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jesseannie's avatar
jesseannie
Explorer
Sep 10, 2017

Water heater rainy day blues

I have posted this here before but have still not solved the mystery.
I have an Atwood 6 gal water heater with manual light pilot.
It works great until it rains. We are in Boise Id. And it BRIEFLY rained two days ago pilot went out had to re-light one day later an overnight shower, same story.
I have .... new pilot tube assembly, new valve, two brand new 40 gal tanks and a new regulator.
I have had it to the RV repair shop twice they test everything and tell me it is perfect so it must be all in my head. Lol
If it rains hard for a longer time it is hard to light and if I dismantle the pilot tube assembly and blow it out it looks like water will fly out. Then it will always re-light. The storage area it is in is water tight.
My only solution so far is to never camp when it rains but that is pretty limiting. Haha

Jesseannie
Seeking Advice
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Sep 10, 2017
    Pilot flame heats thermocouple .....thermocouple signal goes to gas control and energizes magnet which allows continuous flow of gas to pilot.

    Drop that milivolt signal and magnet closes.....no more pilot flame

    Weak thermocouple....connection at gas control shorting/ground....loss of signal



    With pilot flame ON.......main control knob ON
    Spray down gas control and thermocouple connection ---see if pilot goes out
  • CavemanCharlie's avatar
    CavemanCharlie
    Explorer III
    Sep 10, 2017
    jesseannie wrote:
    I have posted this here before but have still not solved the mystery.
    I have an Atwood 6 gal water heater with manual light pilot.
    It works great until it rains. We are in Boise Id. And it BRIEFLY rained two days ago pilot went out had to re-light one day later an overnight shower, same story.
    I have .... new pilot tube assembly, new valve, two brand new 40 gal tanks and a new regulator.
    I have had it to the RV repair shop twice they test everything and tell me it is perfect so it must be all in my head. Lol
    If it rains hard for a longer time it is hard to light and if I dismantle the pilot tube assembly and blow it out it looks like water will fly out. Then it will always re-light. The storage area it is in is water tight.
    My only solution so far is to never camp when it rains but that is pretty limiting. Haha

    Jesseannie


    It is not suppose to be getting water in there. You will have to use a garden hose and see where the water is getting in at. Maybe you will need to build some sort of deflector.

    Have you changed the thermocouple ?
  • CavemanCharlie's avatar
    CavemanCharlie
    Explorer III
    Sep 10, 2017
    Pauljdav wrote:
    My guess is the main board has an issue and moisture affects it.


    If it has a manual pilot light it probably doesn't have a board.

    The only thing I can think of it to spray water at it as said and see if you can figure out when it goes out and why. The pilot light is a really small flame and it doesn't take much to put it out. Or, maybe the thremocouple is getting cooled off by water intrusion and then it thinks the pilot went out and shuts off the gas.
  • jesseannie's avatar
    jesseannie
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2017
    Pauljdav wrote:
    My guess is the main board has an issue and moisture affects it.


    Me too.

    Jesseannie
  • stickdog's avatar
    stickdog
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2017
    Upgrade to a DSI water heater or get a magnetic floor vent and use in when in rain area to direct rain away.
  • Pauljdav's avatar
    Pauljdav
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2017
    My guess is the main board has an issue and moisture affects it.
  • azrving's avatar
    azrving
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2017
    When it is dry and door is closed gently spray water on the side of the rig and let it run down then open the door and look for where it may be dripping. Advance the test while getting a little more aggressive. You might even put a small piece of Kleenex or something at the pilot area to determine when it happens. Also consider if the rain may be hitting it at more of an angle. From there you may be able to make some sort of small baffle or deflector to shield it. When I installed my WH I noticed how irregular the edge of the sheet metal flange was when caulking it and that may contribute to it dripping in at just the wrong spot.

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