Suburban Water Heater Issue

Rockhillmanor we must turn switch, it does NOT automatically change from electric to propane....

dbbls wrote:
Atwood water heaters only have one thermostat, don't know about Suburban but I suspect it only has one also. Does it try to light the gas???? Need more information other than "it doesn't work".

Suburbans have a separate tstat for gas and electric, a total of two.

HOT WATER HEATER PROBLEMS
We had similar problems. You might want to try cleaning out the gas supply lines to the heater unit (circled in red on part breakdown sheet.
Step 1... Turn off gas.
Step 2... Disconnect supply line
Step 3... Use a high pressure air hose to blow out the inside of all the piping to clean out minute partials that may be trapped inside
Step 4... Re-install the piping
Step 5... Turn on the propane
Step 6... Turn on the hot water switch to start the heater.
This worked for us on our way to Alaska in 2013. I was instructed on what to do by the host at one of the many campgrounds we stayed at...Hope this helps you.

x2
If it doesn't ignite, clicks and then keeps shutting off you need to have the igniter/solenoids checked they fail often. Easy to replace.

that said:

Does your heater 'automatically' switch over to propane?

Or do you have to push a switch to turn it for propane?

There are two 12VDC solenoids (0.48 Amps) on the Suburban water heater, p/n 161109. These coils have been known to fail open. A good coil measures about 40 Ohms.

Atwood water heaters only have one thermostat, don't know about Suburban but I suspect it only has one also. Does it try to light the gas???? Need more information other than "it doesn't work".

Does your gas stove top also work - In cold weather the propane tank regulator reacts to cold weather and doesn't work good sometimes.

Armed w/ a couple jumper wires, use process of bypassinization to find the problem.
If you get desperate, and if the gas valve is working, you can always get a heater to work by hot wiring 12 volts to it, then light w/ a striker. But DON'T WALK AWAY WHILE DOING THIS !! Be ready to disconnect in 45 minutes or less.

Does it light off on gas?