Water Heater Won't Work

[swiederin]

I just bought a used 5th wheel. 1997 Hitchiker II. Good shape but I cannot get the hot water heater to do anything. No indication of propane or any indication it's even trying to light.

The heater is an Atwood GC6AA-9E.

How do I troubleshoot this unit? Any tips?

[Old-Biscuit]

HEY OP>>>>>>>>>

Did you get it to work?

Any update at all??

[Old-Biscuit]

Yours being a 1997 model the electric side and the gas side are completely separate systems (Atwood combined their operation/controls in 2004).

The electric side is feed directly from 120V AC circuit breaker to/thru ON/OFF switch (on backside on water heater) to/thru the set of t-stats (high/normal---on backside of water heater) to electric heating element (yours is a screw in type element)

The propane side is feed from 12V DC dist panel (fuse) to/thru ON/OFF switch to/thru normal t-stat (in outside compartment---may have thermal cut out fuse) to/thru control module to/thru high temp t-stat ECO---outside compartment) to gas valve (and spark electrode at same time).

Do you even get any sparking at electrode?

[Dandy_Dan]

I had problems with my Atwood not lighting on either electric or gas. Open up the heater door to gain access to the circuit board and wiring. You will see a pair of brown wires one of which is going into a connector. The other one is going into an electrical component that looks a little like a resister, That then is plugged into the heater. That is a high temp overload. Take it out of line and plug the brown wire directly into the heater. If the heater lights and comes on electric then go to your camper parts store and this can be purchased for around $25 for a pair of them. If you have time to wait, look on Amazon for the part. I found a circuit board which the dealer wanted about $250 for and it could be ordered from an authorized dealer through Amazon for $156 with overnight shipping. Good Luck..

[Dutch_12078]

Try removing the connectors on the ignition board and reconnecting them several times to clean the connections. It doesn't take much surface corrosion to make them fail. Make sure any fuses in the 12-volt supply are good of course. If reseating the board connections doesn't help and you're sure the 12-volt supply is good, a dealer may be able to test the ignition module for you.

[swiederin]

donn0128 wrote:
Gas? Turn on the full gas bottles light the stove top burners then try the other things. It could have a manual standing pilot or electronic ignition on the water heater. You have to check it out first.

It has electronic ignition. Furnace worked just fine so propane is present.

[donn0128]

Gas? Turn on the full gas bottles light the stove top burners then try the other things. It could have a manual standing pilot or electronic ignition on the water heater. You have to check it out first.

[Crazy_Ray]

Might start by cleaning it. Are you getting gas to your stove??