Forum Discussion

Explorer

Jul 23, 2018

Water Heater= death of me! Please help

My husband and I are brand spanking new to owning a travel trailer. We bought at 2018 31' Coleman Lantern spur of moment. Looking back, a million things we would do differently. Our maiden voyage this year our 6 gallon Atwood water heater seemed to have failed us. Then we had the newbie "duh" moment and realized we had not switched the bypass. Second trip, water flooding out of no where....yup.....forgot the plug. After that, worked like a charm. Third trip....nada. I am beyond frustrated. checked fuses, all good, checked thermal cut off and thats fine. Its clicking but nothing else. I flipped up the valve and it appears no water in tank. I am so confused as I don't understand why no water is getting to the tank. Water is flowing, gas is on, bypass is in correct position. I would assume it is something simple so I hate to take it in. Any advice? Do I need to bleed line after every use? thank you.

13 Replies

Dutch_12078
Explorer III
Jul 23, 2018
If you post a photo of your bypass setup, I'm sure we can sort it out for you.

And welcome to the forum!
ken56
Explorer
Jul 23, 2018
Are you sure the valves are in the correct position? The oblong handle is usually in line (parallel) with the pipe to indicate open. Perpendicular to the pipe is closed. Did you miss one? There could be 3 separate valves. Newer valves can be the quarter turn type and only one valve to switch between bypass and tank. Look on youtube for videos. Lots of videos to learn from on there.
JaxDad
Explorer III
Jul 23, 2018
Usually it’s something silly like a spider nest in the burner tube.

If you have a compressor give it a good cleaning with air, and don’t spare the PSI. If not, get a good long bottle brush.

Google ‘propane burner tube cleaning’ or something like that.