Atwood water heater question.

[000]

Hi all,
I have an Atwood water heater in my camper. When I know the heater is full of water I flick the switch and the unit fires up fine after about 20-30 min lots of hot water.
The issue is its not shutting off. The only way it will shut off is flick the switch again. When I do that it shuts off fine.

Is there away to test the thermostat? Anything else I can check?

Thanks

[000]

Just an update.
I installed the new thermostat and tested. The heater fired for about 40min then cut out!
I drained out some water and it cut right back in!
Thanks for the help,

[000]

its a 6 gallon.

[YamaDooed]

Check bypass valves
Check thermostat seated on tank
Defective thermostat ,replace

[just_me]

I'd check it at the pop off for the true temp. just be careful getting it, ware a glove and don't splash.
You didn't say the size of your water heater. Atwood told me 145-155 was a average temp for the one I have and its a 10 gal. It does take a while to heat.

[000]

stupid question but..
check it right out of the tap best place? 140-145 degrees

[jetcare]

Let it run until it shuts off. The water will be 140-145 degrees. The ECO (high limit switch) will shut the heater off if the thermostat is bad.

[000]

I got the new kit this morning. I will install it this afternoon. If i find it seems like the heater is still not cutting out. What would be the max you would let it run for?
Im going to monitor the water temperature with a thermometer.

[doxiemom11]

Our 10 gallon can take up to 45 min to heat the water the first time, especially if it is very cold water to start with. After it is initially heated, it runs only about 10 min to keep it hot.

[JR45]

When we got our 06 Country Coach I fired up the gas hot water heater and after about 35-40min I started to sweat bullets thinking it was never going to turn off but it did. The one in my Alpenlite took about half the time but it is a smaller heater and it is a Suburban.
JR

[John_Joey]

ON EDIT

Sorry misread your post about the problem causing this edit.

Given what you stated I would get the kit, but first I would ensure your current ones are set firmly against the tank. If they are not then they can not do their job.

[000]

phays wrote:
Check the water temperature when you think the water is hot enough and the unit should shut down. The thermostat will control the temperature at around 140F or so. If the thermostat fails, the ECO will shut the unit down at about 180F. Should that happen, you will have to turn the unit off and then back on to get it to light again. The thermostat and ECO are sold as a pair and it takes only about 5 minutes to replace them.

My t-stat failed and I had extremely hot water. I checked the temperature and it was about 170F. Way to hot for safety.

Of course, this may not be your problem but checking the temp will tell you if the heater has reached the temperature for the t-stat to shut the burner down.

Go here for a service manual. Bryant RV . The water heater manual is near the bottom of the page

I'm going to get a thermostat and ECO kit tomorrow. Hope the rv place hs it in stock!
I'll keep you posted

[000]

NanciL wrote:
Are you sure it is still firing after it reaches a set point.
My light will still stay on even after it heats the water up to it's set point, and then it will cycle on and off as needed until I flick the switch off.
I would think that if it kept the flame going, it would eventually blow the safety valve

Jack L

It's still flaming until I flick the switch. I haven't let it go long enough for the PRV to pop.
I think the longest it was on for was 40 min max

[phays]

Check the water temperature when you think the water is hot enough and the unit should shut down. The thermostat will control the temperature at around 140F or so. If the thermostat fails, the ECO will shut the unit down at about 180F. Should that happen, you will have to turn the unit off and then back on to get it to light again. The thermostat and ECO are sold as a pair and it takes only about 5 minutes to replace them.

My t-stat failed and I had extremely hot water. I checked the temperature and it was about 170F. Way to hot for safety.

Of course, this may not be your problem but checking the temp will tell you if the heater has reached the temperature for the t-stat to shut the burner down.

Go here for a service manual. Bryant RV . The water heater manual is near the bottom of the page

[NanciL]

Are you sure it is still firing after it reaches a set point.
My light will still stay on even after it heats the water up to it's set point, and then it will cycle on and off as needed until I flick the switch off.
I would think that if it kept the flame going, it would eventually blow the safety valve

Jack L