Water heater red light

[D_BTravelers]

I have a 2016 Big Country 3650RL. The 120 volt water heater works but occasionally cause a small red light to come on and the heater obviously shuts off. I am not talking omg about the red “ON” light on the switch itself but one just above the switch. I have looked in the manual but find no reference to this light, any information would be appreciated. BTW - 10 gallon Atwood GC10A

 

[Cperk]

The red light will come on if there is a flame failure on the propane section. Is the propane part of the water heater trying to light but the gas is off? This light may also come on on the electrical heater side if the high temp limit is tripping. Try setting the water temperature lower on the electrical side and see if the problem disappears. The thermostat for the electrical side could be sticking also. That would keep the heater energized too long and cause the high temp limit to trip.

 

[D_BTravelers]

The red light will come on if there is a flame failure on the propane section. Is the propane part of the water heater trying to light but the gas is off? This light may also come on on the electrical heater side if the high temp limit is tripping. Try setting the water temperature lower on the electrical side and see if the problem disappears. The thermostat for the electrical side could be sticking also. That would keep the heater energized too long and cause the high temp limit to trip.

Thanks, I’ll see if I can turn down the thermostat. It doesn’t do it often but on this 30 day trip it has done it about 4 times. Didn’t have the propane on, just the 120 volt heater. Thanks again.

 

[danemayer]

Can you post a picture that shows the water heater switch as well as the light you're talking about.

 

[D_BTravelers]

Can you post a picture that shows the water heater switch as well as the light you're talking about.

Nothing like asking for help then disappearing. My apologies. The light above the “12 Volt” switch has come on and best I can tell it is a warning that the 120 volt water heater has tripped. We don’t run the 12 volt propane part of the heater very often and it wasn’t on when the light came on. We just noticed that we didn’t have hot water and the small light was on. We turned the 120v off and back on and everything started working again. Happened about 3-4 times on the recent month long trip.

 

[danemayer]

View attachment 62795
Nothing like asking for help then disappearing. My apologies. The light above the “12 Volt” switch has come on and best I can tell it is a warning that the 120 volt water heater has tripped. We don’t run the 12 volt propane part of the heater very often and it wasn’t on when the light came on. We just noticed that we didn’t have hot water and the small light was on. We turned the 120v off and back on and everything started working again. Happened about 3-4 times on the recent month long trip.

The light above the 12 volt switch comes on when there's a direct spark ignition fault, which is a propane operation failure. On Suburban water heater, the 120V AC and 12V DC operation is separate. I can't think of any condition where the 12V operation would indicate a fault where you're not using the 12V side.

On an Atwood water heater, there are parts in common, including the control board. Although a bit unlikely, it may be possible to be operating on 120V AC and get an error on the 12V DC wiring.

 

[D_BTravelers]

That was kind of what I thought also, but because it would reset when we turned off the 120 volt heat element it was confusing. I don't figure this is going to heal itself, nothing else on this trailer has so far. We are back home and it is in storage, but I have 15 amp power. I will open up the heater back and look for a wire touching something it shouldn't; Lord knows it could have jarred loose on some of the most recent roads we traveled. I will also look to see if I can turn the thermostat down a bit in case it is overheating and tripping out. Thank you Danemayer! I'll post if I find anything.

BTW - the 12 volt works perfect when needed.