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EcoBullet's avatar
EcoBullet
Explorer
Jul 09, 2018

Water Heater Quit

Our 2015 Passport 2650BH has a gas/electric water heater that has quit working in either mode. I checked the breaker box and saw nothing tripped, and the little fuses were OK. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your input.
  • No 12VDC for control voltage.
    What brand WH?
    Suburban has two hi temp limit switches that can be reset.
  • It is an Atwood WH. I don't know what "No 12VDC for control voltage." means.
  • You need to check for control voltage. It is probably 12VDC, so you need to start checking your voltages.
    Search online for beamalarm.com under atwood water heaters. They have atwoods comprehensive trouble shooting instructions.
  • EcoBullet wrote:
    It is an Atwood WH. I don't know what "No 12VDC for control voltage." means.


    It means......
    Atwood WH uses 12V DC to operate/control the heating functions of both electric & propane

    A common FUSED DC voltage goes to both on/off switches then from each switch to circuit board
    IF that common fuse is blown ...no DC no heating
    Fuse will be in the DC Dist Panel with the other fuses


    IF that fuse if good and you have DC to both on/off switches then the other common component is the 'thermal fuse' in the outside compartment.
    If blown it shuts down ALL DC from circuit board to t-stat....no DC no heating
    Thermal fuse (inside clear tubing) is on BROWN Wire coming from circuit board then to T_stat
    Remove it and connect BROWN wire directly to T-stat to check if WH will work....then replace thermal fuse (blows when exposed to 190*F temps typically due to dirty combustion/exhaust chamber and flame blows back out of combustion chamber)



    IF you have a voltmeter and know how to trace a circuit here is a color coordinated wiring diagram for your Atwood water heater


    Check voltage in outside compartment at the 2 multi-pin connectors.
  • I have a Passport with an Atwood as well, I had to replace the control board after 3 years due to a bad ignitor. After you verify 12v and that the thermal cutouts haven't opened, you may need to replace the circuit board.
  • Thanks for the replies! I unplugged the thermal fuse and plugged the brown wire in directly. I then went in and turned on the LP WH switch. I went back outside and PRESTO, the burner was lit! I then went in and turned off the gas and turned on the electric, waited about half an hour to see if water was hot. It was! Old-Biscuit, you just saved me a service visit to the dealer and a pile of money. I ordered 2 of them from Amazon for about $15 and read a bunch of reviews that indicate it is a common problem.

    Thank God for an easy fix! I've been having bad luck with appliances. The trailer before this one went through 2 air conditioners and a refrigerator in just over 3 years. One of the AC units and the refrigerator were both covered under warranty, but it's still a PITA.
  • EcoBullet wrote:
    Thanks for the replies! I unplugged the thermal fuse and plugged the brown wire in directly. I then went in and turned on the LP WH switch. I went back outside and PRESTO, the burner was lit! I then went in and turned off the gas and turned on the electric, waited about half an hour to see if water was hot. It was! Old-Biscuit, you just saved me a service visit to the dealer and a pile of money. I ordered 2 of them from Amazon for about $15 and read a bunch of reviews that indicate it is a common problem.

    Thank God for an easy fix! I've been having bad luck with appliances. The trailer before this one went through 2 air conditioners and a refrigerator in just over 3 years. One of the AC units and the refrigerator were both covered under warranty, but it's still a PITA.


    Glad to hear it is working now.......HOT water good! :B

    Now you need to do one other thing......
    Run a wire up thru the 'U' tube from combustion side out thru exhaust side ---tie a rag to wire and then pull back thru (chimney sweep)
    Don't want flame to back fire and trip new thermal fuse