Attwood water heater

[oldjohnt]

5 hours ago, Redoldcar said:

LThank you for the replies. Going to replace the probe and see what happens

That's worth a try absent a method to test if the probe or the board is the problem assuming its NOT any of the minor grounding or connection or low voltage problems discussed above. Go for it and its not all that expensive and you may luck out, but if not and it proves to be the board is at fault, be sure and check out Dinosaur Electronics. I have used several of them and not had one go bad yet.

  http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/

 John T

Edited June 9, 2019 by oldjohnt

[Kirk W]

6 hours ago, Redoldcar said:

Going to replace the probe and see what happens.

Good idea. Even if you should eventually find you need to replace the circuit board, I never change that without also replacing the probe just because they have a much higher failure rate. 

[Dutch_12078]

If your RV is equipped with a common Atwood Hydroflame 85 or 8900 series furnace, the circuit board can be used as a temporary substitute to test the water heater operation. The only functional difference will be a ~20 second delay before the heater fires up. The board won't fit properly, so just make sure it doesn't short to anything during testing.

[oldjohnt]

10 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

If your RV is equipped with a common Atwood Hydroflame 85 or 8900 series furnace, the circuit board can be used as a temporary substitute to test the water heater operation.

Good idea Dutch, as a matter of fact I believe Dinosaur sells some "Universal Ignitor Boards" that can be used on EITHER a furnace or water heater as you noted. I think (cant recall what all I have lol) I have one in my RV spare parts bin so if EITHER my furnace OR water heater board failed I may be able to make repairs.

http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Ignitor_boards.htm

Hey if preliminary troubleshooting ruled out easy minor free cures such as say grounds or connections or rusty/loose attachments or low voltage and you're down to EITHER a Board or an Ignitor Tip with no equipment to test which is at fault, then your method might provide the answer !!!!! Otherwise, if a person is content to throw parts at the problem Id still start with the much cheaper Ignitor Tip before spending big bucks on a Board.  Unfortunately since MURPHYS LAW never sleeps and since his water heater is at least lighting it may ???? prove to be a Board problem grrrrrrrrrrrrr   

Nice sparky chattin, best wishes

John T 

Edited June 10, 2019 by oldjohnt

[Kirk W]

7 minutes ago, oldjohnt said:

I believe Dinosaur sells some Universal Ignitor Boards that can be used on EITHER say a furnace or water heater 

They do, along with a wide range of other RV appliance circuit boards. I have used several of their ignitor circuit boards and they generally cost less and come with a 3-year warranty, while the OEM boards from Atwood only have a 1-year warranty. They make circuit boards. for both Atwood & Suburban water heaters and furnaces, as well as both Dometic & Norcold refrigerators. I have replaced OEM boards with Dinosaur boards but have never had one from Dinosaur fail. The ignitor boards from them have a jumper that you move to set the furnace delay or to take the delay out for a water heater. 

[Kirk W]

I should also mention that Dinosaur no longer sells directly to the consumer but they do list several dealers on their website and you can get their parts from Amazon. 

[oldjohnt]

34 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

I have replaced OEM boards with Dinosaur boards but have never had one from Dinosaur fail

DITTO, I have used several of them and like you to date none have failed, hope this isn't a jinx lol. I currently have one in my fridge and I have NO replacement in my RV spare parts bin, so I hope the non failure trend continues !!

Years back when I called Dinosaur for Tech Support on a Saturday I (pleasantly surprised) talked to the president who walked me through some troubleshooting and he was very sharp. 

John T

Edited June 10, 2019 by oldjohnt

[oldjohnt]

 

Red, To summarize and make it easier in the event it turns out you need a new circuit board (hope something simpler or free or cheaper, run troubleshooting to determine) start with:

 

1) The Atwood Manual to find the correct part number:

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/atwoodwaterheater.pdf

 

2) To research Dinosaur Electronics selection of Boards go to:

http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Ignitor_boards.htm

 

3) In the event you want to shop online for Circuit Boards, I’m unsure if the one you need is Atwood 93851, but you can figure it out using the manual linked above, here are a couple of the many many places to purchase one:

 

Atwood 93851 Board on E Bay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Atwood+93851&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=Atwood+GCH6A

 

