Suburban gas water heater issue

bigdog70 · 08-02-2019, 10:45 AM

We purchased a 2018 Winnebago Vista 29VE last year and have been plagued with a water heater issue ever since. It is a 6.0 gal Suburban gas, SW6D, water heater. This is a intermittent issue but during ignition it blows itself out. If I open the compartment door there is a very substantial flame that exits the compartment during ignition, like too much gas in the compartment prior to ignition. Very scary for us and any camping neighbors. This happens at sea level and altitude in no wind conditions. Our local dealer has been working to fix it for a year now with no luck. They have made several adjustment attempts, cleaned out ports and changed out the circuit board but the issue continues. I am currently asking for a complete replacement. Any other Winnebago owners have this issue or heard of this issue?

Morich · 08-02-2019, 12:38 PM

Is this a unit which has a screen to keep bugs out?
Are you talking a big "whoof" type lighting as if it was too much gas before it lights?
If correct, I think of two things which might need checked, even if checked once.Paper wasps love to get into small dry spaces for their nest and may rebuild very quickly if one is torn down. One way to get the big scary lighting is if the tube that carries the gas from the orifice to the burn ignition is blocked and that lets the gas come out in the wrong spot until it finally gets close enough to light off! WHOOF! Even possible to clear the nest and they rebuild if the unit is in the same spot where they can find the old home place!
Pain to find, pain to clean ,so I automatically put small gauge screens over all outside vents on heaters, furnace and refrig.
Perhaps a second would be to change out the orifice as it may not be correct in some way, even if new. Too much gas due to too large opening in the orifice can get a "whoof" big enough to blow the fire out.

bigdog70 · 08-03-2019, 08:00 AM

I appreciate the reply and information. That was one of the first things I checked, was for wasp and or spiders, no signs of either. Both I and the Dealer have check and ensured that the orifice is clear. Suburban for some reason does not have a air shutter like every other type of RV I owned had.
I was able to talk to a Suburban Tech yesterday and he was concerned with the pressure and or a possible delayed ignition issue. Since the circuit board has been replaced I would have thought that would have taken care of any timing issues. So that leaves me to think it is a pressure issue.
I talked to my dealer service rep and he got with the Suburban Tech that I talked to and hopefully they can get this unit fixed.

Thx

Morich · 08-03-2019, 08:24 AM

I might be too quick to fault the tech but the pressure check would seem so simple that I had assumed it to be done already, way before changing out a board!
With that info, I might also ask about some of the other basic things that need to be looked at as they may be somebody who is not the best experienced person. If we are speaking of delayed ignition, which creates a big "whomp" when it does light, it has to be a matter of too much gas collecting before the ignition and that is pretty simple in my experience. You have to have the ignition set and then put the gas to that spot. On a standing pilot, things are set up so that the main gas valve will not open until the pilot heats the thermocouple as that avoids a big collection of gas collecting and then lit.
But on our RV, we need to see that the gas is flowing to the ignition point as step one and step two is being sure the igniter is positioned at the correct point to meet the gas.
I would assume they have looked at the simple "first step" things way before now.
As I was running up to retire from my main job, I was finding the company was hiring techs based strictly on having a paper, rather than them knowing what they were really doing! Is this tech a newish person who might have a degree but not know much?
Or is it really a baffling item that even a good tech is stumped?
We won't know until the cure is found!

bigdog70 · 08-03-2019, 08:44 AM

During the pick up of my rig after they said they had fixed the issue, ran through the operation several time with no incidents I had my service rep start it for me. And "whoosh", as issue. That is when I got to meet the Technician and Service manager, all three were scratching their heads and said they had never seen this issue before. That is also when they decided to change out the circuit board and that seemed to fix the issue. But on my next outing the same issue occurred intermittently. I am hoping that now that they have talk to the Suburban Tech they will be able to fix it. I will also be discussing the possible pressure possibility with them and asking they for that pressure value/reading.

