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niksagkram's avatar
niksagkram
Explorer
May 27, 2014

Atwood water heater problem

Hi all. First time poster on this Forum, so I hope I am posting in the right place.:)
We bought a 2003 Kustom Koach KT251 about a month ago. In "like new" condition, all winterized still, because we are in Alberta! I de-winterized it and checked all systems, all worked great, in my driveway. Took the unit out for the first time this week-end, and everything was fine. Lots of hot water from the Atwood GC10A-3E, on Friday! I turned the water heater off that night so we wouldn't hear it all night(is it OK to do that?). The following morning.... NOTHING!! The remote switch doesn't seem to be working. Normally, when we turn it on it stays lit for a couple of seconds, then you hear the water heater fire up. Now, the switch won't light up at all, and no action from the water heater. Hot water tank is full, and propane is full. No light on switch on AC or DC power. We were running on battery power when this started happening.
Any thoughts? Need any more info to diagnose?

Thanks,

Mark

30 Replies

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  • Tequila's avatar
    Tequila
    Explorer
    May 29, 2014
    If you open up the cover on the outside, you will see a piece of grey foam with 4 wires going into it. Try shorting them out one pair at a time. One set has red wires, the other brown. These are your high & low temp detectors. If it starts when you short one pair out then that is your problem. If so, the good news is replacements are only about $20 and easy to change, you just peel back that foam. Also what can happen is the retaining rings holding them against the tank can come loose on rough toads. That would be obvious if you peel back the foam.

    The circuit board is sealed in epoxy. It that is toast, I would replace it with the dinosaur board equivalent.
  • niksagkram's avatar
    niksagkram
    Explorer
    May 29, 2014
    OK... I checked all fuses, they all looked OK. I checked the 2amp one too, it looked fine but I replaced it anyway. Still nothing. I still don't understand how it can be working in the evening, I turned it off overnight, and then in the morning it's not working. Any thoughts on what I should check next? I suppose, logically, I should make sure I'm getting power to the switch, and go from there. I will dig out my tester tomorrow. Not going out with the trailer for a couple of weeks, so I have a little time to solve this. :) As long as the cold beer cabinet, er...I mean fridge, works, all is good. :)
  • Yaj's avatar
    Yaj
    Explorer
    May 28, 2014
    Look in your 12 volt distribution panel for a blown fuse.
  • niksagkram's avatar
    niksagkram
    Explorer
    May 28, 2014
    Checked out the heater again tonight, and it is working fine on electricity, just not working on gas using the remote switch. I have turned off the electric switch and I'm going to let the tank cool down over night and try the remote switch tomorrow, going to put a new 2amp fuse in too, just in case. I tried unplugging the circuit board, and plugging it back in, but no go. All tubes look clear.
    BTW, user manual says if the heater enters lock-out mode there will be an indicator light. Does that mean on the remote switch? it doesn't say in the manual.
  • niksagkram's avatar
    niksagkram
    Explorer
    May 27, 2014
    mobilefleet wrote:
    there is a control circuit board about 4 inches long too, may have a white plastic cover over it, with a small plug in type fuse in it. Check the fuse. Prob mounted near back of water heater on the inside of trailer


    Is that a 2amp fuse? I think I saw that. It looked fine
  • niksagkram's avatar
    niksagkram
    Explorer
    May 27, 2014
    newman fulltimer wrote:
    It is in lock out mode go unplug the circuit board plug it back in try again

    Thanks, I will try that... what causes lock-out mode?
  • mobilefleet's avatar
    mobilefleet
    Explorer
    May 27, 2014
    there is a control circuit board about 4 inches long too, may have a white plastic cover over it, with a small plug in type fuse in it. Check the fuse. Prob mounted near back of water heater on the inside of trailer
  • niksagkram's avatar
    niksagkram
    Explorer
    May 27, 2014
    robsouth wrote:
    Have you checked to battery to be sure it has a good charge? Battery is necessary for control board and igniter.


    Yes. Battery is brand new, fully charged, and everything else on the trailer works off battery power.
  • robsouth's avatar
    robsouth
    Explorer II
    May 27, 2014
    Have you checked to battery to be sure it has a good charge? Battery is necessary for control board and igniter.

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