Yet Another Atwood Water Heater Question

Ron and Lin · 07-20-2015, 11:52 AM

Sorry , I know there are many many post about water heaters because I have searched the archives here and also Googled this for two days now.

When we went on our first ill fated shake down cruise in our "new" 2001 Journey , I hooked up the water supply, ran water with hot water taps open , then flipped on the water heater switch. A red light came on saying "pilot not lit". (Yes, I had opened the valve on the LP tank.) The water did not seem to get hot within the next hour but we really didn't keep checking it because we had an AC failure and that was more of an immediate problem since it was close to 100 degrees outside.

In the literature I have from Atwood , on page 4 under "Electronic Ignition Operation" item (1) says to place remote switch in ON position. Item (2) says repeat step 1. The wiring diagram suggest there may be a remote switch for electrical and a separate remote switch for gas. My question is : Are there two separate switches ? If so, then the second switch location is a mystery to me. The unit is a elec/gas combo model GHC10A-4E.

Again, sorry to bother but I just can't find the answer elsewhere.

John Hilley · 07-20-2015, 01:14 PM

Yes, there is a momentary switch for gas and a toggle switch for electric. I would try the gas a couple of times in case there is air in the line. Lighting a burner on the stove top helps get rid of the air.

wildtoad · 07-20-2015, 01:21 PM

Been a long time since I used the gas option on my wh. As I remember if you turn on the wh switch the light should come on and they go off and stay off. It the light comes back on, the gas did not light. Needed to turn the switch off and then back on. If the wh had not been used in a long time and the gas had been turned off at the tank, it may take a while to get gas to the wh. Common remedy is light the stove which will help get gas into the lines.

On mine which is a gas only unit which the PO installed a Hott Rod element and there are two switches. One for gas and one for electric. Both can be turned on at the same time.

Ron and Lin · 07-20-2015, 02:59 PM

Thanks Tom and John. I admit I had to Google to find out what a momentary switch is

We had lit all 3 burners on the cook top prior to trying the water heater. I'll search until I find the 2nd switch.
Thanks again.

TRNewsom · 07-20-2015, 03:07 PM

On a fifth wheel we had, the previous owner said the electric part never worked. My dad showed me a switch on the water heater itself that was hidden by some of the components. Turned that switch on, then the one in the camper and presto! Hot water with electricity. I would have never seen it and evidently the previous owner never did either.

Ron and Lin · 07-20-2015, 04:20 PM

Thanks Jimmy and Teresa. I've looked at the schematics of the unit so much that I think I know them by heart and I don't think there is a switch on the unit itself ?? It may be true though - like my wife says - men can look right at something and not see it

shiggs68 · 07-20-2015, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron and Lin

Sorry , I know there are many many post about water heaters because I have searched the archives here and also Googled this for two days now.

When we went on our first ill fated shake down cruise in our "new" 2001 Journey , I hooked up the water supply, ran water with hot water taps open , then flipped on the water heater switch. A red light came on saying "pilot not lit". (Yes, I had opened the valve on the LP tank.) The water did not seem to get hot within the next hour but we really didn't keep checking it because we had an AC failure and that was more of an immediate problem since it was close to 100 degrees outside.

In the literature I have from Atwood , on page 4 under "Electronic Ignition Operation" item (1) says to place remote switch in ON position. Item (2) says repeat step 1. The wiring diagram suggest there may be a remote switch for electrical and a separate remote switch for gas. My question is : Are there two separate switches ? If so, then the second switch location is a mystery to me. The unit is a elec/gas combo model GHC10A-4E.

Again, sorry to bother but I just can't find the answer elsewhere.

That model Atwood water heater is a combo gas/electric with electronic ignition.

It should have two 12vdv switches, one for electric and one for gas. The gas will also have a fault light indicating the gas did not light.

Common causes for not lighting are no propane, air in the line, or obstructions in the burner area. More severe causes are plugged orfice, mis-aligned igniter, or bad circuit board.

Another common problem with both heat types is a bad ground at the top outside where the green wire connects.

Hope this helps.

Here is the service manual http://manuals.adventurerv.net/Atwoo...er-Service.pdf

Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum
TravellingRVDoctor, LLC

Ron and Lin · 07-21-2015, 08:14 AM

Thanks for the link. Y'all have answered my question about whether there are two switches. I finally found the second switch this AM. It was in an upper cabinet back by the washer/dryer ??? Only other problem I've found in my inspection of the water heater was a loose self tapping screw holding the top of the circuit board in place.
Thanks again.

John Hilley · 07-21-2015, 10:35 AM

Another thing that helps is to pull the electrical spade connectors off and replace them a couple of time to clean the contact.

