Water heater won't light

If you had the electric heating element on you probably toasted it. You can purchase the heating element at Home Depot. I speak from experience.

W/o water in the tank, it doesn't take long to ruin the ac heating element if plugged into shore power, and that switch was on. Nor is it a big problem to replace, and not very expensive either.
But it should still operate in the propane mode. Tell us more about what it does and doesn't do. Do you hear any sparking sound, etc ?

Old-Biscuit wrote:
The ON/OFF switch (lower left corner outside compartment) is for the Electric Element. IF you did not turn that switch ON when you had no water the electric element will be OK.



The Switch inside 5vr is for the propane side. IF you turned it ON when you had no water......the propane probably fired off BUT tripped due to tank getting hot.

The RED light is a fault light....telling you that a trip has occurred and you need to reset.



Turn all switches OFF, in outside compartment above gas valve is a rubber cover with 'Push to Reset' buttons on cover.
Push them.......they reset high temp t-stats
Left side is for electric element & right side is for propane (if tripped you will feel them reset)



Water heater tank bypass valve closed...water in WH tank THEN turn on to heat

Good luck!

Wow!!! Old Biscuit you took the time to prepare an outstanding, detailed reply. Nicely done !!

I believe we may have had the electric switch on, will it hurt it, how long does it take to hurt the heater if the electric is on without water?

The ON/OFF switch (lower left corner outside compartment) is for the Electric Element. IF you did not turn that switch ON when you had no water the electric element will be OK.



The Switch inside 5vr is for the propane side. IF you turned it ON when you had no water......the propane probably fired off BUT tripped due to tank getting hot.

The RED light is a fault light....telling you that a trip has occurred and you need to reset.



Turn all switches OFF, in outside compartment above gas valve is a rubber cover with 'Push to Reset' buttons on cover.
Push them.......they reset high temp t-stats
Left side is for electric element & right side is for propane (if tripped you will feel them reset)



Water heater tank bypass valve closed...water in WH tank THEN turn on to heat

Good luck!

It is a Suburban 10 gallon both gas and electric and automatic, we did light a stove burner and it lit, we filled the tanks. There is a switch that says water heater and another that says reset, in the 5er and there is an on, off switch in the hot water heater compartment.

Inasmuch as it did not light, I do not think any damage has been done. You did not tell us much about your heater. Is it gas only, manual or automatic light? Is it both gas and electric, or is it a tankless?
If gas (LP), make sure the tank is not empty and turned on. Try lighting a stove burner to test. A little more detail would help with the problem solving.