Thx

bigdog70 · 08-03-2019, 08:53 AM

Morich, Are my Quick Reply's going though. I sent one but now I don't see the post.

bigdog70 · 08-03-2019, 08:59 AM

When I went to pick up my rig my service rep said that they had made adjustments and operated the system several times with no issue. When he went to operate it for me "Whoosh", mini explosion. That is when I got to meet the technician and service manager, all three were scratching their heads. That is also when they change the circuit board and it seem to fix the issue. That is until my next road trip when the issue occurred again, intermittent. I am hoping that with them talking to the Suburban rep I talked to they can resolve this issue. I will be asking for the LP pressure values/reading.

Morich · 08-03-2019, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdog70

When I went to pick up my rig my service rep said that they had made adjustments and operated the system several times with no issue. When he went to operate it for me "Whoosh", mini explosion. That is when I got to meet the technician and service manager, all three were scratching their heads. That is also when they change the circuit board and it seem to fix the issue. That is until my next road trip when the issue occurred again, intermittent. I am hoping that with them talking to the Suburban rep I talked to they can resolve this issue. I will be asking for the LP pressure values/reading.

See the posts. Sometimes I get that but when I go back and look it has the message still setting there! I'm kind of guessing I've hit the wrong button??
Guess I'm intermittent as the equipment!
And that does make it a bear to sort things out. Works until it is moved and then may or may not! GREAT!
About all they can do is look for something loose that makes for a while and then may jiggle loose. Sounds like they will be looking for small points like that. It might be things like wiring or parts like the igniter shaking around just enough to move out of the gas stream. Feel for you and feel for them as it can get tedious and make everybody feel like they're hexed.
Once worked on a microwave site that was driving everybody crazy as it would work fine until near midnight and then sometimes go but come alive about dawn! The trick was that the site was about a hundred miles from where we worked from and by the time we got somebody in and drove to the site, it would be clear.
We finally got lucky and had a guy driving by at the right time to see the turkey vultures come out of the dish! Seems the cover was torn and they would kill the micro when they used it for napping!
Simple fix to replace the cover but nearly impossible to sort out the cause!

**creativepart** · 08-03-2019, 11:39 AM

Bigdog70, none of the attempts at posting photos is the proper way to do so. AND, since you are such a new member our system flags all of your posts with links (like you've been posting) as needing to be reviewed by Staff before they will appear on the forum.

I've deleted a number of your posts containing failed attempts at posting photos. And approved your other posts.

Posting photos is very easy but you must follow the proper steps. Here is a post detailing the process:

http://www.winnieowners.com/forums/f...ml#post3773760

PS. Trying to embed photos on photos.google.com will not work. Google doesn't permit photos in their "Drive" and "Google Photos" to be used the way you're trying to use them. YOU have sole access to your account - so posting links to or trying to embed images from there is not possible. There are ways to share those photos publicly but none of those photos are in your public folders.

topspud · 08-07-2019, 06:52 PM

All, just had an issue with my one year old Suburban.
warrantee fixed it, but have been looking into adding an electric option.
https://dg-usa.com/hott-rod/ is the one i am looking into.

this would help, as you can depend both gas and electric.

NeilV · 08-08-2019, 06:52 AM

The igniter/spark plug provides feedback to the board so it can sense spark before the gas is turned on so if the igniter is dirty or has the gap set incorrectly that part of the system won't work correctly.

Once spark is detected then the gas should turn on and ignite properly if the the flue etc is clear and gas pressure is correct. The main regulator may be set too high of the regulator in the gas valve could be faulty if it still backfires even if correct sequence of operation is observed.

On the Vista 29VE the water heater is in the slide out on the drivers side with the propane tank in the rear on the passenger side of the coach so there are propane lines that can kink as the slide is being extended. If it only gives you a problem with the slide is extended then it could be that the propane line to the water heater may be getting pinched when the slide is extended or even partially plugged by pipe joint compound where the hose connects to the propane manifold.

Personally I am not a big fan of having the kitchen with all those propane lines extending and retracting with the slide feeding the stove, water heater and refrigerator.