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SlowBro's avatar
SlowBro
Explorer III
Mar 30, 2015

Water heater large yellow lazy flame, lots of odor 10' away

I have a Suburban SW6DE. It seems to be heating water but the flame is large, yellow, and lazy. I'd expected tight and blue. I closed up the door and after about an hour or so, 10 feet away could still smell it.

Manual says "If the burner flame is yellow and has an erratic pattern, shut unit down and contact a qualified service agency."

I didn't see any air shutter with which to adjust the flame/air mix. Is my only choice to take it to a mechanic, or is there anything I can do for it myself?
  • 64thunderbolt's avatar
    64thunderbolt
    Explorer II
    Apr 03, 2015
    glad you got it. Spiders love propane. Here in Az it can be an issue. I take compressed air and blow out all propane burners every spring.
  • SlowBro's avatar
    SlowBro
    Explorer III
    Apr 02, 2015
    That was the problem. Cleaned two dirt dauber nests out and now it's blue, tight, roaring, and no odor.

    Now off to fire that RV mechanic who gave it the all clear........
  • enblethen's avatar
    enblethen
    Nomad
    Mar 30, 2015
    Something bigger then pipe cleaner. I have used a gun cleaning brush. About a 16 guage shotgun should do good job.
    Easy way is to remove it, and run it through the dishwasher.
  • naturist's avatar
    naturist
    Nomad
    Mar 30, 2015
    cdevidal wrote:
    Blue Hill wrote:
    X4. Spiders. I get them every so often. I clean the tube and I'm good to go. This has happened to my gas barbeque as well.


    Thanks all. I am not near the rig at the moment; Is it just a matter of running through a pipe cleaner or is there some special knowledge?


    Nope. Pretty obvious what to do. Poke around, you'll find the mess. No need to be forceful, a wire or pipe cleaner just won't go anyplace not meant for airflow.
  • SlowBro's avatar
    SlowBro
    Explorer III
    Mar 30, 2015
    Blue Hill wrote:
    X4. Spiders. I get them every so often. I clean the tube and I'm good to go. This has happened to my gas barbeque as well.


    Thanks all. I am not near the rig at the moment; Is it just a matter of running through a pipe cleaner or is there some special knowledge?
  • naturist's avatar
    naturist
    Nomad
    Mar 30, 2015
    X5, burner tube (or possibly air mixing chamber) obstructed by spider webs or mud-dauber nests. Clean it out, it is a carbon monoxide hazard as it is, besides being a very inefficient heater of water.

    And yes, you can do it yourself. Probably just needs a coat hanger run up there and poked around gently.
  • SlowBro's avatar
    SlowBro
    Explorer III
    Mar 30, 2015
    ksg5000 wrote:
    YouTube has lots of videos on how to fix/adjust water heater - worth a look.


    That was the first place I looked. Didn't find anything good. Got link?
  • Blue_Hill's avatar
    Blue_Hill
    Explorer
    Mar 30, 2015
    X4. Spiders. I get them every so often. I clean the tube and I'm good to go. This has happened to my gas barbeque as well.

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