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CRMW's avatar
CRMW
Explorer
May 21, 2016

Atwood Water Heater won't stay lit.

I have an Atwood GC6AA-10E Water Heater. Since I got the trailer last summer, the hot water heater won't work on gas. It will light, run for 2 or 3 seconds and turn off. If I bypass the controls and hook up 12v directly to the gas valve it will run but the ignighter does not get red hot. The flame ignighter/sensor appears to be in the right spot, and the flame appears weak.

So far I have:
Replaced the igniter/sensor - both work the same
Tightened all connections
cleaned the orifice
cleaned the flue and burner tubes
had the dealer verify the board
bypassed the ECO and Thermostat when testing and replaced them
used a bbq regulator hooked up directly to the gas valve
cleaned the gas valve with throttle body cleaner
verified the solenoid valves are working in the gas valve by checking them 1 solenoid at a time

Any ideas would help. It would be nice to have access to another gas valve to test it but I haven't been able to locate one.

Thanks for your time, Chris
  • Artum Snowbird wrote:
    Not sure if you have done this. There is a wire that goes in the front of the water heater with a fusible link that is designed to cut off the power to the gas relay if the fusible link melts because of a fire outside of the burner.

    My fusible link was not melted, but the connection at one end of the fusible link was rotten and corroded preventing anything happening. Like you, I took the board in and it tested fine.

    Once I peeled off the shrink cover over the link, I could see the problem right away, and remade the connection with a new squeeze connector and then it all worked fine.


    That 'thermal link' kills ALL DC so nothing would work....electric or propane

    OPs issue is spark electrode NOT being engulfed in flame, loose/dirty contacts on 'high tension' wire (at transformer and/or electrode), cracked ceramic (signal tracking to ground) OR bad circuit on control module
  • Not sure if you have done this. There is a wire that goes in the front of the water heater with a fusible link that is designed to cut off the power to the gas relay if the fusible link melts because of a fire outside of the burner.

    My fusible link was not melted, but the connection at one end of the fusible link was rotten and corroded preventing anything happening. Like you, I took the board in and it tested fine.

    Once I peeled off the shrink cover over the link, I could see the problem right away, and remade the connection with a new squeeze connector and then it all worked fine.
  • I did all the same stuff except have the card tested. In the end the card had to be the problem but with my water heater being 14 years old and the card costing about $125.00 and us being ready to leave for the winter, I chose a new WH on Ebay for $350.00
  • The electrodes need to be in the flame- temperature does not matter, being in the flame matters, as the board passes a very small electrical current through the flame.
    It is possible that the board is actually bad- I have had some test good, but fail in use.

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