attwood water heater acting funky

Geezus I hate this heater stuff. Having an active link on this now: http://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29120654.cfm

polestar wrote:
We have an atwood combo water heater(gas/electric).When we have the heater on electric only, sometimes the PILOT OUT light comes on and the electric shuts down. If I turn off the electric and turn it back on ,we get hot water again and the PILOT OFF goes off. Has anybody had this problem?

First, I think the indicator light is really a FAILED TO IGNITE BURNER. (At least on my daughter's TT it is.)

First, remove and re-seat ALL electrical connectors at the heater. Second, carefully pull back the adhesive insulator over the two thermostatic switches. Remove each switch one at a time and clean the switch and the tank with something like a Scotch pad.

I have the same set,when i was Nashville my water heater did the same thing,I called Atwood and the tech walked me through a test and determend the thermostat was bad .I replaced both thermostats and dioed,and got back in business.

That RED light is a FAULT indication light

It will trigger (Come ON) if:
1) Main Flame fails to light and PROVE it lit ....3 attempts then 'lock out' and FAULT light
2) IF the ECO OPENS FAULT light comes on (Electric and propane use SAME set of t-stats)

T-stat (normal temp) OPENS at 140*F.it is the controlling t-stat. It starts/stops heating cycles whether heat source is electric, propane or BOTH

ECO )Energy Cut Off---High temp back up safety) OPENS when t-stat has failed to shut down normal heating and temp as gone to high. It OPENS at 180*F but will auto reset when temp drops below 150*F.

FAULT light comes on as a Visual Indicator of problem
Until FAULT has been cleared no further auto heating can occur.
FAULT light is reset by turning ON/OFF switch OFF then back ON

You were using electric and Fault came on.....then t-stat is not functioning correctly
Could be bad---replace
Could be not making good contact against tank wall-----rotate t-stat back/forth several times to clean up contact surface
Could be t-stat is loose....not being held tight against tank wall----check plastic washer and that t-stat is being held under spring pressure

When in doubt.replace the t-stats...come as a set with new insulator pad.
Look the same but terminals are different sizes...t-stat ones are smaller of the two



And you have no Pilot Light...just main flame that is lit via a spark electrode

1. HOW do you know the Electric shuts OFF?????
2. What Year and Model of RV and Model of the Atwood? Doug

Probably the T-Stat as the others have stated, that's where I would start. Shut off all the power before you start working on it!

I would remove the T-stat and look at it. Sometimes there is some lime built up on the terminals. If you use a product like "lime away" (be careful with this as it can give skin burns) and another "lime remover" (they sell it at the dollar tree in a green spray bottle) and allow the terminals to soak for a while it can remove the lime build up on the terminals and could very well function again. If this doesn't work or you just "for sure want it fixed now", you'll need the part from Atwood. However, I will state that it often works and the soaking takes less than 1 hour.