Water Heater won't restart !

RLS7201 wrote:
Your symptoms indicate a bad primary thermostat. If the primary thermostat fails and the Emergency Cut Off (ECO) thermostat shuts off the burner, the circuit board will lock out and not let the water heater re-fire until you cycle the on/off switch.

Richard

This is exactly what's happening. I was at a Warrior Dash event yesterday and promised my friends a hot shower rather than having to use the outdoor, dribbling cold water showers they provide at the event. I registered for the event but wimped out. I did it last year, but I'm of an age where a muddy obstacle course on a rainy 60-degree day doesn't sound like fun. Had the weather been better I'd have done it. Okay, enough with the excuses.

I hung back with my GF in the motorhome. We were hanging out waiting for our friends to come back from the race when I saw a wall of steam outside the window. The pressure relief valve blew!

I lost a ton of water by the time it was cool enough to try to seal back up. I got it to sort of seal up - at least enough to build water pressure again. There was just enough water for people to shower (I have an outside shower). I had to cycle the switch on the HW heater to keep it from overheating. Sometimes the lockout light would come on, sometimes not. I poked at my new, adjustable thermostat with a screwdriver and sometimes it would shut the flame off, sometimes not. I don't know what happened, but it worked when I first installed it.

I requested an exchange from the company I bought it from. In the meantime I ordered the original set of TCO switches. They were only $13. I need to replace the relief valve, too, because it's not sealing anymore.

Your symptoms indicate a bad primary thermostat. If the primary thermostat fails and the Emergency Cut Off (ECO) thermostat shuts off the burner, the circuit board will lock out and not let the water heater re-fire until you cycle the on/off switch.

Richard

I'm curious as to whether it tries to light at all or it tries and fails?

I ask because I replaced the thermostat in mine recently. The old thermostat was bad and it would heat the water up until the high-temp cut-out kicked in. The pressure from the steam was causing all of my hot water lines to leak!

Anyway, now that I've replaced the thermostat the heater will heat up like it should, but not always turn back on when it needs to. BUT it tries. The red light comes on which I think means that the thermostat is working, but it's failing to light. I'm wondering if it's possible to get a "bad batch" of propane? The fridge is acting up, too, after having recently refilled the propane tank. It takes several attempts to stay lit, but once it's lit it stays lit.

Mandalay Parr wrote:
Does it try and fail, or not even try?

It trys and fails on the restart.

D.E.Bishop wrote:
snomass, As it is so often mentioned here, it would behoove you to get a DMM(digital multi-meter) and learn how to use it. They are very simple to operate and they do so many things to help you save time. I have two or three brand new meters in the garage that I got free from Harbor Freight.

There are a multitude of appliance manuals available on line with trouble shooting sections. Most troubleshooting manuals have schematics and exploded views so identification of the various parts is simple.

That said, I have nothing against asking for help here as some solutions are so simple and common that many of us carry a spare part or two for those failures. Occasionally you get an answer which seems very simple but doesn't make any sense. By adjusting the thermocouple I believe the intent was to say "is the thermocouple located in the correct location in the pilot flame". A good idea but a little fuzzy if you haven't heard about that in the past, besides there aren't many adjustable thermocouples.

So post your question, download the manual and use the new meter that hopefully you picked up for free at Harbor Freight to trouble shoot the problem following the manual. After all that, if you don't have the solution, I'll be surprised.

Eagle Rock, I assume you are from the Eagle Rock area. I trust your wisdom, since I married a girl from Eagle Rock High School. I grew up in Highland Park. I will try the meter from Harbor Freight. Thanks for the info.

snomass, As it is so often mentioned here, it would behoove you to get a DMM(digital multi-meter) and learn how to use it. They are very simple to operate and they do so many things to help you save time. I have two or three brand new meters in the garage that I got free from Harbor Freight.

There are a multitude of appliance manuals available on line with trouble shooting sections. Most troubleshooting manuals have schematics and exploded views so identification of the various parts is simple.

That said, I have nothing against asking for help here as some solutions are so simple and common that many of us carry a spare part or two for those failures. Occasionally you get an answer which seems very simple but doesn't make any sense. By adjusting the thermocouple I believe the intent was to say "is the thermocouple located in the correct location in the pilot flame". A good idea but a little fuzzy if you haven't heard about that in the past, besides there aren't many adjustable thermocouples.

So post your question, download the manual and use the new meter that hopefully you picked up for free at Harbor Freight to trouble shoot the problem following the manual. After all that, if you don't have the solution, I'll be surprised.

thermal couple needs adjustment and or is going bad.

I had the same problem on my travel trailer hot water tank. There was no telling when it would stop working. It would try to re-start but wouldn't. To get it to restart I would have to turn it off, wait 30 seconds or so and then turn it back on and it would re-light. I took it to the dealer and it was just a minor adjustment. I don't know what adjustment they made but apparently it was an easy fix for them. 5 minute job.

Thermal switch is bad. It wont relight until the thermal switch closes again, and it is not.

Does it try and fail, or not even try?