Atwood GH6-8E water heater does not ignite

[dclarke618]

I'm getting ready to go camping during my preparations I find that my water heater won't ignite. I had my wife turn on the switch while I was watching the heater and nothing happened. Can anyone tell me if I should be able to see or hear anything when I turn the WH switch on? And if I should be seeing or hearing something, what I should look at to get it started.

Thanks,

[dclarke618]

All,
I disconnected the multi wire connector and cleaned it. It fired right up as soon as I reconnected it.

THANK YOU all for you help and input!!!

[Old-Biscuit]

enblethen wrote:
Try disconnecting the multi-wire connector on the circuit board, clean contacts with white pencil eraser and reconnect.
No pilot on DSI water heaters.
Make of replacement circuit board? Could be bad! Dinosaur electronics circuit board is the way to go.
Light tells me that power is getting to the circuit board.

Light ON initially does indicate power is getting to circuit board but light STAYING on indicates ECO is OPEN (or bad connection----loose spade/terminal connections RED wires on ECO)

Light staying on 'FAULT'
Either due to main flame not lighting off
OR
ECO

No sparking going on points to ECO issue

[cekkk]

I've had that happen to our WH twice. Both times I took a can of pressurized air like used to dust computers, blew it all around the visible controls and it would then light. It doesn't look like any of the air is really getting into openings, but it worked nevertheless.

[dclarke618]

I'll check in the morning and keep you posted. Thanks for the help

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[enblethen]

If you have a meter, check to insure the ECO and thermostat have continuity. Put leads across brown wires for one and across reds for second device. It is best to disconnect one of the wires to get more accurate reading.
Doubt whether the board has failed since it is a Dinosaur.

[dclarke618]

Will try cleaning connector. Replacement board is a Dinosaur.
Thanks

[enblethen]

Try disconnecting the multi-wire connector on the circuit board, clean contacts with white pencil eraser and reconnect.
No pilot on DSI water heaters.
Make of replacement circuit board? Could be bad! Dinosaur electronics circuit board is the way to go.
Light tells me that power is getting to the circuit board.

[dclarke618]

Gas is on, Stove and furnace light with no problem and batteries have a full charge. Can the WH be lite manually?

[sch911]

Make sure the gas valve is on and that you can light the stove.
Make sure that your battery is charged the WH needs 12v DC to ignite.

[dclarke618]

New electronic panel installed 2 years ago. Not used much since then.
How can I check to see if there is any gas getting to the pilot?

[dclarke618]

I have a 98 Winnebago. I don't hear anything outside and the indicator light does come on.

[enblethen]

Yes, you should hear clinic and possibly see spark in unit.
Does the water heater indicate light come on? It is adjacent to the switch. No light could mean no power.
manual

[riven1950]

Not sure what RV you have but on my Apex 214rb TT, if it is quite inside, I can hear the heater when it lights up, actually hear the burner from inside. Sounds kind of like a quieter version of the sound the furnace makes.