Maiden voyage and water heater issue

[jimmie2gunns]

Hey everyone, my wife and I took the outback 260 FL to the CG last weekend to try it out. Brand new TT purchased in February. Got all the water lines charged up and found the WH bypass valve (thank you forum members for posting its location in another thread). Ran all the faucets and made sure the air was out of the lines. I went to my control panel and had 2 switches for the WH, one said LP the other said electric. I flipped the propane switch and went out to the water heater. Nothing going on out there, no flame, no ticking from the ignitor. Turned on the electric switch on the control panel thinking it was needed for the ignitor, still nothing. Started looking at the heater, and found that little toggle switch on the left side, turned it on. Still nothing. Checked every fuse and breaker in the trailer, still nothing. A fellow outback owner came over from another sight and when I asked about the heater, they said, just turn off the propane switch and run it on electric. Did that and had hot water all weekend. I will troubleshoot the heater this weekend and try to figure out what,s up with the gas side before driving 2 hours to the dealer. I'm hoping it's operator malfunctioin since my last TT had a manual gas valve with a pilot light. Can someone tell me what switches need to be in what position to run the water heater on gas? I know I need the one on the control panel, but what about the little one on the heater? Did I miss a switch somewhere? Yes, I did have the gas turned on and had gas at all the other appliances. I ran the heat all night and had my fridge running on LP from the time I picked it up from storage. Other than the water heater issue, everything worked as it should have and we were very happy with the trailer.

[davidjsimons]

No, you did not miss any switches.


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[TAZ23]

the heater should run on gas when you flip the gas switch. If you turn the control panel switch for the gas on you should hear a series of clicks from the igniter outside and if it does not light there will be a pause and then another series of clicks. I believe it should try three times before it defaults. If you are not hearing these clicks ,then it seems you may have a problem with the electronic igniter,or the switch on the panel. When you try to use gas, do you smell any propane odors at the water heater on the outside? I one time had a air lock in the line to the water heater and it would not lite even thought I had propane at the stove and fridge.

[JRTJH]

Check all the electrical connections in the outside door of the water heater, make sure nothing is grounded and/or touching each other. Also check the fuses in the 12 volt panel. You may have a loose fuse even if they are all showing good (no red light)....

CAUTION: remember you have 110 VAC to the electric water heater and there are terminals behind that door, so don't go poking around without looking at what you're doing, best to unplug the 110 power cord before you start poking around in the water heater !!!!!

[GaryWT]

The toggle on the heater and the electric on the panel are needed for the electric. As others said, the gas should work with the one panel switch. I would go with checking the 12 volt fuses, sometimes hard to tell if one of those are blown or not. The dealer will not always check the water heater as there needs to be water in it and they generally do not come full.

[mikell]

You can test the gas without water but not the electric unless you have a watt meter on your power line.

The gas will fire up even when dry but just shut it right off after you hear it light. Just did that for the motorhome we bought.

[maxx1963]

I had the same problem, it ended up being the 2 electric coils on the propane ignitor switch. That is in the propane line right in front of you when you open the panel. Had to buy a new switch because they don't sell just the coils. $100. Just turn off propane, unscrew the propane lines from the switch and disconnect the wires. Very easy fix.

[CUFFS054]

I had a similar problem with mine. I couldn't find any thing stopping the gas flow. Eventually I pushed (and pushed and pushed) the two black reset buttons on the WH. I have been told that only one does something however after pushing both the gas lit right up. I know this because my other arm was near the burner!

[jimmie2gunns]

Went to the storage lot this weekend and checked all the possibilities everyone mentioned. I'm not getting a spark off the ignitor. Definitely no gas flow either. The wife and I are taking it to the lake this weekend, I'll play with it a little more while we are there. If it doesn't work, it's back to the dealer since the unit is only 2 months old and under warranty. I wanted to check the wiring on the back side of the water heater but I wasn't able to open the slide and get to the access panel while it's on the storage lot. I'll do that when I extend the slide at the lake. Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I'll let you know when it's fixed and what the problem was. Sure wish I had found this forum and seen the PDI checklist before purchasing this TT. Silly me, I took them at their word that they spent a week going over the trailer before delivery.

[jimmie2gunns]

Took the trailer to the lake this weekend and started looking at all the wiring. Got in behind the tank and found the box with the ignitor cable coming out of it. Had a plug on the other end of the box. I pushed on the plug and it slid in to the box about a 1/4 inch. Problem solved, water heater now working like a charm on both gas and electric. Thanks for everyone's input, helped me get a little more educated.

[Tomcat]

How do I even start the hot water heater???? I am reading all the posts, but I am a little intimidated by the whole process. We have a new 303tg and the "delivery" person ran through everything so quickly, I had difficulty keeping up. We have it set up in our driveway working out the kinks; however, when my husband walks in and is frustrated, I know it's bad. Can someone walk me through it step by step??? Be gentle, I am a new trailer owner…the pop-up was a lot less complicated. LOL

Thank you in advance for any help.