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Old 09-15-2021, 05:46 PM   #1
Mikendebbie
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On-demand water heater error code E6

Our unit has the Suburban Nautilus IW60 on demand water heater.
We have not used the RV since COVID hit and I am getting things ready to go for our first trip in October.

Decided to test the water heater today. Got the propane going on the stove, turned on the hot water at the sink - water heater fan came on - but I did not hear any "clicking" for it to fire and light. Error code E6 shows on the display...air pressure switch fault - air pressure switch or fan abnormal. The air pressure switch is the thing I highlighted in the diagram below.

Called Airxcel Suburban - they do not offer help to customers any longer. Contact your service center. I drove to the service center 20 minutes away and talked to them. They are currently scheduling service appointments for February appointments and will keep the rig 45 days. The tech advised me to just keep trying to get it to fire...could be air in the line.

1. First question - has any one of you guys had this issue before? and what was the solution?
2. I can buy a whole new unit on Amazon for less than $600 and try to install it myself. Anybody out there ever tried an install one of these?

If neither of those options work - we will be using the campground showers and laundry on this trip...like we did in the pop-up years ago. It is not the end of the world!
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Old 09-15-2021, 07:48 PM   #2
raygreg
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You might try to find a mobile tech who is familiar with the on demand water heaters if you don't want to do it yourself.
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Old 09-15-2021, 09:38 PM   #3
Kasboat
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When ours was new, first long trip we had same or similar issue with code E6. AirExel would not put me in touch with a tech, so I called a mobile tech. Thru troubleshooting etc…There are two flat fuses in that unit, one was blown & when we replaced it the unit worked, until the next day. Had to replace the fuse at least after every move for hot water. After a couple of weeks it finally went out completely. When we got home, we took it into CW, they replaced the pressure switch under warranty & it’s worked fine since. The fuses are hard to get to, as is the water heater. In 2018 there was no COVID but CW, even with an appointment, had to keep the unit for many days (month or months) to get parts & make repairs.
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Old 09-18-2021, 05:45 PM   #4
Mikendebbie
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On Demand Suburban Nautilus IW60 - update

Update: DW and I decided to bite the bullet and get a new unit rather than go without hot water for QUITE a while. I will do the install...never done anything like this, but I am a proud graduate of Texas A&M University...what could go wrong? Ordered it on Amazon Thursday morning and it arrived Friday. I started this morning at 7:30 and was done by 11:30. For a tech that knows what he is doing it might be a 2-3 hour job. Unfortunately I spent some unproductive time looking for a tool here and a tool there...still don't know where my wire stripper is. It was a bit intimidating at first looking at the mess of wires and pipes behind the basement wall. I spent some time tying wires and pipes up and out of the way as best I could. Unhooked the battery and shore power.

There are two brackets on the back side (the instructions refer to as the front side) that were screwed to the floor. I took pictures and started removing the water supply and drain connections, then slid the unit outside onto a table. There were only 4 wires to hook up - two wires provided in the harness do not apply to units in a Montana, so they lay loose. There were some brass fittings on the old unit that I needed to move over to the new unit and I had to use my impact gun to get them off. The water lines simply hand tighten back on. Ran the leak test...did the propane leak test - all good. Hooked the battery back up...turned the unit on...turned on the hot water at the sink so it would sense flow...and it fired right up. Hoo-ah...hot water!

I figure if and when I took it to the shop to get it fixed - there would be an hour of diagnostic time...then the long wait for parts...then 2 hours to replace the parts. The tech would have to remove the unit to open up the box to get to the parts...so maybe 2-3 hours of shop labor @ $100 + parts $100 to $200 for a total estimate of $400 to $500. The new unit on Amazon was $630 including tax. There were some places on line available to order from that were $30-$40 cheaper with a two week delivery time. We are happy with our choice. Our original unit had not been used since Dec 31, 2019. I had drained the water system long ago, but February 2021 Texas freeze-pocalypes could have damaged it somehow…don’t know. I put the old unit in the box - I will keep it in the garage for a while.
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Old 09-21-2021, 02:35 PM   #5
ChuckS
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Expensive fix but you got a spare.now..might want to watch this video if you haven’t

https://youtu.be/_xR8pNtFa2U

Also you can get the air pressure switch…

https://www.adventurerv.net/pressure...h-p-36241.html
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Old 09-21-2021, 06:37 PM   #6
Mikendebbie
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Thankyou ChuckS!

I looked for a youtube video for the IW60 and came up empty. Airxcel was NO help and the dealer was 6 months out. We had few options. Thanks for sharing. I will check out my old water heater to see if there is a similar problem.
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