# Lp Water Heater Won't Light



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

All,

As my camper starts showing its age (ahem...), I've ran across my first real "I can't figure it out" issue that I've had with it.

We're on our regular Christmas round robin to see the family. In the process of running the kids through the shower, I figured I would decrease the cycle time for getting more hot water and turned on both electric and LP on the water heater. The electric works fine. I heard the LP try to kick over 3 times, and then nothing. I've read posts in the past that discuss cleaning out the gas tube due to critters liking it for a home, so I grabbed a pair of pliers, a flashlight (it's dark out there!) and some wire and proceeded to clean it out. After taking it apart, I found....nothing (of course). The tube didn't have a thing in it. It wasn't squeaky clean, but it certainly wasn't blocked or impeeded in any way.

We used it this past Summer and it worked fine. Can't figure out what's wrong with it now though. So, I turn to my knowledgable friends. Any ideas?

Just so you know, I've got a full tank of LP and I've been running the furnace today. No issues with the LP supply.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Try pulling the connectors off the control board, clean the contacts and then put it all back together and give it another shot.


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## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

Ok. I pulled all the connections off a few times and reconnected them. All show good metal on metal contact. The water heater starts, but it sounds like the valve is rapidly cycling on and off, like a rapid stutter or popcorn popper. I let it go for a few seconds and it stopped cycling and started burning evenly. I turned it off and then on again and got the same result, a few seconds of rapid stuttering and then an even burn. I know it wasn't doing that before...


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I suspect the connection for the thermocouple is marginal. Try disconnecting the thermocouple from the gas valve and reconnecting it to see if that helps.


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## RDS (Jul 20, 2011)

CamperAndy said:


> I suspect the connection for the thermocouple is marginal. Try disconnecting the thermocouple from the gas valve and reconnecting it to see if that helps.


Had same problem with mine. The cleaning worked for about a season and and half, then it started to quite during trips. I bit the bullet and ordered a new board and harness, I put a little dielectric grease on the new parts (to keep this from happening again) and its working like a champ..


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## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

RDS said:


> I suspect the connection for the thermocouple is marginal. Try disconnecting the thermocouple from the gas valve and reconnecting it to see if that helps.


Had same problem with mine. The cleaning worked for about a season and and half, then it started to quite during trips. I bit the bullet and ordered a new board and harness, I put a little dielectric grease on the new parts (to keep this from happening again) and its working like a champ..
[/quote]

Cool. If disconnecting/re-connecting works this trip, I'll be happy. I'll have to make sure to ops check it before we head out on our next trip. I'm a little anal in that if something isn't working, I tend to want to fix it and that detracts from my relaxation time!


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## Stan (Aug 9, 2006)

Justman said:


> All,
> 
> As my camper starts showing its age (ahem...), I've ran across my first real "I can't figure it out" issue that I've had with it.
> 
> ...


You may have tried this, but it always works for me, and I get this problem a couple of times a year. Buy a can of compressed air .. the kind you use to clean keyboards and electronics, slide the venturi back far enough to get the plastic tube from the aircan into the gas tube and blow it ... it's amazing what comes out. Then I blow air around the other end where the sparker unit is. Works 100% of the time when I have this problem. I now keep a can of compressed air in the OB

Stan


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