FIXED: Woke up this morning to cold water!

recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Evening all,

I woke up this morning to a cold shower since my HW Heater stopped working. I did all the basic verifications, 12V was good, Gas was flowing ( stove and Heater were working fine ) I could hear the DSI Firing but no ignition. I went about my day and this afternoon pulled out the multi-meter and started to check... First thing was to see if I had 12v on the sol when DSI was firing. No 12v. perplexI looked at the wiring diagrams again... determined that if I had DSI working and sparking then I had power to the control board and this was not an issue with a bad thermostat or over-temp sensor. I decided that I would call Heartland and walk through what I had done to see if I missed something. Customer service and I reviewed the situation and decided that this was something that Suburban needed to help with. I then called Tech support at Suburban and did the same walk through with them... he had me remove the leads from the two LP solenoids and check the resistance of the coils to see if they were shorted. one read fine at 42-44 ohms but the second read 4 ohms it was a near dead short. The next thing I was told to do was test to see if the board was still providing 12v when DSI Fired with the leads still disconnected I caused the unit to attempt to fire - and I got no power on the brown wire at all.

Conclusion is:

1 Dead solenoid, ( need to replace the entire valve assembly )
1 Fried control module.

Now in my cyclone 3010 how does one get to the DC control module?
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

It's most likely taped to the back side of the water heater. It has a plastic cover over the electronics. New board costs ~$80 online. Other possibility is the 12V Hi-limit has quit. It's part of the 12V thermostat component. About ~$30 to replace.
 

recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Woke up this morning to cold water!

John
Thanks I'll look to see if I can find it


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dfk009

Well-known member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Just had that circuit board replaced under extended warranty on our 2012 Elkridge. Same problem, no hot water.
 

rxbristol

Well-known member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Thanks for the information...can you provide pictures for future troubleshooting references?
 

recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Well - I attempted to get to the Control board on my Suburban SW12DE. It turns out it is on the far side of the WH on my cyclone. In other words not accessible. I will be calling Heartland tomorrow to see what they recommend. but it appears the only way to get to this is to remove the water heater. I will also look to see if I can get to the other side now that I am home.

has anyone replaced the control board on their SW12DE? Where was the control board actually mounted. The Tech support from Suburban told me that it was on a 3ft lead and could be mounted anywhere nearby ... I'm hopeful that HL Customer Service will be able to tell me where to look.

Kevin

PS: on a positive note, I was able to get the Electric heating element to work for the first time since ever! so I did have hot water for my shower this morning.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Yes, I replaced the board but it didn't solve my problem at the time, so I put the old one back in. Problem turned out to be the 12V hi-limit switch/thermostat. It's pretty easy to do, once you locate the module. If you find yours, relocate to a more accessible spot.


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recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

John

Just to be clear on what your issue was. We're you getting spark from the DSI electrode. As I look at the basic wiring diagram, if the hi-limit is dead you should not get any power to the board. This would not allow for the DSI to function. Am I missing something here?


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JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Kevin, you may be correct. Been awhile, so I'll have to check the diagram again. At the moment, it's working. Just returned to the rig after a ten day absence.


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recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Well I have returned home from my "Boon Docking" at the Eastern States Exposition ( The BigE ) for 4 days. Hot Water was fine on the Electric using the Generator. The Parts I ordered have been delivered so some day this week I will begin the process of replacing the faulty Gas Solenoid Valve and the Control Board.

I will update this thread with what I find and photos of the upgrade as well.

Kevin
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Kevin,

If that control board is taped to the water heater and out of site on the other side, it may or may not come out with the WH is pulled. Just depends on the orientation. WH is not terribly hard to pull out but better with 2 people as it's heavy, even when empty.

- Turn off gas, maybe burn off all gas in lines using lit stove burner
- Turn off water and drain system down, then disconnect in/out on back of WH
- Turn off AC power to WH at the switch inside the RV
- Maybe pull the DC fuse that feeds the WH
- Relieve the pressure by releasing the pressure relief valve
- Drain WH by pulling anode rod
- Remove sealant around the outside of the WH frame
- Remove, I think, 4 screws in the corners of the WH
- Carefully begin to slide it forward. It will likely be very tight
- When out a few inches, you may now be able to see and disconnect the gas line and the AC/DC wires
- Pull/push it the rest of the way out, being careful not to snag the DC control wires
- Look for the white DC control circuit box the whole time as that's the prize your doing all this work for
 

recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Jim,


Thank you for the sage advice, but I am afraid that the unit is not removable. It appears that it was installed from the inside as it will not fit out the hole due to the insulation that it is wrapped in. I spoke to HL service and they suggested cutting away some of the Styrofoam, I called Suburban and they told me that there should be no reason to remove the water heater because they provide a 3 foot wiring harness to allow the control board to be mounted in a serviceable location - It seems that HL shortened the wiring harness and just drops it between the water heater and furnace ...

In the end I was able to capture the wiring with a hook by going through the furnace ( removing the faceplate) I found that there was a 1/4 in gap that I could see the control board on the floor so using a wire coat hanger I hooked and lifted the control board up about 1/2 way to the top of the water heater and then from the inside I used another coat hanger to snag the wires and bring the control board to the top of the water header. I disconnected the wiring harness and the single DSI wire and installed them on to the new board and mounted the whole unit up on a stud ( see photo 1 )

new-board-loc.jpg

and I did test the old board and there is, as anticipated an open on the circuit board. see photo2 and photo3

Circuit board

board.jpg

Close up of the Circuit board where the open is.

closeup-board.jpg
the open is on the 4 finger from the right. I guess I could have fixed this and continued to use it - and I may have done that if I could have accessed this easy and been able to assess the issue before ordering the parts...

I will repair the board, test and keep it as a spare incase I have another outage. Keep in mind that reason this board went bad was because the solenoid that it powers went bad taking the board with it.


But all is well now and it is all put back together.
 
Last edited:

danemayer

Well-known member
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

it will not fit out the hole due to the insulation that it is wrapped in.
Kevin,

Last spring when we helped Jay with his water heater, it was quite a struggle to get the unit out. But the reason was that the wood under it had swollen from dripping water. Now that you have the electrical problems straightened out, you might want to take a close look to see if there are any slow drips.
 

recumbent615

Founding MA Chapter Leader-retired
Re: Woke up this morning to cold water!

Thanks Dan,

I did look closely at that, thinking that might be the issue, but it looks like my area has been dry. no indication of any water staining or swelling. I just hope that I never have to remove the dam unit... it will be a ton of fun I can tell you now.. if I ever need to remove it, I'll come down to Texas and you can help me... :) or better yet, I'll take it to a service center and let them fight it ... Some battles are just not worth fighting I think.

I'm just glad it's working...

K
 
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