Water heater will not light

[chaslorr]

Have 2109S Rockwood with Suburban water heater SW6DE. When I try to run it on propane, it will not light. The igniter is not sparking. Have propane and lots of battery. Any suggestions on what the problem might be. Thanks in advance.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by chaslorr

Have 2109S Rockwood with Suburban water heater SW6DE. When I try to run it on propane, it will not light. The igniter is not sparking. Have propane and lots of battery. Any suggestions on what the problem might be. Thanks in advance.

Ok, I am assuming you are turning on the appropriate DSI (Direct Spark Ignitor) switch inside your RV.

Once you turn this switch on, it will make 3 attempts to ignite the propane. if it fails, then the system goes into lockout mode. You have to turn the DSI completely off for a few seconds, then back on to reset the lockout.

I would start simple, and light the stove for a little bit to make sure there is no air in the propane lines.

Then go outside and press the two ECO hi-limit reset buttons. These are going to be underneath the black rubber cover on the front of the water heater. Also check the orangish/rust cover wire that goes to the ignitor and make sure it is secure. (see pic below for resets and wire)

Also make sure there is water in the tank by flipping up the lever on the pressure relief valve at the top of the water heater.



Now go back inside the RV and see if it will light by turning the DSI switch back on again.

[Kaadk]

Just to clear the obvious, is the water already hot? (I.e. Was the electric on?)

The hot water doesn't have a pilot if that's what you were looking for, it only lights when needed.




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[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Kaadk

Just to clear the obvious, is the water already hot? (I.e. Was the electric on?)

That has happened before.

We have had members who had the electric heating element on, unbeknownst to them, so the propane didn't come on as it was not needed.

They also had their bypass valves turned wrong, thus were also not getting hot water out of the taps, even though they had water in the heater that was heated.

If you flip the pressure relief valve lever at the top of the water heater, it will release water and you can tell if it's hot or cold inside.

[chaslorr]

Thank you all for your responses. I had done all that everyone here had suggested. I decided to check the breakers, they all looked fine. I turned each one off and then on again and voila, the heater fired up as soon as i tried it. Thank god for a simple fix, looks like I had over looked the obvious.

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by chaslorr

Thank you all for your responses. I had done all that everyone here had suggested. I decided to check the breakers, they all looked fine. I turned each one off and then on again and voila, the heater fired up as soon as i tried it. Thank god for a simple fix, looks like I had over looked the obvious.

Glad it worked, but something's still not right. The breaker's control the electric heater in the tank, the propane side is controlled by the 12v side, which would be the fuses.




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[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Kaadk

Glad it worked, but something's still not right. The breaker's control the electric heater in the tank, the propane side is controlled by the 12v side, which would be the fuses.




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Correct.

110v runs the electric side.
12v runs the propane side.

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded, 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "4 nights"

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by chaslorr

Thank you all for your responses. I had done all that everyone here had suggested. I decided to check the breakers, they all looked fine. I turned each one off and then on again and voila, the heater fired up as soon as i tried it. Thank god for a simple fix, looks like I had over looked the obvious.

Glad you got it going. The circuit breakers really shouldn't have had anything to do with the DSI, but could have the electric heating element.

Did you also during this time, turn off and back on the inside propane/DSI switch to the water heater. If so, then this may have actually had been the problem and the reset cleared itself.

Anyway, it's going now and that's the main thing. Happy camping.

EDIT: it appears Mike and Ron were thinking the same as me as I was typing. LOL

[Jimmyw]

Mine also did the same thing,New camper and water heater would not light so turned off breakers and turned them back on and now it lights great.tks to the members here for great info