Hot Water Heater

I noticed that my water heater was getting harder and harder to light. Finally it would not light at all. I had plenty of gas. I then check my stove which finally lite and could not get my frig to work on. After turning off the gas, I disconnected the hose that connects to the front of the camper I wanted to see if gas was making it throught the requlator. I noticed water driping from the camper side. I went to stove and use air to blow air back toward the tanks and water flushed out of the line I then went to hot water tank and even more water came out of the line. Reconnected the lines and everthing worked fine. Propane has alot of water vapor in it and will condense in the line and when enough water gets in the line it weigh more than the propane can push and the items further away can not work.

[Brightsu]

Ok guys we just got back from our first trip and I noticed the topic Hot Water Heater, everything went great except you guess it the hot water heater wouldn't light, thank goodness for camp showers, now this is the deal, dealer had just installed new gas tanks for we had old type, gas stove lit fine, we used electric for frig, didn't need furnance, we have a 95 3326, did that only come with gas? Couldn't find any indication that it was elec., this was our first time using and it seem to light fine at the dealer before he changed the tanks. Now I've read alot you guys have written, but this seems to be a little differant , any ideas? :-/
:-/
Pam

I don't know about the '95s having electric or not but that switch is outside the trailer, open the door to waterheater. The switch on mine is near the lower left side behind the tubing for the gas fire part, it is not only hard to see but even harder to turn on and off. Mine has a cotter key that keeps it locked in the off position.

If the dealer had it lit before a bottle change then most likely you have air in the line, try lighting it for about 5 min. or so, keep your nose working for the smell of gas just in case something is wrong, which I boubt - it was just working.

[Bill]

Pam -

Sounds like you have two questions.

1.  Why won't my water heater light on gas?
You say this was your FIRST trip.  When was the water heater last fired up?  During an off-season or a period of storage, it is not uncommon to have a small spider spin a web in the orifice of a gas appliance.  Apparently they like the smell of propane.  You can peek inside the pipes, and clean out any webs with a Q-tip or pipe cleaner.  It is pretty simple - visit the manufactuer's web site for details.

2.  Does my water heater have an electric element?
This question was addresssed on 6/22/03, in a thread titled Check List for Setting Up, under Tips and Tricks.  It was asked by - oh, yes - you.  If the original responses didn't answer the question, then we need some more information.

Bill

Folks:
On my 2001 model 2619, there is a "RESET" button in the upper RH corner of the water heaters external compartment, encased in a rubber grommet. Perhaps THIS is the almighty reset button to try when unit won't light? Have never had to try.

Now along the subject of air in the lines and heater, i've noticed that what we must do after either A) turning on the water pump or B) hooking up the city water liner, AND both turning on the gas, AND the water pump, is this - we have to turn on the HOT water in the kitchen sink and bathroom to bleed off the air in the lines.

After which, we have no problems getting hot water.

Gregg

[Bill]

I noticed that my water heater was getting harder and harder to light. Finally it would not light at all. I had plenty of gas. I then check my stove which finally lite and could not get my frig to work on. After turning off the gas, I disconnected the hose that connects to the front of the camper I wanted to see if gas was making it throught the requlator. I noticed water driping from the camper side. I went to stove and use air to blow air back toward the tanks and water flushed out of the line I then went to hot water tank and even more water came out of the line. Reconnected the lines and everthing worked fine. Propane has a lot of water vapor in it and will condense in the line and when enough water gets in the line it weigh more than the propane can push and the items further away can not work.

Storm -

Water vapor in the propane? You may be thinking of the fact that when propane burns, the combustion products are water (lots of it), and carbon dioxide. But when the propane is in your tank, I'm under the impression that it is extremely dry - NO water vapor. If propane contained water vapor, then the vapor would condense to liquid water inside the tank, and the tank would rust from the inside out - NOT a good situation.

I bought a new propane grill last week. It came with a new propane tank, which had a big label on it saying "New tank! Purge before filling!" I took it to my local propane distributor, watched him purge it, and asked him about each of the steps he performed. To make a long story short, when propane tanks are manufactured, each one is pressure tested at the factory, using plain old high pressure air. Air is assumed to contain water vapor, so when a new tank reaches the end user, it is assumed to have a bit of water in it. To purge the tank of water, the propane tech first injects a cup or so of alcohol into the tank. Water dissolves in alcohol, so he sloshes the alcohol around to pick up all the water, then ejects the alcohol with its entrained water, and then fills the tank with propane in the normal manner. He confirmed that if the tank contained any water, it would rust internally, so it is critical that the water be removed. He also said that a tank needs to be purged only once - it will never accumulate any water after its initial purge.

So now the question is, how did water get into your propane lines? I would suggest that you might want to spend some serious effort on figuring this out - it is NOT a good (or normal) situation.

Bill