I went on a trip this week and before going out in my 2006 Four winds i checked all systems. On the trip I tried turning on the hot water heater and it caught fire and burned the wires going to the circuit board and some of the board. It left some black marks above the heater door on the side of the coach. I do not know what could have gone wrong. I was going to have it repaired but the circuit board is almost $200 and a whole new heater is $350 on Amazon. I am thinking of just replacing the whole unit. BUT to get access to the back of the unit I found it is under the sink and drawers. Can I get to the water lines and wires when I pull it out of the coach or do I have to find a way to get under the cabinets and sink area? Any help on that would be great. I can repair mechanical and electrical objects just fine. Taking it to a dealer would cost $120 per hr where I live....way to much if all I am doing is swapping out the old for the new. Any tips would be great! Thanks in advance.

I just replaced mine just bought the motorhome last year some bone head tech or complete idiot put mine back together after a freeze cracked tank without the sealing rings installed exhaust was dumping in the coach almost killed us thankfully the CO monitor was working.I installed mine from a eBay buy brand new To answer your question water connection will need to be dealt with in the rv I wouldn't take the chance of stressing the pex from the outside. Your wiring should be long enough to deal with from the outside just have support or help hold it when sliding it out so u don't rip the wiring. Yours maybe burnt by the sounds of itAll else is done from the outside I used butyl to seal the new one inSuper easy job takes about an hour Oh and even after draining the old heater be ready with towels when sliding it out as I had quite a bit of water under the sinkSorry for punctuation typed this on my phone

Had you used the WH earlier this year? Blockage in the tube that passes from Burner to Exhaust, like a wasp nest, spider webs, etc. can cause it to flame back.A diode-looking device called "thermal fuse" should have cut the LPG off before it got that bad.I "might" repair, but I'd need to figure out if another component (in addition to the logic board) was required to fix it. Board + Much Else = Replace.Be sure you get DSI (electronic ignition)! The "standing pilot" type is a pain. I really like the "+electric" feature too.

I'm sure you've noticed this, but it's much easier to replace Atwood with Atwood (or Suburban with Suburban) than to replace one brand with another. Atwood's tank lays fore-and-aft, so it has a larger opening in the side of the coach than Suburban does with its transverse tank layout. You CAN usually make one work in place of the other, but it's work and mods you don't need.

Without a close personal inspection of the damaged water heater as well as a step-by-step appraisal of what EXACTLY you did and when you did it, I can only guess that the problem was due to spider webs and or wasp nests in the burner tube(s) causing the flames to blow out of the space they are supposed to occupy. But that is only a guess.Thus it is also a guess that your pre-flight inspection did not include those very tubes, and if so, this would be one more item to add to your checklist for "next time."I am glad that no one was injured beyond a little singe of your wallet, whatever the cause. And I do hope the repairs are made easily.

X3 on the likely cause being spider webs or some other blockage in the burner tube.I had a similar situation with our water heater a number of years ago during my regular pre-trip system checks. When I turned on the water heater it didn't make the normal roaring noise and when I looked out the RV door there were yellow flames coming from the air inlet slots in the burner tube. I removed the burner tube and found a spider web blocking it at the elbow. The interesting thing was that the spider web was nearly invisible against the silver interior of the burner tube.The picture below shows the burner tube and air inlet slots. Also note the discoloration of the wires above the burner slots.

Atwood G6A-8E water heater caught fire | Good Sam Community

j-d
Explorer II
Apr 12, 2015
Had you used the WH earlier this year? Blockage in the tube that passes from Burner to Exhaust, like a wasp nest, spider webs, etc. can cause it to flame back.

A diode-looking device called "thermal fuse" should have cut the LPG off before it got that bad.

I "might" repair, but I'd need to figure out if another component (in addition to the logic board) was required to fix it. Board + Much Else = Replace.

Be sure you get DSI (electronic ignition)! The "standing pilot" type is a pain. I really like the "+electric" feature too.
craz_z
Explorer
Apr 12, 2015
I just replaced mine just bought the motorhome last year some bone head tech or complete idiot put mine back together after a freeze cracked tank without the sealing rings installed exhaust was dumping in the coach almost killed us thankfully the CO monitor was working.

I installed mine from a eBay buy brand new

To answer your question water connection will need to be dealt with in the rv I wouldn't take the chance of stressing the pex from the outside. Your wiring should be long enough to deal with from the outside just have support or help hold it when sliding it out so u don't rip the wiring. Yours maybe burnt by the sounds of it

All else is done from the outside I used butyl to seal the new one in

Super easy job takes about an hour

Oh and even after draining the old heater be ready with towels when sliding it out as I had quite a bit of water under the sink

Sorry for punctuation typed this on my phone

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Atwood G6A-8E water heater caught fire

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