Water heater problem

Why would the DSI light come on if you are only using Electric, not gas?

Assuming it is an Atwood (And as someone said that now includes Dometic) they use a single pair of thermostats.. You can easily tell if this is the case by opening the outside door. Roughly in the center is a piece of black foam with 4 electrical connectors (may have more wire but 4 connnectors) one pair is marked T-Stat and the other ECO These are used by both Gas and Electric.

The light is properly called a FAULT light, not a DSI and was mislabeled.

Two things will trip it.. ONE. if the burner fails to light (Or the control board fails to SENSE the burner has lit) when on gas.

and 2: On either gas or electric, if the ECO opens (Or you pull the RED wire during winterization like you are supposed to which has the same effect, it connects to the ECO).

Your water may be getting too hot.

How to tell?

Put a Candy or meat thermometer in teh hot water flow. Shoudl be 120, mine is 160. I thnk 190 is FAULT time.

Note that this simple test does NOT void warranty.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Thanks for the update...glad you have Hot water.


One followup question:
Was the water REALLY hot and that is why you changed t-stat/ECO?

.


No it was hot but only 80 to 100 degrees or so. I could leave my hand under it and not get burned.

Thanks for the update...glad you have Hot water.


One followup question:
Was the water REALLY hot and that is why you changed t-stat/ECO?

camper-don wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:

camper-don wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
It would help to know the make and model of the heater. It could be a thermostat closed failure and the over temp emergency cut off (ECO) is tripping to cut off the heat.

Thanks for the replies it is a Dometic model # is GC6AA-10E. Only running on electric.

That Atwood water heater control circuit uses same set of t-stats for electric & propane.
There is a millivolt signal that goes thru the ECO to gas valve ---just enough to place the ECO T-stat in the control loop. (Red Wires) ECO---Energy Cut Off---HIGH temp t-stat

IF ECO should open (normal temp t-stat fails to open at 140*F) then the ECO trips at 180*F and triggers FAULT Light (DSI Light)
SO either the water gets VERY HOT cause normal t-stat failed OR you are loosing the millivolt signal for ECO when on electric heating

Is water REALLY HOT?
Replace the t-stat (Brown Wires)

Water NOT really Hot...
Clean up spade connectors and terminals on ECO & GAS Valve
They need to be CLEAN & TIGHT fitting

I will replace the t-stat and eco and post the results.

I replaced the T-stat and ECO and that seems to have fixed the problem. Ran it for about 4 hours and it has worked perfectly. Thanks for all the help.

I helped my daughter check out the trailer they bought, hot water heater was not working the way we expected (gas). We cleaned all the connections (behind the vent cover on the outside) and it works now as expected... so before you just swap a bunch of parts, try cleaning the connections. It only costs a few minutes of your time.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

camper-don wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
It would help to know the make and model of the heater. It could be a thermostat closed failure and the over temp emergency cut off (ECO) is tripping to cut off the heat.

Thanks for the replies it is a Dometic model # is GC6AA-10E. Only running on electric.

That Atwood water heater control circuit uses same set of t-stats for electric & propane.
There is a millivolt signal that goes thru the ECO to gas valve ---just enough to place the ECO T-stat in the control loop. (Red Wires) ECO---Energy Cut Off---HIGH temp t-stat

IF ECO should open (normal temp t-stat fails to open at 140*F) then the ECO trips at 180*F and triggers FAULT Light (DSI Light)
SO either the water gets VERY HOT cause normal t-stat failed OR you are loosing the millivolt signal for ECO when on electric heating

Is water REALLY HOT?
Replace the t-stat (Brown Wires)

Water NOT really Hot...
Clean up spade connectors and terminals on ECO & GAS Valve
They need to be CLEAN & TIGHT fitting

I will replace the t-stat and eco and post the results.

enblethen wrote:
Thermal fuse could be bad

Parts Breakdown

Bad thermal fuse will NOT allow ANY heating function and does NOT trigger the Fault Light
Thermal fuse Blows if there is a back flash of flame out of combustion chamber....one shot device.
Have to replace when it blows

Thermal fuse could be bad

Parts Breakdown

camper-don wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
It would help to know the make and model of the heater. It could be a thermostat closed failure and the over temp emergency cut off (ECO) is tripping to cut off the heat.

Thanks for the replies it is a Dometic model # is GC6AA-10E. Only running on electric.

That Atwood water heater control circuit uses same set of t-stats for electric & propane.
There is a millivolt signal that goes thru the ECO to gas valve ---just enough to place the ECO T-stat in the control loop. (Red Wires) ECO---Energy Cut Off---HIGH temp t-stat

IF ECO should open (normal temp t-stat fails to open at 140*F) then the ECO trips at 180*F and triggers FAULT Light (DSI Light)
SO either the water gets VERY HOT cause normal t-stat failed OR you are loosing the millivolt signal for ECO when on electric heating

Is water REALLY HOT?
Replace the t-stat (Brown Wires)

Water NOT really Hot...
Clean up spade connectors and terminals on ECO & GAS Valve
They need to be CLEAN & TIGHT fitting

Dutch_12078 wrote:
It would help to know the make and model of the heater. It could be a thermostat closed failure and the over temp emergency cut off (ECO) is tripping to cut off the heat.

Thanks for the replies it is a Dometic model # is GC6AA-10E. Only running on electric.