WH Woes! April 03, 2012, 05:22:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129604Hi all you techies, I've got some problems with my water heater. I have an Atwood Model GCH10A-3E water heater, most of which seems to be in great shape.....except that it won't fire up. Several months ago, we noticed occasional (once every couple of months or so) events where the "not lighted" light would come on, and the heater did not automatically fire up when the water temp got down to the normal ignition point. If we turned it off, and then back on again, it would ignite as normal, and then continue to work for another few weeks. Gradually, the frequency of these "events" increased until they happened every couple of days or so, and we also noticed that it seemed to be harder and harder to get ignition, requiring maybe several iterations of turn-off, turn-on to get the propane fire going. Now, however, it appears to be out of order altogether, and we just can't get ignition, no matter what we do. I've disassembled the propane gas piping in the vicinity of the fire chamber to see if there was some kind of obstruction, but cannot find anything. Does this sound to those of you who know water heaters like a bad circuit board? I'd rather not replace the whole WH if I can avoid that. Would replacement of the board be a reasonable bet?LarryLawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 951-234-4253[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: WH Woes! Reply #1 – April 03, 2012, 06:14:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129605Quote Hi all you techies,"I've got some problems with my water heater."Larry Larry I can't help you with a diagnosis but you have a premier RV service facility right there in your neighborhood. Temecula Valley RV is an excellent place to go for that sort of work. http://www.temeculavalleyrv.com/WELCOME.htmlI've had them do work for me on a number of occasions and went away a happy customer.Steve S. Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Re: WH Woes! Reply #2 – April 03, 2012, 06:23:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129606Quote Hi all you techies, I've got some problems with my water heater. I have an Atwood Model GCH10A-3E water heater, most of which seems to be in great shape.....except that it won't fire up. Larry, I'm certainly no techie but you might take a look at this troubleshooting guide on page 11. http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/atwoodwaterheater.pdf Joe Hamm-San Jose
Re: WH Woes! Reply #3 – April 03, 2012, 08:33:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129611Quote I've got some problems with my water heater. I have an Atwood Model GCH10A-3E water heater, most of which seems to be in great shape.....except that it won't fire up. An RV tech once told me that the first thing he does is pull apart, clean and replug electrical connections. Given that you have had a slowly deteriorating behavior, it might be a good thing to try. I assume that it has an electronic ignition. Have you watched for an ignition spark with the WH door open?Art
Re: WH Woes! Reply #4 – April 03, 2012, 09:00:20 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129612How old is it?My water heater failed with
Re: WH Woes! Reply #5 – April 04, 2012, 11:10:52 am Yahoo Message Number: 129625Quote Hi all you techies, I've got some problems with my water heater. I have an Atwood Model GCH10A-3E water heater, most of which seems to be in great shape.....except that it won't fire up. QuoteLarry, pull all the wires from their contact points on the circuit board and clean them with contact cleaner or something similar. I had this problem and cleaning the contacts cured it. Chris
Re: WH Woes! Reply #6 – April 04, 2012, 07:17:17 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129642Larry, I had similar woes a few years ago. I checked all the check-able voltages. I cleaned all the connections. I cleaned all propane ports and vents, to no avail. I finally replaced the ignitor board. I have had no problems since. I am NOT saying that your problem is the board, just sharing what I found. Good luck.Ken F in CA
Re: WH Woes! Reply #7 – April 04, 2012, 11:03:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129643Thanks, Ken. At least it's comforting to know that someone else has faced this and come out alive!*Larry*Lawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 (951) 234-4253[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: WH Woes! Reply #8 – April 05, 2012, 12:37:01 am Yahoo Message Number: 129644It's worth mentioning that if you end up replacing the controller board, Dinosaur Electronics boards are widely regarded as more reliable/durable than the original manufacturers' boards.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: WH Woes! Reply #9 – April 05, 2012, 12:20:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129651Thanks, Andy. I remember reading that somewhere long ago. From what I remember, Dinosaur boards are reported to be practically indestructible. If I replace this one, I'll do it with a Dino.*Larry*Lawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 (951) 234-4253[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: WH Woes! Reply #10 – April 05, 2012, 03:00:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129654Quote Hi all you techies, I've got some problems with my water heater. I have an Atwood Model GCH10A-3E water heater, most of which seems to be in great shape.....except that it won't fire up. Hi Larry, I have a similar problem with my WH. It will fire up the first time and work just fine. When it comes time to reheat the water it will ignite as it should but the burner will shut of after about 5 seconds. I have to turn the unit off and try it again in a little while and the whole scenario will start over again. Luckily I have a Hot Rod that seems to be functioning properly. Have not started to look into my problem yet but would be very interested to hear what you find out with yours. By the way I called the Attwood factory and they said they had never heard of the problem I'm having and to try cleaning the contacts as mentioned in previous posts. Good luck. Skip
