Attwod water heater issue

[camperdave]

So my water heater is not working right... Basically it's starting alright (DSI), but with a huge yellow flame at the end of the burner tube instead of a nice blue one. It keeps trying to re-light even when running, as I assume the flame is not hot enough to warm the thermocouple?

Every once in a while it will also flare out of the venturi portion of the burner tube too, big old yellow flame that I can blow out easily. It seems to me that it's not getting enough gas flow.

Stove works fine, and the water heater is mounted in the cabinet right behind the stove so I'm pretty confident I'm getting gas to the water heater.

I removed the end of the burner assy from the valve, and unscrewed the jet. It looked good, I ran some carb cleaner through it, but no change. The tube looked good too, no blockages (at least from the jet on out).

What next? 🙂

[Retired_JSO]

katysdad wrote:
spiderweb in the burner tube can cause this also

X2
Or some other critter in the tube.

[enblethen]

Thanks for the update! Hope it fixes the issue permanently!

[camperdave]

OP here following up.

Blowing out the line and filling the tank with propane did nothing, but a new main regulator fixed it. Stove and refer were still working fine, just not enough volume for the water heater. Problem solved for now!

[Gjac]

I would start with the simple stuff first, remove the gas valve orifice and clean with alcohol. That hole is only about .020 in dia and can get clogged. Remove and clean burner tube check that flame spreader has not rusted off and is 90 degrees to tube. Does your refer run on propane? is the flame blue and steady or is it yellow and flicker? That will give you a good idea if you have a gas flow problem from the main tank through the regulator. If the slots in the burner tube are badly rusted that can allow too much air into the mix.

[enblethen]

Regulator should be preset.

[stevenal]

Will you adjust the pressure on the new regulator?

[camperdave]

Closed today. As they should be of course! I'm shipping to an Amazon locker near our Monday destination, it will give me something to do while quarincamping.

I'm sure I'll be able to grab propane on the road tomorrow too.

[enblethen]

Ace hardware should have regulator and many have propane

[camperdave]

Blowing out the line didn't help, and I was unable to get propane on July 4th, go figure lol.

As I'm up against it with a trip so I'm going to order both a new regulator and water heater gas valve to cover my bases. Will follow up in a week or so after our trip, hope I get to take warm showers!! :E

[stevenal]

A manometer is a handy tool to own. I have a feeling many builders just put the plumbing together and never bother adjusting the regulator.

[BFL13]

Here is how I bench-tested mine.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30086924/srt/pa/pging/1/page/2.cfm

On page 1 of that is a photo where it shows my clamp to cover more of the air holes where the slider did not move far enough because of its screw holder.

I was getting too much air. If you get it just right the flame looks better and it sounds better--not so noisy.

In a previous episode, the whole burner was rusty and the little flame spreader cap broke off, which made the flame look bad. I got a new burner as seen in that photo. (amazon has them) The OP here says his burner is ok though.

[enblethen]

Even though other appliances work, I would look into a new regulator. Make sure you get a horizontal one. That means the vent faces down!

[camperdave]

moving the slider has no effect. It's a super yellow flame, and sometimes flares when lighting like it's pooling up instead of flowing if you know what I mean. there is plenty of airflow available, so I'm thinking gas flow is the issue. I'm about to go out and disconnect the gas line at the tank, and at the water heater, and blow air though it to see if it's somehow plugged up. I might go fill the tank up today to make sure it's not just low, even though the gauge shows 1/2 tank (and I have gas at other appliances). Local shop I usually fill at is closed today, but there's a gas station nearby with a tank that opens at 2p. We'll see if I resolve it before that lol.

[wa8yxm]

Yellow flame indicatetes one of two conditions. One is extremely rare (Sodium in burner area) the other is a bad air/fuel ratio.. This si adjustable but it's been a long time since I did that adjustment. And I do not feel like goign out to look at it.

Typically there are one of 3 adjustement
I think on the water heater.. If you look at the burner. just past the orifice are some windows cut in to the burner tube. There is a slider that "opens" or "Closes" the windows. it may (or not) be locked in place by a screw (or just friction) this is the adjustment. Slide it to .. I think Close the windows a bit (Do this whith burner lit) and you should see the flame blue up.

If you are not comfortable doing this.. Get professional help.