Failure of Propane Side of Suburban Water Htr

[Briarglenn]

We own a 2011 Montana 3625 and live in it full time. The Suburban SW12DEL will not operate on propane. I've cleaned the burner assembly, and pressed the reset button. Then when I attempt to go to propane it goes through the ignition cycle 3 times then locks out. Not sure if it's a high limit switch or bad LP Gas Valve at the heater. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[dieselguy]

First question is ... does the rest of your propane fired accessories work ... if not you probably opened the valve on the tank too quick and the OPD safety valve came into play.

[Rondo]

dieselguy, you did it again! You beat me to the same answer I was going to give him! Sounds to me it is the valve in the tank got tripped. Have had I happen several times when I was in a hurry. The stove still lit BUT the pressure was not there for the correct flame. Closed the tank valve, let it sit for a few minutes then opened the tank valve again SLOWLY and had no problems anywhere! In fact had it happen when boondocking at Quartzite and that was the cause of the problem.

[Ozz]

That does sound like no fuel to the unit, but something else it could be is a dirty flame rod, if the flame rod is dirty, it won't 'see' a flame and not go further. It actually works on a ground principal, the flame is a ground, when the system emits a gas flame and the flame envelops the ground rod, it continues to heat. If the rod is dirty, it locks out after 3 tries.
In my furnace troubleshooting winter calls are 95% dirty flame rod. Just clean them with a 3-m abrasive pad, or sandpaper, sandpaper is the last resort, as it puts minute scratches on the flame rod, and it dirties a bit quicker. I had a wasp nest in mine and you could hardly see it, I had to run a flex rod then brush in mine to clean the nest out.
Good luck!

https://goo.gl/photos/tPq38WeRjtMBGFmt7

[DuneBuggyBuilder]

A quick "Search" (of Archived Posts) usually answers any question/problem you might have. In this case the following post is the answer (most likely - ohm the coil to be sure) to your problem.

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...er,heater,coil

Order the coil from americanrvparts.com for under $20 and you will be good to go (plus you will be a hero as you will have a spare for your buddy when his fails).

[Briarglenn]

Thank you all for your quick responses. The furnance, stove and oven all work and they seem right. However, on the chance that not enough propane is getting through I will shut the tank down and reopen it. Next, I will take a real close look at the flame rod. Then on to the next solution. One of them should work. Will keep you posted.

[bw2]

My problem turned out to be the circuit board. Can you hear a " clicking " when you turn on the propane / gas switch inside the unit? That is the igniter, if not, locate the circuit board and verify the wire for the igniter has not come loose. This appears to not occur very often, but in my case the board had failed. It was about $60 if I recall.

[Ozz]

quote:Originally posted by Briarglenn

Thank you all for your quick responses. The furnance, stove and oven all work and they seem right. However, on the chance that not enough propane is getting through I will shut the tank down and reopen it. Next, I will take a real close look at the flame rod. Then on to the next solution. One of them should work. Will keep you posted.

What did you find?
Thanks, Ozz

[Briarglenn]

Want to thank all of you for your input on my water heater problem. It was a bad solenoid on the gas valve. Went to www.americanrvcompany.com for the part, good price, and received it within 5 days. Finally installed it today and it solved my problem. Water heater works both ways now. Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.