Troubleshooting Suburban Water heater not sparking to ignite

The electrode, as you know, needs to be quite close to the burner. 3/16 inch or so. The burner itself needs to be well grounded for the spark to happen. Check with your multimeter to see that the burner is well grounded. If there is a lot of rust or loose connections, that could be the cause. If grounding is questionable you can route a ground wire there and see if the spark will jump to it.


Does the gas valve open and emit gass for a few seconds when you first turn it on? If so, then you should be able to light by match just to see if that part of the control board is functioning.

The OEM igniter boards are known to **** out and usually do so between the 2nd and 3rd year. If the board turns out to be the culprit forget about the OEM board and go HERE .

I have the same water heater and had the same problem. I took some very fine sandpaper and polished the little rod that the spark jumps to and problem solved. Good luck.

Thanks. Then I’ll try the switch first then the thermostats. I’ll try to get off easy. The control and junction boxes aren’t readily accessible.

There were two different thermostats, one for 120 and the other for 12v

There were two reset buttons on the outside under a black rubber cover, one for each ISTR.

My owner's manual (went with the 5er to new owner) had the schematics in it.

This wiring diagram does not show the electric heating element. Do you know if the same thermostat that seems first in line after the switch also controls the electric element? If so, I can assume the thermostat is not the problem since the electric element does come on.

ISTR the light was separate as in this drawing, but it was in the 5er we had, so memory fading.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=suburban+rv+water+heater+parts+diagram&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=422&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=V-LSdqIpY8ZFeM%253A%252CZB80fQSDAy1WzM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kQWBFXF2_wsuHCdYj8G6m3Gkt3ulA&ved=2ahUKEwjO1e2H-7bgAhVVLX0KHbWQD_kQ9QEwBXoECAYQDg#imgrc=V-LSdqIpY8ZFeM:

The switch does turn the red light on and off. Could it still be the switch? I’ll get out to the trailer and check. That sure would be the easiest to fix!

With mine it was the switch itself. You can take it out and by-pass the switch joining the wires to see if that works. Next in line after the switch is a small control board (plastic cover)