# Water Heater Shows Fault On Gas



## Kevin K (Jan 31, 2011)

Noticed this last weekend that when turning the water heater LP switch on the main panel the fault indicator light comes on. The heater works fine on electric but it is a no go on gas. It is only two years old. Any ideas for troubleshooting it? I am pretty handy with a volt meter.


----------



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Kevin K said:


> Noticed this last weekend that when turning the water heater LP switch on the main panel the fault indicator light comes on. The heater works fine on electric but it is a no go on gas. It is only two years old. Any ideas for troubleshooting it? I am pretty handy with a volt meter.


I'm having the same problem with our Suburban water heater in windy conditions. Basically, the flame is being blown out, and the heater is trying to re-light it. If it can't light the flame after three tries, it goes into fault mode. I thought I had fixed the problem during our trip in April by bending the flame sensor rod closer to the burner, but it was acting up again last week. I never had any problems with our old Atwood heater, so this is pretty irritating. The blasted thing won't stay lit in even light winds. We limped through our trip last week by stuffing cardboard around the edges of the water heater access door to act as a wind break.


----------



## crunchman12002 (Jul 26, 2009)

Insomniak said:


> Noticed this last weekend that when turning the water heater LP switch on the main panel the fault indicator light comes on. The heater works fine on electric but it is a no go on gas. It is only two years old. Any ideas for troubleshooting it? I am pretty handy with a volt meter.


I'm having the same problem with our Suburban water heater in windy conditions. Basically, the flame is being blown out, and the heater is trying to re-light it. If it can't light the flame after three tries, it goes into fault mode. I thought I had fixed the problem during our trip in April by bending the flame sensor rod closer to the burner, but it was acting up again last week. I never had any problems with our old Atwood heater, so this is pretty irritating. The blasted thing won't stay lit in even light winds. We limped through our trip last week by stuffing cardboard around the edges of the water heater access door to act as a wind break.
[/quote]
Did you check the burner tubes for spider webs? You might have an obstruction?
crunchman


----------



## Kevin K (Jan 31, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. The fault light comes on immediately when I switch on the LP gas. It doesn't attempt to light as I don't hear anything. Any other ideas?


----------



## Adam S. (Jun 11, 2012)

I'll be following this closely as i have the exact same issue. It worked the week prior and now, nothing. I called the service guys and they said spider obstruction is most likely and to used compressed air to blow it out. more to follow...


----------



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Our heater has no obstructions at all. I took the burner out and checked everything I could get at. The fault light always comes on when you first flip the switch. It goes out after the burner lights.


----------



## Kevin K (Jan 31, 2011)

Any other ideas? There has to be someone who know the procedure for troubleshooting these heaters. Please, I would rather not have to take it to the dealer.


----------



## SDCampers (Oct 29, 2008)

Just went through this with mine. Talked to an RV tech. He said remove the cover from the reset push buttons, you will see two sets of contacts with a thin metal bar between each one. One is for electric ops and one for propane. He said those frequently burn through. If one is, get the model number and serial number of the heater and they can order one. I did this and did not find iether one burnt, but I pushed on the resets with the cover off, and wala it worked. worth a try. The one screw is a pain cause it is right behind the gas valve, but it saved a trip to the dealer.


----------



## stang5302 (Aug 31, 2010)

I am having simular problem, it seams like the solinod valve is not opening to release propane all the time. When it first started to act up it took a few attempts till it would fire than gradually got worse where this year I have got it to work only once. The electric heats no problem but I do some dry camping. Has anyone have to replace the solinod to fix this?


----------



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

stang5302 said:


> I am having simular problem, it seams like the solinod valve is not opening to release propane all the time. When it first started to act up it took a few attempts till it would fire than gradually got worse where this year I have got it to work only once. The electric heats no problem but I do some dry camping. Has anyone have to replace the solinod to fix this?


Which model water heater do you have, Suburban or Atwood? Troubleshooting them will be similar, but will obviously involve some differences. Gas valves do go bad once in a while, but I'd start with the easy stuff like checking wiring connections for corrosion.


----------