Ron and Lin · 07-21-2015, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hilley

Another thing that helps is to pull the electrical spade connectors off and replace them a couple of time to clean the contact.

Thanks John. Are you talking about the electrical connections going into the ECO unit ?

wa8yxm · 07-21-2015, 05:33 PM

On my Atwood.. when cold I used to have to cycle the GAS switch 3 times.. Of course on electric it worked fine.

Sounds like my switches are different from yours.

macgyvr · 07-22-2015, 08:40 AM

My water heater is coming on for 20-30 seconds on propane and then shutting off. I just replaced the eco, tstat, thermocoupler, and thermal over load...still only running for 20-30 seconds and shutting off.

I have two switches on the side of the panel where the water heater is located that I assume are for the electric, also the light switch in the coach...never used the electric part, only the propane.

mac 'wife wants hot water this weekend' gyvr

Ron and Lin · 07-22-2015, 02:59 PM

Wish I could help with your propane problem but , at my stage of the game , I was doing real well just to find the second switch

I'm sure you've checked for obstructions in the burner area considering all that you've replaced.

Ron and Lin · 07-22-2015, 03:40 PM

Macgyvr, In 2011 John Hilley posted that he was having a problem that sounds identical to yours. His problem was solved by fixing a loose connection of the spade connector on the ignitor / flame sense wire on the circuit board. Tightened female spade connector with a pair of pliers.

macgyvr · 07-28-2015, 06:30 AM

I figured this out. Thanks for the replies. I'm just copying and pasting the fix to this thread so others with the same issue may run across it.

So I had replaced my ect, tstat, thermocoupler, and that other diode overload thingy (that's a word right?). The dang water heater was running 10-30 seconds and shutting off.

I wasn't getting water off the hot water side on one of the two bypass selections, turned out to be the normal selection.

I did however have water in the water heater when I pulled the drain plug. I did not having anything coming out of the relief valve at the top.

So after a bunch of searching via google and this site, I pulled the plug again on the hot water heater. Only about a gallon of water drained out.

I determined that the one way coupler on the water line was broke and only letting water drip in. The water heater was turning on but as we know hot air gets hot faster than water, so the water heater was over heating and the ect, tstat was doing its job and shutting the water heater off.

So I stood on my head, pulled the water heater partially out and took the coupler on the bottom of the water heater off. It was in fact broken. I pulled the guts of it out, stood back on my head to put it back together.

The water now flows to the hot water heater and to my faucets. The water heater fires up and works. We had hot water this weekend.

I also figured out that this water heater is not the original to the coach (dated 2007). Not to surprising since the coach is 14 almost 15 years old. It does have two hoses coming off that look like they go into the cooling system of the coach. I didn't think that Diesel pushers had the motoraid...I don't know how to turn it on to use it either, not sure if someone added it on or what.

Regardless, we have hot water, wife happy.

mac 'one problem fixed' gyvr

NoMoreAZ · 07-28-2015, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macgyvr

It does have two hoses coming off that look like they go into the cooling system of the coach. I didn't think that Diesel pushers had the motoraid...I don't know how to turn it on to use it either, not sure if someone added it on or what.

mac 'one problem fixed' gyvr

Yes you do have Motoraide. Nothing to turn on. After you drive the coach for a few hours, you should have hot water when you stop for lunch or whatever. Be sure you have the hot water tank turned off, propane wise, or turned off 120 VAC wise (if you going down the road with your genset on) so you do not mask the effect of the Motoraide.

Ours works very well. I flush the tank every 4-6 weeks with my wand at the end of the garden hose to remove any hard water deposits. All water into the coach goes through 2 GE Whole House water filters at the intake. Of course I removed both, input and output, troublesome check valves at the heater years ago.

macgyvr · 07-29-2015, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoMoreAZ

Yes you do have Motoraide. Nothing to turn on. After you drive the coach for a few hours, you should have hot water when you stop for lunch or whatever. Be sure you have the hot water tank turned off, propane wise, or turned off 120 VAC wise (if you going down the road with your genset on) so you do not mask the effect of the Motoraide.

Ours works very well. I flush the tank every 4-6 weeks with my wand at the end of the garden hose to remove any hard water deposits. All water into the coach goes through 2 GE Whole House water filters at the intake. Of course I removed both, input and output, troublesome check valves at the heater years ago.

Interesting. I'll check it out the next trip and see if there's hot water when we arrive. I usually just flip the propane on when we get there and don't think to check it. I don't know if the electric part works or not, never used it. The water heater is not original to the coach, so while I've seen the switches down there, unknown if it's working.

My next battle is figuring out why the city water has low pressure, but the water pump gives me perfect pressure...Prolly a screen clogged somewhere.

mac 'having fun with a 14 year old coach' gyvr