Water Heater Problem

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Remove burner tube...clean it out using small bottle brush

Remove spark electrode assembly....clean electrode with emery cloth (soot/carbon)

Remove orifice (unscrews from gas valve)...soak in alcohol then blow it out (LOW pressure air and NO Poking anything thru it)

Run a wire up thru combustion chamber and out exhaust...tie rag to the wire them pull it back thru (Soot/Carbon)

Reassemble....
Fire up on propane.
Adjust 'air shutter' (slotted sleeve on burner tube) if needed.
Expose more slots for increased air (1/4 open is standard amount)

Our burner seems needing some cleaning as well. Gonna follow your procedure here.

I want to finish this topic off with what seems to have worked. I cleaned the orifice and made sure the gas supply tube was clear. WH still did not work (still had weak, yellow flame). Then I got a brush that made it through the burner tube and ran the WH gas (with sparker disconnected and connection covered with electric tape) VERY briefly without orifice installed. (I can't really recommend this because it could be dangerous if gas was somehow ignited.) Now WH is working again. I was reluctant to do two things at once because I can't tell if burner tube was blocked, but WH was turned on (to gas setting) and working when problem started. My guess is that the gas switch was not opening all the way, and reducing back pressure blew something out that allows normal operation (at least for now).

JRMunn

I assumed that gas pressure from the regulator at the tanks is okay because the heater and refrigerator seem to be operating normally. However, I will make sure the valves on both tanks are opened all the way and turn the regulator valve toward the newly filled tank to see if it makes a difference. If not, I will re-clean the WH burner system to make sure nothing is in path of gas or hot air. Can anyone tell me if the main burner orifice should be a round hole or should have the square step in it? I suppose I could buy a new orifice to see what the hole shape is. If all this checks out okay, then the next step would seem to be getting a new WH gas valve in case the solenoid(s) have gone bad or the valve is not opening all the way.

JRMunn

Might be your propane regulator is bad & water heater Ok. Just low pressure.

If you followed Old-Biscuit's cleaning description completely, and still problem, yes, then you may have a more serious issue. If you didn't do a complete cleaning, I'd try a do over, before buying parts.

Jerry

If your thermal couple is going it can cause this, usaly about a 5 buck part.

Steve

I cleaned my trailer's water heater gas orifice today. It was different than I am used to. Instead of a plain circle, it has a small, square step on one side of the hole. This looked like part of the metal, so I left it alone. If this is normal, I understand better the warnings against trying to clean with wire or pin. The job is pretty easy with the right tools - about 1 hour. Unfortunately, there was no change to my weak, yellow flame after re-assembly. Is the next step a new gas control valve? These seem expensive (about $100). And are not easy to find for my old (2004) trailer.

JRMunn

spiders love LP gas and will spin webs in the burner tubes.

Remove burner tube...clean it out using small bottle brush

Remove spark electrode assembly....clean electrode with emery cloth (soot/carbon)

Remove orifice (unscrews from gas valve)...soak in alcohol then blow it out (LOW pressure air and NO Poking anything thru it)

Run a wire up thru combustion chamber and out exhaust...tie rag to the wire them pull it back thru (Soot/Carbon)

Reassemble....
Fire up on propane.
Adjust 'air shutter' (slotted sleeve on burner tube) if needed.
Expose more slots for increased air (1/4 open is standard amount)

Likely just needs cleaning, the orfice, and blower tube.

Jerry