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Old 10-02-2018, 05:47 AM   #1
Thomasbeau
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Suburban water heater intermittent heating

Hi Folks,

So far our new Hideout has been virtually perfect but we have now discovered an issue that has been popping up on us. The Suburban water heater seems to be a little finicky about heating in the morning. Twice now we have woke in the morning to no hot water. If I click off the button inside on the control panel, wait a few seconds and restart it seems fine for the day. We have only noticed the issue in the morning.

One small thing I have noticed is that the DSI fault LED that sits above the button on the control panel flickers very faintly. You really have to look to notice it but there is a faint glow to it at times. It only lights brightly when firing up which I assume is normal. The faint glow is concerning.

Thank you for any thoughts.
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Old 10-04-2018, 03:37 AM   #2
ctbruce
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Are you leaving it on gas and electric? Should stay nice and warm and ready to go.
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Old 10-04-2018, 05:58 AM   #3
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Yes, I have had it on both gas and electric. Doesn't seem to matter if both are on or strictly gas. Seems like I need to reset the system by turning off the control panel switch every morning if we want hot showers.
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Old 10-04-2018, 07:47 AM   #4
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First thing i am suspicious of (assuming your are plugged into shore power) is that the electric only side is not working at all? So either the switch in the water heater is off, the element is burned out or the thermostat in the water heater is cooked. I just fixed my (110) electric side. Or perhaps you run Generator and only have it on during day and the electric side is working (slower then gas but effective given time). The gas section attempts to fire up and if all goes well the light (on my trailer at least) goes out on the switch. Hope this is helpful.
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Old 10-04-2018, 07:58 AM   #5
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The 117V electric heating element depends on the switch being turned off when connected to shore power and plugged into an AC voltage source (be it through a 50A or 30A plug). If not turned off, the heating element will fry and often times the little junk switch located on the outside of the water heater (SW6DE Suburban) can fry/malfunction as well. If you have no hot water in the AM and the heating element is on, pull the heating element and check resistance through the thing and see if the switch located under the rod is working. Do this with AC disconnected, of course. There is also thermostats for both the AC and propane sides with a rubber cover at the top left of the water heater (on outside). See if they can be reset. I replaced my AC and propane sides both to ensure no issues and used a higher heat 140F thermostat on the electric side. Not sure why you are having issues with the propane side but if the burner is going out randomly, the first thing I would check (make sure there is gas and it is on) is to ensure there are no bugs/spiders nesting in the burner part. If everything seems good, then you may have an issue with the igniter mechanism which I don't have any knowledge of but you may be able to find something on the internet as Suburban water heaters are used in many rv applications across manufacturers.
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Old 10-16-2018, 07:54 AM   #6
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So I called my dealer and explained to him what was happening. His thought was that the control board was bad, he said that those water heaters have cheap Chinese boards in them that fail often. Unfortunately they are backed up in service until mid-November. Getting to the dealer is a huge hassle for me so I decided to just buy a new board. After some research regarding the board I learned that a US company called Dinosaur Electronics makes a high quality replacement board for the same money. I read a ton of reviews and it seemed like the better choice.

I installed the new board and fired up the heater. Seemed to run like a champ. The unit shut off when at temperature and re-fired when calling for hot water. Thought I had it fixed. However, now when I start the unit cold the igniter clicks and makes a very loud pop when trying to ignite. Seems like it pops hard enough to put itself out. Took me three tries to get the heater to fire last night. Now I'm somewhat puzzled once again.
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Old 10-16-2018, 09:28 AM   #7
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Dinosaur board is very good part. Try calling their service support and explain your issue. I bet they can steer you right to the problem.
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Old 10-16-2018, 09:57 AM   #8
flybouy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomasbeau View Post
So I called my dealer and explained to him what was happening. His thought was that the control board was bad, he said that those water heaters have cheap Chinese boards in them that fail often. Unfortunately they are backed up in service until mid-November. Getting to the dealer is a huge hassle for me so I decided to just buy a new board. After some research regarding the board I learned that a US company called Dinosaur Electronics makes a high quality replacement board for the same money. I read a ton of reviews and it seemed like the better choice.

I installed the new board and fired up the heater. Seemed to run like a champ. The unit shut off when at temperature and re-fired when calling for hot water. Thought I had it fixed. However, now when I start the unit cold the igniter clicks and makes a very loud pop when trying to ignite. Seems like it pops hard enough to put itself out. Took me three tries to get the heater to fire last night. Now I'm somewhat puzzled once again.
I'd suggest checking the spark gap on the ignition first. Use a brass wire brush to clean the electrodes as well.
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Old 10-16-2018, 10:45 AM   #9
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Mine did the same thing. Bad control board. Suburban has a 2 year warranty so get it replaced.
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Old 10-16-2018, 11:20 AM   #10
Thomasbeau
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I called the tech from Dinosaur Electronics and asked him about my new issue. The tech said it sounded like it's a combination of a couple things. Told me to clean and check the gap on the ignitor. Said the gap should be the thickness of two quarters stacked or approximately 3/16" of an inch. Secondly to make sure the orifice and burner tube are clean. He thinks the loud pop is a build up of gas before it hits the ignitor. Everything sound logical. Gonna try these tonight when I get home from work.

Thank you all for your suggestions, hopefully I can nail this down tonight.
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