Re: WH Woes! Reply #12 – April 05, 2012, 04:15:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129658I'll keep you up to date, Skip. Like you, I have an electric element in the WH that keeps us in hot water (!!), and so fixing my gas system is not especially urgent, but still is important, I think, in the long run. Electricity is not always available. Anyway, if I find out anything, I'll post it.Hard to imagine Atwood has never heard of this.*Larry*Lawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 (951) 234-4253[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: WH Woes! Reply #13 – April 05, 2012, 04:18:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129659"I called the Attwood factory and they said they had never heard of the problem I'm having and to try cleaning the contacts as mentioned in previous posts"Skip Make sure to clean any wire or surface that is used to ground the components and the frame of the heater. Water heaters operate in a moist environment, leading to corrosion. Poor connections are the most common cause of problems. After cleaning, spread a thin layer of dielectric grease on all conductive plugs and surfaces to help maintain good connections.Larry
Re: WH Woes! Reply #14 – April 05, 2012, 04:21:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129660Good advice from another Larry.*Larry*Lawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 (951) 234-4253
Re: WH Woes! Reply #15 – April 05, 2012, 04:26:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129661QuoteI have a similar problem with my WH. It will fire up the first time and work just fine. When it comes time to reheat the water it will ignite as it should but the burner will shut of after about 5 seconds. I have to turn the unit off and try it again in a little while and the whole scenario will start over again. Skip, see pages 21-23 of Atwood manual on troubleshooting intermittent problems. http://manuals.adventurerv.net/Atwood-Water-Heater-Service.pdf Follow Larry's advice on Dielectric.Joe Hamm
Re: WH Woes! Reply #16 – April 05, 2012, 05:59:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129662"Larry" wrote: After cleaning, spread a thin layer of dielectric grease on all conductive plugs and surfaces to help maintain good connections. --- The Ford mechanic gave me a tube of dialectric grease; apparently, he was quite taken with the fact that an old woman would crawl under the rig to show him where the parking brake reservoir was! Ahhh, the way to a girl's heart....I'm pretty sure that "YMMV" REALLY applies here! ;-)Joan
Re: Parking Brake Reply #17 – April 05, 2012, 11:28:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129664QuoteThe Ford mechanic gave me a tube of dialectric grease; apparently, he was quite taken with the fact that an old woman would crawl under the rig to show him where the parking brake reservoir was! Ahhh, the way to a girl's heart....I'm pretty sure that "YMMV" REALLY applies here! ;-)Joan Joan, I was also told at the Ford garage that there was no such thing as a parking brake reservoir to fill. Unfortunately, I did not have Larry Wade's photos with me to show them. However, after 10 years, when Larry checked it several days ago, it was only down by 1/3 - and no obvious leakage.Chris
Re: WH Woes! Reply #18 – April 06, 2012, 09:47:56 am Yahoo Message Number: 129672I have the same problem.Sandy
Re: WH Woes! Reply #19 – April 06, 2012, 08:26:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129699Hi Skip Try checking all connections on the thermal fuse, its the one with the clear tubeing on it.I have removed fuse to see if WH works. Good Luck. Ruben__ From: skip smith captainfuego@...> To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, April 5, 2012 12:00 PM Subject: [LD] Re: WH Woes!
Re: WH Woes! Reply #20 – April 07, 2012, 10:48:17 am Yahoo Message Number: 129702Thanks to all who have replied with suggestions on the direction I should take with my WH issue. Will post my findings and results when I am able to get after it. Thanks again, Skip
Re: WH Woes! Reply #21 – April 07, 2012, 07:54:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129706Larry, I didn't read all of the reply's to your message so you may have gotten some help already. However, I had the same issue a while back, dissasembled the air/fuel misture tubing, used a piece of wire and part of an old t-shirt to clean out the tubing. found spider webs.....WH fired right up after that.
Re: WH Woes! Reply #22 – April 07, 2012, 08:29:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129710Thanks for the suggestion, tcollmar. It's good advice, and I've done all that and more to try to find spiders or webs. Nothing at all. Still doesn't fire up.LarryLawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 951-234-4253[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: WH Woes! Reply #23 – April 08, 2012, 10:17:16 am Yahoo Message Number: 129716Have you checked propane PRESSURE at WH? Should be 11" water. Use manometer.
Re: WH Woes! Reply #24 – April 08, 2012, 01:10:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129718*"Have you checked propane PRESSURE at WH? Should be 11" water. Use manometer.*"I haven't done that, Roger, but it seems like good advice. Thanks.*Larry*Lawrence D. Latham 45120 Highway 79, #916 Aguanga, CA 92536-9706 (951) 234-4253[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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