2004 water heater

[mo_cowboy]

i just bought an 04 189,Fun Finder Shadow with a gas water heater, this past weekend we had hot water on the first day within a few minutes of hitting the switch, switch lite came on and continued to work while both of us got showers. I turned the switch off, the second day I turned switch on and nothing happened, waited a few minutes and tried again with no success or shower, I do not have a manuel so now I must troubleshoot on my own, any help will be appreciated

 

[webslave]

If it didn't attempt to start at all, no power light on the switch panel, or "clicking" of the igniter (I'll assume that it is DSI), then, the most likely culprit will be an electrical fault of the breaker/fuse/broken wire variety.

If it attempts to fire up (you get the power light at the switch) and you hear a clicking of the igniter, then the most likely cause is a gas supply interruption. Gas supply problems could be insects in the burner tube (spiders love the smell of propane as much as mud-daubers love building their tubes in the burner pipe). Gas supply problems could be the insects or a bad themister (the device that detects a flame). If, for any reason, the water heater attempts to start and there is no detection of a flame, it will kill the supply of gas to the regulator...that would be in the "electrical" problems, but, the water would attempt to start and would usually light, but, go off in a few seconds, putting that problem in both the "electrical supply" and "gas supply" problem areas.

Sorry to be so vague, but, "long distance" troubleshooting can be a bear at times (no visual or auditory clues to work with). Hope the above helps a little...

 

[mo_cowboy]

The type of water heater is an Atwood G6A-8E, which is a gas only with an electronic ignitor. I checked all fuses, all seem good, I guess I need to check voltage from fuse panel to switch next. Gas was not the problem, when the switch was on there was no light on the switch and there was no clicking from the ignitor, so the problem would have to be voltage to the switch or the switch itself??? I have no manuel and did not know if there was a cutoff switch that may have gotten hit by accident, like I said it worked fine the first day and nothing the second day. Thanks for any info, I appreciate it very much.

 

[LJAZ]

Here's a link to the manual:

http://www.atwoodmobile.com/manuals/waterheaters/MPD 93756 SP 11.19.07.pdf

 

[webslave]

Looking at the instruction manual for your particular heater and given your symptoms, I'd have to suspect the thermal cutoff switch in the brown wire... You would be able to check that by finding the brown wire at the junction box/relay control unit on the water heater. With the switch in the "on" position inside the TT, check for voltage at the brown wire. Be careful, though...if it is loose wire, you may "bump" it into contact, in which case the ignition will cause the unit to light; keep hands and clothing away from the flame areas

The brown wire is the main 12v supply to the rest of the water heater as controlled by the relay assembly. Since you are getting "nothing" in response to the switch being "on", my guess goes to a melted thermister...that, in effect removes all the power from the water heater. Could be a loose connection, but, usually that results in "intermittent" operation, not a complete loss.

If you have a voltmeter (everyone should have one, if for nothing other than checking to see if voltage is present - you don't need an expensive one or know how to use the "finer points" of their functionality) it should be a relatively easy check.

That's my guess from several thousand miles away