Atwood 10 Gallon GC10A-4E ** A couple of problems!

Question

Hello fellow RV'ers! Replaced our water heater a year and a half ago with a new Atwood 10 gallon. Right out of the box it had a bad board. Atwood sent me a new one and haven't had an issue until New Years Day. Electric side quit working all together. I haven't had a chance to check the element or the voltage to the relay. I am currently trying to fix the propane side. It lights when you flip the propane switch on, it shuts off when you shut the switch off. It does not shut off automatically when it hits 140 degrees. It keeps running and running. I replaced the ECO and thermostat discs and also double checked to make sure I didn't get them flipped. Well, it continues to run and run still. Right now the water is about 145 and the thermostat is still closed (have continuity). Do I have a bad new thermostat? Of course Dometic (Atwood) is closed until 1/6. What should I do next? I am going to dive into the electric side this weekend. Of course it is rainy and gross outside for the next few days....

old-biscuit · Answer

Clean tank wall before installing new t-stats?
T-stats TIGHT against tank wall or temp to open will be higher
Can't reverse the ECO and t-stat----use different size spade connectors/terminals

Have you let it run until t-stat OPENS or ECO Opens?

Electric....
No DC on YELLOW Wire
Relay bad
AC wires on Relay bad
Bad element
Bad ground wire connection

Follow the DC....then the AC

dougrainer · Answer

Lets talk your LP.If you replaced the ECO and Tstat set and it continues to run UNTIL the ECO trips, then either you have a bad tstat (VERY UNCOMMON for a new to fail), or the tstat is NOT secured to the metal of the tank to accurately sense the temp.  LONG shot would be you installed a EXT set of tstat and ECO. The EXT tstat is 160 degrees, but does NOT have the same connections on  the tstat. You would have had to modify the connections to make it work. I would also wait and see how hot the temp gets and see if the ECO trips it off or the Tstat finally opens at a hotter temp. Doug

kingtitus · Answer

So I uninstalled, cleaned and reinstalled the t-stat. I also drained and flushed so I could put the air gap back in the top of the tank. Before I fired up I checked into the electrical side. No AC volts at element and 10.68 DC at the yellow wire. Seemed a bit low so I checked into my 12V system. Batteries at 12.68 and DC to board is the same. When I went from the 3E to the 4E I had to tap into the 12V lighting wiring in the storage to get the 12V constant for the white wire. Element tested ok. Turned AC power back on and no AC out of relay. Replaced relay. Buttoned everything up and turned AC and propane back on. Hit 140 in less than 20 minutes. Hit 150 just short of 30 minutes. Was going to go out and ohm out the t-stat and then I heard the propane shut off. It looks like 150(ish) is the sweet spot for this new t-stat....Thanks for the help! Everything appears to function like it should! For now.....

bfl13 · Answer

After you replaced the AC relay, you say you used both propane and element (AC) and it did heat the water.  But did the AC work too or did the propane do it all?  If you have not, then IMO confirm AC alone will work.

edd505 · Answer

Old-Biscuit wrote:Clean tank wall before installing new t-stats?T-stats TIGHT against tank wall or temp to open will be higherCan't reverse the ECO and t-stat----use different size spade connectors/terminalsHave you let it run until t-stat OPENS or ECO Opens?Electric....No DC on YELLOW WireRelay badAC wires on Relay badBad elementBad ground wire connectionFollow the DC....then the ACResident expert, follow his advise and you will fix it.  (Thanks again, working purfect)

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Atwood 10 Gallon GC10A-4E ** A couple of problems!

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