Ok....so....with the last update I left everyone hanging on the edge of their seats with this problem with the extra bracket and screw.
I would like to say that I have the perfect solution to the answer but I do not, I do have a partial solution.
enblethen provided a parts break out of the refrigerator.
Atwood Water Heater manual Below is pictured the important page.
1)It shows the "short" thermocouple I need, and the reason why (the long one will hit the gas solenoid).
The problem is the part number associated with the short thermocouple is the part number on the long one I have received. I just hope the new one that is coming is the correct one and the first one was bagged incorrectly. My thinking is it will be the same and the part has been superseded. The only good part of this is the old thermocouple is working just fine.
2) In the parts break out there is the angle bracket and screw that I had left over (it is circled in red, in the diagram above).
The perplexing thing is the bracket I have left over does not fit in that spot, and the machine screw does not go into the hole on the burner.
So I made some modifications to the bracket, I drilled a new hole and created a slot for the wires on the thermocouple to come through.
So here you see the burner apart for the fifth time, you can see the screw hole is offset from the thermocouple, and the collar on the thermocouple. The new hole in the bracket lines up with the original hole in the burner, and a new stainless steal screw has been found that fits the hole, and the new slot in the bracket fits over the thermocouple, but not the anodized collar on the thermocouple, so the thermocouple is now retained in the burner.
Old bracket in the new configuration screwed in place.
This new configuration was tested this weekend and worked.
