switch in the compartment. There is an on/off switch for electric in the compartment, and then the dsi switch on the control panel inside the coach. Is there another switch inside the compartment for gas also?

No, see rockfordroo's post above.

[wmtire]

There may be some confusion about the Suburban electric heating element switch. It's explained fully in this FAQ thread here:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ore-36197.html

The thread above (post #5) also explains the fault that the OP is getting when his propane is not igniting.