Forum Discussion

stevennlv's avatar
stevennlv
Explorer
Oct 28, 2019

Can I replace a DSI HWH with something (anything) else?

I have a fairly new unit, 2017.

It has a DSI hot water heater. I hate it with a passion. It is nothing but problems and headaches.

About this time of year, for the last two years, it starts to develop DSI faults. Last year I watched some YT vids and was able to get it to clear after a couple of days of headaches.

I cannot get it to clear this time. I have done everything I can think of and tried a bunch of stuff off the web and I cannot get it to clear.

I have cleaned the combustion chamber and the igniter. I have replaced the anode rod and flushed the tank. I have let it set with the gas shut off at the tank for hours. I have followed all kinds of suggestions, like resetting / restarting things in a specific order (ie furnace and stove before HW) to "clear air out of the lines"(?), resetting breakers, etc. About the only thing I have not tried so far is disconnecting from shore power. (Would that make any difference?)

All I know is that every year, so far, like clockwork it goes to **** after about 12 months of operation and this year I can't fix it; which means unless I get some brilliant advice here then it's a trip to the shop.

If it's a trip to the shop I'd just rather replace the entire thing with something far more reliable and easier to maintain.

Does such an animal exist (easy to care for HWH) and I can swap one of them out for the hunk of junk I have now?

I'm in a Outdoors, Black Rock 20rd, 2017 with a Suburban DSI HWH.
  • What is happening with your water heater? Can you hear the gas valve open when it is trying to heat? Can you hear a snapping noise from the spark ignition? The Dinosaur replacement boards seem to be a lot tougher than the OEM control boards. I've had to replace bad factory boards on a couple of our RVs over the years. Never had to go back and replace a dinosaur board.
  • newman fulltimer wrote:
    This time of year the diaphram in the propane regulator gets stiffer so on a bad regulator it makes it harder for appliances to work


    I was wondering about things along this line.

    I did not go into all my troubleshooting. It has been extensive.

    One of the times I was turning things off and on in different orders I ended with the DSI fault cleared but the furnace would produce no heat. The furnace would come one when the temp dropped and it would blow air, but no heat. So I turned lots of things off and on again until the fault came back and my heat worked as expected.

    The regulator that I have now is a Cavagna Group 52-A-890-0007 Automatic Changeover Type 924N .

    I can't find any reviews on it other than the three on the Amazon page saying it's junk and you should not buy it.

    After looking at some reviews I was looking at a Fairview RV Camper LP Propane 2 Stage Automatic Changeover Regulator .

    Evidentially they use a lot of really super cheap parts on this thing. Last year, when it was only one year old, I had to replace both the pig tails within a month of each other b/c they both started leaking where the hose was mounted to the coupling for the tank. The folks in the parts dept said they should have lasted a lot longer than a year.

    Should my next troubleshooting step be to replace the regulator?
  • This time of year the diaphram in the propane regulator gets stiffer so on a bad regulator it makes it harder for appliances to work
  • jplante4 wrote:
    clicky


    I went to Furrion's home page. They don't have the heater listed as a product that is available. It is only listed as an article, with a link to their media release announcement about it, in a section listed as "test".
  • SoundGuy wrote:
    I sure wouldn't do it but you could always replace your DSI water heater with a manual, pilot light version.


    Thing is, most of this stuff is new to me and IDK what my options are and if they are any better or worse than what I have now.

    One of the mods linked to a different type of on-demand heater and I'll look in to it.

    I just want something that is not going to give me two week of headaches every 12 months like clockwork. I'd rather spend a grand or two, if I have to, to replace it and just be done with it b/c I'm a full timer.

    This is my house. I don't want a hot water that "dies" EVERY YEAR!
  • stevennlv wrote:
    I'm in a Outdoors, Black Rock 20rd, 2017 with a Suburban DSI HWH.


    I sure wouldn't do it but you could always replace your DSI water heater with a manual, pilot light version.
  • A mobile mechanic may be easier than a trip to the shop. I kinda doubt you'll be able to find anything without DSI nowadays. I don't know of any breakers that need flipping, but you didn't mention anything about your battery and its condition.

    Sorry about your troubles.. I have a DSI work flawlessly for 17 years.