Water Heater Issue

Question

I switched my water heater to gas for the first time in a long while and it fired up but I smelled a burning rubber smell and black soot came from the exhaust and up the side of the coach.  The water heater is working and no longer has the smell or soot but it seems it doesn't burn as long as it should.  Additionally, I noticed a red light on the inside control panel that I had never seen before the says DSI Fault.  I googled that and read that my water heater attempted to light 3 times and failed and was now in a lock down.  The cure was to turn the heater off for one minute and turn it back on, which I did.  It lights as it should but I just feel the burn time is short.  What is my problem?

terryallan · Answer

Did the water get hot? If it did, and the fault light didn't come back on. No problem.
I'm guessing the water heater is full of water. Don't laugh. Been there done that. Left the by pass open and the WH didn't fill.

drsteve · Answer

Check for a dead bug or some other debris in the burner tube.

old-biscuit · Answer

drsteve wrote:Check for a dead bug or some other debris in the burner tube.YEP^^^^^Propane hadn't been used for awhile then when you did it smelt and had sootTHAT was a mud dabber nest, insects etc in combustion chamberNeed to do some ROUTINE cleaning of burner tube, spark electrode (celan the soot/carbon off), clean out the combustion/exhaust tube.

naturist · Answer

Old-Biscuit wrote:drsteve wrote:Check for a dead bug or some other debris in the burner tube.YEP^^^^^Propane hadn't been used for awhile then when you did it smelt and had sootTHAT was a mud dabber nest, insects etc in combustion chamberNeed to do some ROUTINE cleaning of burner tube, spark electrode (celan the soot/carbon off), clean out the combustion/exhaust tube.X2Don’t try to use propane until you clean it out. If it does stay lit, you could wind up burning the RV down.

dford · Answer

If you're not handy, have someone clean it up for you. If you are handy, take the burner off and run a rope through the fire tube. It's just a U-tube and it should be easy to get the rope through. Then tie a rag onto the rope and pull it back and forth through the tube to make sure there's no debris in there blocking it. Put the burner back on and fire it up.

Buy some screens made to go over all the holes in the cover for the water heater. I had to put a thin washer under the catch to keep those darn wasps out! While you'er at it, buy screens for your refrigerator and furnace so they don't mess them up too!

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