Is my water heater gas and electric?

[87Itasca]

Hi all, my Atwood 6 gallon HWH installed in my '87 Windcruiser has decided to be temperamental. I filled it up and switched it on for the first time in who knows how long, and it stayed lit fir about ten minutes, then it shut off. Numerous attempts to relight it, run out the hot water and try again, etc. failed.

I hear the igniter click 10-15 times before it goes into lockout and the "W.H. On" light stays lit.

I ran out of time to mess with it today, but I was wondering if I left it on, if it had an electric back-up element as well, or if it was just gas?

It looks like this one, without as much rust:
http://m.imgur.com/yTRXFet?r

If it's electric also, I may just see if it works on electric for the time being. Not sure why I can't get it to light again.

[joanfenn]

Does it have a power cord out the back of it?

[87Itasca]

Behind the exterior door? No. Haven't seen one inside either, but I haven't pulled apart the wardrobe to access the other end of it.

[joanfenn]

My guess just because of the age no



second guess, do you have lots of propane and was the system purged?

[brians1969]

If it was gas and electric, you generally would have a 2 switch atwood panel with the failure light between them.
It would look like this:

[TerryH]

second guess, do you have lots of propane and was the system purged?

My experience with a gas only model is follow Joan's advice. If the igniter keeps cycling and the WH light comes on it means there is no ignition. First, and easiest checks -
propane in the tank?
tank valve on?
system purged?
Purging is easy and will tell you if propane is flowing from the tank to appliances:
turn on one or two stove top burners, light them, and let them burn for a couple of minutes.

PLEASE, however, don't do this until you have dealt with the fridge and ammonia issue.

[joanfenn]

Yes first get the fridge out of there or you wont have to worry about the water heater.

[Rickf1985]

If it ran for ten minutes I would believe the line is purged. Probably rust has fallen own after coming loose from the heating. If the smell has gone from the fridge then it is dead. It will pose no more harm and you will just have no fridge. There may be a separate shut off on the gas line to the fridge, some have it and some don't, if it has one then shut it off and there will be no worries of gas issues with the fridge. If there is no gas shut off then find the fuse for the controller and pull the fuse, that way you cannot accidentally turn on the flame. It will just be a closet til you get it repaired.

[87Itasca]

Truth be told, I tried turning it on, then running out there while the ignitor is clicking with a grille lighter and trying to see if it would manually ignite, and nothing.

I see no spark from the ignitor when it clicks, and since it did not light itself when I manually held a flame to it, I wonder if there is no gas either. Does something control both ignition and gas?

LP tank registers as Full on my system monitor, and the gauge on the tank itself indicates this also. The stove lights fine. Holding about 12-12.3 inches of water column with no load.

I'm sure it's something simple, as I can't imagine all the serviceable parts have gone kaput at once.

[Rickf1985]

If you have a propane leak detector that is tied into the tank with an electric valve it is possible that when the fridge went the ammonia may have triggered the detector and shut off the gas. See if the stove will light. If not you will need to reset the detector.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

It is a DSI model (electric)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXhP5gF0qtA