Can't ignite water heater using propane

I have followed the instructions in my owners manual to lite my water heater using propane, but can't get anything to happen. I know I am getting gas to my TM, because I was able to lite a burner on my stove. Can someone answer a few questions? 1. Is the red light next to the on/off toggle switch (on front of sink cabinet) supposed to light red when the toggle is on? Mine doesn't. 2. The manual says "5.Turn ON gas supply. 6.Turn on electrical power to appliance. 7.Turn switch to ON position. If the burner does not light, the system will automatically attempt two more tries for ignition before lockout." Question; what is the difference between turning on electrical power to the appliance, and turning switch to "ON" position? I am running on DC power from strong, freshly charged batteries. Also, should I be able to hear something when the system is in the ignition cycle? And lastly, where is the reset button on ECO?

[rvcycleguy]

I'm going to tell you how I do it...

Open propane tanks, light my stove to ensure I have gas beyond the furnace. Toggle switch that is located under the sink top to ON. It will illuminate the red light. You should hear the igniter clicking to light the burner. When it lights, the red light will turn off. If the red light comes on again, turn off the toggle switch and wait for 5 seconds. Turn toggle switch on again to cycle the igniter. It should light within the third attempt.

Have you checked to see that there is gas to the WH. If you have in inline valve in the WH compartment, check to see it is turned on.

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

I'm going to tell you how I do it...

Open propane tanks, light my stove to ensure I have gas beyond the furnace. Toggle switch that is located under the sink top to ON. It will illuminate the red light. You should hear the igniter clicking to light the burner. When it lights, the red light will turn off. If the red light comes on again, turn off the toggle switch and wait for 5 seconds. Turn toggle switch on again to cycle the igniter. It should light within the third attempt.

Your explanation is streightforwad enough. This is the kind of procedure that I would expect. For some reason nothing is happening, no red light when I toggle the switch on, no sound of a striker operating. Hopefully it is a reset issue, which I will do as soon as I figure it out. I also tested my refrigerator and it will lite on propane, so I do think I am getting fuel to the water heater. There is no manual valve in the outside compartment.

Does the fridge fan light on the panel light up when you turn it on? If so there is power to the panel. You may have to trace/check the wiring to the WH burner. The crimp connectors used by TM have a tendency to come loose.

Originally Posted by rumbleweed

Does the fridge fan light on the panel light up when you turn it on? If so there is power to the panel. You may have to trace/check the wiring to the WH burner. The crimp connectors used by TM have a tendency to come loose.

Yes, everything else lights on the panel. I even checked the fuse. Will check the connections more in depth tomorrow.

[T and C]

I had a similar problem a few weeks back. It turned out to be an unusual problem. Here is a link to the post.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=13210

BTW, the reset buttons are accessed from the outside when you open the panel. They are the two black "plug" looking thingies about the size of a quarter.

Hope this helps some.

Tom

[Brittany Dogs]

Newer TrailManor units might not have a sparker but now have the hot glow wire starter like many clothes dryers have. My water heater does not make a sparking noise and is quite silent in operation. The only noise I hear is the quiet roar of the LP gas burning.

As the old joke says, never say "hot water heater" because you don't need to heat hot water.

[Bill]

RBauer -

The red light on the front panel should really be labelled "Trying to light". As RVCycleGuy said, it is on when the ignition is trying to light the gas. When the gas is lit - or when the unit has tried three times and given up - the red light goes out. This is the switch referred to in number 7.

As I discovered many years ago - feeling dumb as I did so - the ignition will not try to light the burner if the water is already hot. No point in firing up the burner if the water doesn't need heating.

Take a look at this pic.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...&pictureid=447
The blue arrow in the lower left points to the rear-panel ON-OFF switch. However, this switch controls the electric heating element only, and should have nothing to do with the gas burner.
At the top of the picture, you can see a black plastic rectangle. At the top of the rectangle, you can see two black circles, each about the size of a quarter. These are the reset switches. Just push each one firmly with your thumb. If it clicks, it had tripped.

Bill

Originally Posted by rumbleweed

Does the fridge fan light on the panel light up when you turn it on? If so there is power to the panel. You may have to trace/check the wiring to the WH burner. The crimp connectors used by TM have a tendency to come loose.

Update: Success! All of the visible connections were fine. So, I went under the sink cabinet. There is a small compartment enclosed in 1/8" plywood under the water heater. I removed the two screws to slide the piece of plywood out, but it would not budge. I didn't want to force it, so I abandoned that idea. There was one blue wire, a slightly heavier guage than the other three that attach to the back of the toggle switch plate, and headed down towards the floor disappearing behind this plywood compartment. I reached my hand down following the wire as far as I could go in this tight space. I couldn't reach the other end where it was connected, but I did pull on the wire firmly enough to make sure it was connected to something. It was. I then tried the toggle switch again, and it lit red! In about 10 seconds I heard the burner fire up and the red light went out. So, that was it. A loose connection. The good news is that I am now an expert in this water heater functioning from all of my investigations, and trial and error testing. Thanks to everyone for your various input. This forum is great!