Will set Hot Water heater to on and I can hear it "kick in" and the light goes green on the panel but then it goes back to red within about 15 seconds. Any ideas as to what is wrong? Please advise.

Thank you!

.The red light is showing that it failed to light or remain lit. It may be that it has some 'stuff' in the heat tube, or that the milivolt generator is failing to generate the voltage nessarry to manintain the open gas valve. Do not test this with a hobby voltmeter. Make sure that the milivolt generator contacts to the gas valve are connected and not coroaded. Make sure that the milivolt generator it leaning into the flame when it ignites. On the DSI units the spark igniter takes the place of the millivolt generator, and must be in the flame. Also make sure you have propane.This seems like a good water heater trouble shooting link.

You need first to determine if the flame is actually lighting; from your description, I would think not - the ignitor will show green then red if there's no flame.

Typically, this is just an issue of air in the lines.

Turn on the propane, energize the sniffer, and light a stove burner - if there's a lot of air in the line, it'll take some time to light.

Then try the HW heater again; it may take several cycles, if there's a lot of air in the line, to get lighted. If there's still a problem refer to Jack's great advice.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
You need first to determine if the flame is actually lighting; from your description, I would think not - the ignitor will show green then red if there's no flame.

Typically, this is just an issue of air in the lines.

Turn on the propane, energize the sniffer, and light a stove burner - if there's a lot of air in the line, it'll take some time to light.

Then try the HW heater again; it may take several cycles, if there's a lot of air in the line, to get lighted. If there's still a problem refer to Jack's great advice.

Perfect advice in my case Rusty, Have had trouble in the past with the heater lighting. Followed your steps and it lit first try. Thanks.
Nick

While we're here I'll throw in a bit about older heaters. My Fred Flintstone heater has to be lit manually from the outside of the coach. You turn the knob to Pilot and hold it there while you light it with a torch, and for 30 seconds after, then releaes it to ON. The afterburners kick in and scare the heck out of anybody not familiar with the system, and in a few minutes you have hot H2O. If you don't shut it down right away the afterburners kick off and the pilot stays lit, awaiting further instructions, I assume. I only use this exciting feature on Sunday Morning at Dega so everyone can do a QUICK hot shower. When on the road the motor heater thingy keeps the WH full of really HOT water, and keeps it that way for 7-8 hours. [If it's warm outside]. One thing I never do is close the trap door to the WH when it's on. It's never blown out and I don't forget it's on when departing.