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Old 07-01-2021, 06:59 PM   #1
Winnie-Wise
 
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Very noisy Atwood 6ga WH when on gas

My atwood sounds like a turbo jet when it runs! I've done everything I can to center the flame (as I've seen on youtube and other forums) to no avail. Well, it's maybe a little better, but it randomly goes in and out of "turbulence" mode which is pretty dang loud in a quiet campground at night.

I have noticed two interesting things about it, though. First, when I open the water heater door it immediately starts burning properly. No turbulence and no significant noise. Second, I've noticed the little sight glass in the door isn't really centered over anything interesting. Is it possible the door might be incorrect for the unit? The vent area seems to fit the sheet metal properly, and the door seals around the whole frame ok. The foam all seems intact. So I don't think its damaged in any way.
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Old 07-02-2021, 10:13 AM   #2
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Todd, you say that you centered the flame but did you also adjust the air opening on the burner tube for a nice blue flame? It is the round tube with slots in it. Another thing is the flue could be partially clogged with insect nests or other crud. A good way to blow it out is with a shop vac.

On my old RV, the 6 gal Atwood WH had the same problem as yours. Everyone in the campground knew when our water heater came on! I did both of the things I mentioned above and it fixed the problem.
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Old 07-02-2021, 10:36 AM   #3
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Mine does the same thing. Whenever we have 50-amp shore power we run it on AC only. No noise at all with that.

When we have limited or no shore power we turn it off at night or we can't sleep. The WH is just outside my bedroom window (bed slide with windows on both sides of the slide).

We have adjusted the air supply gap in the burner tube and that does help some. But not at night.

When the door(s) are open - my motorhome has two doors - the main heater door and a hinged body panel over that whole section it does quiet down. I've tried setting the air supply gap open too far with the doors open so that when the doors are closed and the air is restricted it gets plenty of air.
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Old 07-02-2021, 11:26 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Bones2003 View Post
Todd, you say that you centered the flame but did you also adjust the air opening on the burner tube for a nice blue flame? It is the round tube with slots in it. Another thing is the flue could be partially clogged with insect nests or other crud. A good way to blow it out is with a shop vac.
Yeah, I centered it, adjusted the air opening for flame color, and cleaned everything (that I could find) out. Maybe I should try adjusting the air and closing the door each time to see if there's a spot that works with the door shut.
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Old 07-02-2021, 11:37 AM   #5
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BTW, this web page talks about the exact problem I have: The RV Doctor: Noisy Water Heater Redux

The advice and videos don't tell me anything new that I haven't tried. I guess maybe I just need to try harder. He does say in the 2nd video that when you walk 5-6ft away you shouldn't really hear the heater when it's running (on gas).
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Old 07-02-2021, 03:32 PM   #6
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Thanks for the referral to this video link:



I will keep it in my library for future reference!
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Old 07-02-2021, 04:27 PM   #7
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Yeah, I centered it, adjusted the air opening for flame color, and cleaned everything (that I could find) out. Maybe I should try adjusting the air and closing the door each time to see if there's a spot that works with the door shut.
Todd, with mine it did take trial and error adjusting the air opening and closing the door before I got it. Also, after adjusting mine the flame was sometimes still noisy when it first came on but then got quiet after it was on for two or three minutes.
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Old 07-03-2021, 08:10 PM   #8
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The TT is located in my backyard so today I decided to go out and play with the water heater. I decided to try to "tweak" the venturi air vent position with the idea that if it roars with turbulence it must be getting a bit too much air. So I closed the vent cover about another 1/16", closed the exterior door, and turned it on. AND IT'S QUIET! I opened the door a few times while it ran to have a look at the flame and it's still a nice blue.

Now I'm wishing I had tried it before tweaking the setting just to make sure it was still doing it. I imagine it was as I tackled this last fall and thought I had it until I closed the door. But this idea that closing the door somehow gives it more air is counter-intuitive to me. The routing of the air through the vent must do it somehow. Anyway, I hope that cures it. We'll see on the next camping trip.
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Old 07-04-2021, 08:12 AM   #9
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Well, not so fast, Todd. I turned on the water heater this morning and it roared. I found I had closed the vent as far as it would go. Besides, as I watched the flame I could see a tinge of yellow which I figure is bad so I opened it a bit more. I worked at aiming the tube and got it better, but it will roar in turbo mode every couple of minutes. It doesn't seem to correspond with the breeze, but fortunately only lasts a few seconds. Still annoying.

Also I realized that, duh, the unit is actually a dometic. Go figure as I have an Atwood manual for it. They look the same, though the manual shows many variations.
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Old 07-04-2021, 08:44 AM   #10
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This is a long shot but maybe it has something to do with the propane like maybe the regulator is surging. If you have a propane cooktop, you could light it and see if it burns steady or if the flame pulses. Also did you check the gas orifice on the water heater? Maybe it has some crud around it that you could blow out with an air hose. Don't poke anything into the opening of the orifice though.
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Old 07-04-2021, 09:28 AM   #11
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Good ideas! It's going to be pretty hot today so maybe I'll do more this evening. At least it's a lot better than where I started!

If I remove the gas orifice, does it need some kind of tape/teflon of some kind when I put it back? I don't have a ton of experiences with gas devices other than connecting the LP tanks and camp stoves, which hardly count I'd think.
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