Gas Water Heater takes 4-6 cycles before staying Lit

My 6 Gallon Atwood H.W.H. is ORIGINAL in my 93 and it's still going strong with the original ignitor board.

Every season I pull the burner assembly and take a brush to the heat exchanger tube followed by compressed air (watch the eyes).

I take a scotch bright to the ignighter/flame sensor and gap at 1/8" Inspect the insulator and make sure it's clean with no cracks. Assemble the burner making sure the flame sensor is in the path of the flame.

I adjust the air mixture as stated above, Just a tad of orange flame. Should have a low rumble, if adjusted too lean it will sound like a blast furnace.

My flame sensor is in the path of the flame & about 1/8" of the tip is cherry red when burning.

Could be the flame sensor OR possibly the board. Some places can test the ignightor board.

Keep us posted.

I played with mine for a year. Sometimes it would take 10 or more tries to keep it going. I cleaned the ingnighter with steel wool, re-gaped it, wrapped the insulator with teflon tape in case the was a small crack,and cleaned all 3 grounds. Atwood gives you a way to test the board with an ohm meter which I did and was good. I finally ordered a new ingnighter and installed it. It started right up the first several times I used it. After the 3 trip it still took 3-4 tries to get it to light.

mine seems to working some better, it will lit in the first few cycles. I am still going blow out the tubes as described.

Thanks,
Terry

Don't bypass anything, it's too dangerous and you could have serious problems.

RE the orig issue, there is no hot or glowing ignitor with a spark ignition. If it lights at all it means the ignition cycle proves ok and powers the gas valve. When it goes out it's probably losing the flame signal which still could be a "lean" flame so try closing the shutter a bit. Make sure you do this before replacing the board. If all else fails, google the part number on the board and you will prob find one on ebay, which is what I did and paid half of the new $125 cost.

Kinda having the same problem, but I'm thinking my problem is the control module not working the gas valve or the igniter, so no hot water.
Its not fun when your 18 hours from home, not in a CG so no bath house & one day into your 5 day trip the water heater quits.
Along about that time, your hot, dirty & smelly & no hot water to take a bath, so somehow you have some choice words in you mind for Atwood.

Anybody know how to bypass the control box & work the heater manually.
Neil

Can you bend something so it is closer? Might be it needs too long now to get hot enough to stay lit.

I would be looking that the igniter, it should be glowing red when the first time it's started. It is also the flame detector. Probably by the second time it fires up it may be warm enough to keep the detection circuit going. Make sure igniter is in the flame path. You might try a little sandpaper on the igniter also.

First, blow out the chamber with compressed air if you have it, and brush off the electrode. Prob not the problem but it'll help. Next, once you have it lit adjust the air mixture slider to make the flame more "lazy", not so much a blasting blue flame. A softer flame is usually more efficient and lights better but don't go more than a little yellow or you'll build up soot. Blue with yellow tips is good.

I have ran the stove right before so I do not believe it is a purge issue.

I'd just guess. The first time it lites, It is burning the gas trapped at the the end of the line, and then runs out. Then it must wait for gas to get there again. You could just try liting a burner on the stove, letting it burn a little bit befor liting the Water heated again.