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Atwood/Dometic heater controller board replacement, and...
The heater in our camper started having trouble. The fan would come on for a few minutes then shut off without attempting to light.
Looking at some posts on the forum (I always read the newsletters but don't always log in), figured it was either the sail switch or the control board. Was hoping it could be the regulator but ran some of the tests others had done in the forum and didn't get the indication that it was the regulator...that would have been much too easy.
The heater doesn't have outside access for the sail switch or the controller board (wonderful) so had to remove the unit from the inside of the camper.
A couple of other things I ran into
- There was a wall built in front of the heater compartment that I felt needed to be removed in order to get the heater out and have room to work. The wall had a zillion staples and a few screws that were hidden. The wall ended up not surviving the extraction, but I expected that would probably be the case and had a couple ideas to replace it when everything was done.
- The original propane line ran up through the floor in front of the heater so it also had to be removed in order to get the heater out. Was going to bend it out of the way and then add a valve and another piece of copper tubing to reconnect the heater, but ended up just replacing the entire line (type L) and ran it up through the floor to the side of the heater.
There are 2 screws at the front of the unit holding it to the platform it was sitting on, removed those and with everything out of the way the heater was easily removed from the compartment.
Inspected/reseated all the connections on the control board, cleaned and tested the sail switch then slid the heater back in the compartment, wired it back up and the heater turned on and tried to light. Reconnected the vent pipe and propane line, leak checked it then fired it back up and it initially worked, but reverted back to the original problem as I expected it might.
Ordered a Dinasour replacement board.
The original Dometic board is mounted to a plastic handle and sits at an angle in the back of the heater. The Dinosaur board has brass/copper feet in the mounting holes which the original board didn't have. Ended up cutting out the copper feet of the Dinosaur board and made a few modifications to the handle and added some tie wraps to secure it (probably voided the warranty on the board). If I had it to do again, I would just mount the board somewhere on the top of the heater insulating it with some rubber feet. The area above where the board is located doesn't get hot and the wires will reach so I don't see why that wouldn't work.
But at any rate the new controller board did the trick and the heater is running as it should...
As far as replacing the wall that was blocking the front of the heater, Plan A was to take the water heater access cover located under the bunks and use a piece of it to replace what I destroyed, then use something else to cover the water heater access since it's out of sight. But ended up going with plan B which was to buy an air return vent cover large enough to cover the entire heater access area. Also used some of trim pieces that were removed during the demo to add reinforce around the inside of the heater access area. Don't know if that was necessary or not, but since the fridge is above the heater and the original cover was removed, did it anyway.
Things I learned...
- when putting the heater back in, lining it up with the installed exhaust pipe is pretty tedious. Had my son outside wiggling the pipe around (and complaining) as I was pushing back on the heater. It's much easier to unscrew the exhaust assembly from the outside of the camper and remove it prior to taking the heater out. Then once the heater is reinstalled, put the exaust back in and reattach the assembly to the trailer.
- The forced heated air between the underbelly and floor consists of approximately 12"(L) x 2"(W) piece of flex duct connected to the heater and going down into the floor. I don't know, guess I was expecting more but guess that qualifies the sticker on the outside of the trailer.
- Beware of sharp edges under the floor. Decided to verify how the duct was run based on a few things I read in the forum and tried cut my finger in half lengthwise while feeling under the floor.
I also learned how to use a flare tool for copper tubing, also bought some spring benders to route the copper tubing for the new propane line. Ended up not needing the benders but they remain in my arsenal.
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Bill and Kathy
2018 Passport 2670BH "Bubbles"
2017 Titan Crew Cab "Thirsty Lady"
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