# Water Heater Problem



## AngryA (Apr 29, 2013)

We recently purchased a 03 21RS. After flipping on the water heater this weekend I noticed that there was black soot coming from the grate and up the side of the trailer. I immediately shut the WH off. Is this just a case of lots of debris stuck in the heating element exhaust or is a sign of a more serious problem? I intend to get in there this week and give it a thorough cleaning (to the best of my ability).

Anyone have any insight into this problem? Any tips or suggestions would be great.

CHEERS
AA


----------



## Bob in Virginia (Jul 15, 2010)

AA, it may just need a good cleaning and adjustment of the air mixture. The WH is probably original, so it is 10 years old. Sometimes the oil from the propane can gum up the jet. If you are handy, give it all a good cleaning (jet too) and see how it goes. If not, most any RV shop can help you out. Let us know how it goes.


----------



## AngryA (Apr 29, 2013)

Bob in Virginia said:


> AA, it may just need a good cleaning and adjustment of the air mixture. The WH is probably original, so it is 10 years old. Sometimes the oil from the propane can gum up the jet. If you are handy, give it all a good cleaning (jet too) and see how it goes. If not, most any RV shop can help you out. Let us know how it goes.


Thanks Bob. I will give it a go over and post the results.

Thanks again
AA


----------



## jergeo (Mar 17, 2013)

Look for mud wasp nest or spider nest closing off your air.


----------



## AngryA (Apr 29, 2013)

jergeo said:


> Look for mud wasp nest or spider nest closing off your air.


Would these be lodged inside the exhaust behind the metal shield on the left side?

I haven't had a chance to get in there yet due to rain delay.

CHEERS
AA


----------



## Bob in Virginia (Jul 15, 2010)

AngryA said:


> Look for mud wasp nest or spider nest closing off your air.


Would these be lodged inside the exhaust behind the metal shield on the left side?

I haven't had a chance to get in there yet due to rain delay.

CHEERS
AA
[/quote]

Spiders and wasps can get in anywhere. Look in all tubes and openings, flashlight in hand. The mixture tube, round a couple of inches long, is especially enticing to the insects and could easily mess up your air flow into the burning chamber.


----------



## AngryA (Apr 29, 2013)

I had a chance to get into the H2O Htr tonight. I pulled off the burner tube & air mixture fixture. The inside was packed stem to stern with Lady Bugs.
The tube that the burner inserts into (I assume this runs through the center of the tank to heat the water) is charred black. More so on the outlet than the inlet. Is there a handy tool that would be of benefit to clean this out? My thought was a bottle brush and a shop vac to catch the debris. I had to call it quits to get the kids to bed but, I intend to clean the burner tube thoroughly tomorrow and finish cleaning the hot air inlet/outlet.

In addition, there are no bug screens on the louvered cover. Is there a specific type of screen (obviously metal) that would be a good match for this application?

I will keep you all posted on my progress.

(EDIT) Do any of you find that the water heater sweats after the water cools? I stuck my fingers under the outer jacket and felt a lot of condensation. Is this a normal occurrence or just something odd I noticed? I am under the impression that if left for a period of time this could cause floor rot. Although I suppose it would take years and years and this unit is 10 years old.

CHEERS
AA


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Just use a hose to wash out the fire box.

I would not put a bug screen on the unit. You can buy them but the manufacture does not recommend them.

As for the sweating that can happen when the tank temperature and the weather is just right but most of the time should not be an issue. That said 10 years on an RV water heater could be on borrowed time if the water conditions are bad.


----------



## Bob in Virginia (Jul 15, 2010)

X2 on Andy's recommendation. You might use the shop vac to get as much of the water out of the fire box as you can, and run the water heater too in order to dry it out well. Make sure you have water in the tank first of course.

Think this is the first time I have heard of a camper being taken down by lady bugs. Good job in finding the problem. Hope it works better after cleaning. When you put it all back together, adjust the air mixture so you have little to no yellow flame in the fire box.


----------