Atwood 93851 Board on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=atwood+93851+circuit+board&crid=RJGX4TBRO1E6&sprefix=atwood+93851+circuit+board%2Caps%2C248&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_26

 

Dinosaur Circuit Boards on Amazon

 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dinosaur+circuit+board&crid=3RIVDNQQ9RQRF&sprefix=dinosaur+ircuit+%2Caps%2C188&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_16

Dinosaur Circuit Boards on E Bay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=dinosaur+circuit+board&_sacat=0

 

Hope this helps, best wishes

 

John T

Edited June 10, 2019 by oldjohnt

[Dutch_12078]

I've used Dinosaur boards in a number of applications, and I've also never had one fail. When the potted OEM board on our Atwood water heater released its magic smoke last winter in Florida, I didn't even think about it, I just ordered a Dinosaur UIBS along with a mounting kit from Amazon for the quickest delivery. In the interim, I borrowed the ignitor board from our then unneeded bedroom Hydroflame furnace. Oh, and I also ordered an extra UIBS for my spares kit. 

Edited June 10, 2019 by Dutch_12078

[Redoldcar]

Checked the ground and did as suggested, bought a new spark probe and still isn't working. So I guess it's time for the control board 

[oldjohnt]

4 hours ago, Redoldcar said:

Checked the ground and did as suggested, bought a new spark probe and still isn't working. So I guess it's time for the control board 

Hey Red, you're doin good.  Wellllllllllll if its NOT any ground problem or grounding of the burner assembly ,,,,,,,,,,,,,If its NOT any poor electrical connection including but not limited to any connection to the board problem,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,If its NOT any low voltage problem,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,If its a new well grounded properly gapped ignitor tip,,,,,,,,,,,,IF IT STILL LIGHTS (as before, if it at least lights that cuts towards a board versus the ignitor as the problem) BUT THEN GOES OUT (that still what it's doing???) I'm thinking the flame sensor electronic circuitry on the board is failing to keep the gas valve open as it should SO IT MAY BE TIME FOR A NEW BOARD provided you cant troubleshoot any other possible causes!!!!!!!!!!!!!   But hey, I wouldn't regret buying the new Ignitor Tip, because they do go bad and now you have a new one to match a new board.

ANYBODY HAVE ONE OF THE BOARD TESTERS THEY CAN LOAN HIM ???????????????? I bet some RV dealers do but they aren't going to loan them out lol 

THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK 

For your convenience I will copy and re paste my sources for a new board above:

1) The Atwood Manual to find the correct part number:

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/atwoodwaterheater.pdf

 2) To research Dinosaur Electronics selection of Boards go to:

http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Ignitor_boards.htm

3) In the event you want to shop online for Circuit Boards, I’m unsure if the one you need is Atwood 93851, but you can figure it out using the manual linked above, here are a couple of the many many places to purchase one:

Atwood 93851 Board on E Bay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Atwood+93851&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=Atwood+GCH6A

Atwood 93851 Board on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=atwood+93851+circuit+board&crid=RJGX4TBRO1E6&sprefix=atwood+93851+circuit+board%2Caps%2C248&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_26

Dinosaur Circuit Boards on Amazon

 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dinosaur+circuit+board&crid=3RIVDNQQ9RQRF&sprefix=dinosaur+ircuit+%2Caps%2C188&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_16

Dinosaur Circuit Boards on E Bay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=dinosaur+circuit+board&_sacat=0

  John T

Edited June 14, 2019 by oldjohnt

[Ray,IN]

On 6/9/2019 at 10:49 AM, Kirk W said:

That probe is supposed to detect the heat of the burning propane and send a tiny signal(in micro-volts) back to the circuit board to let it know that the propane is burning. The continuing sparking is an indication that this function has failed. The return signal is too small to measure with most equipment that we carry so at this point you have to guess if the probe has failed or the circuit board is not reacting to it. From experience, I can tell you that the probe failure is far more common than the circuit board and it also costs only about 20% of what the circuit board will cost. If the ground suggested by WorknRVer doesn't help and if removing and reseating the electrical plugs to the circuit board several times doesn't help, I would replace that probe next. 

FWIW, I had this problem with our first 5er water heater, I was advised to remove the gas valve end of the thermister/flame sensor and polish both ends with a  pencil eraser, then reconnect the end, being  careful not to over-compress/crush the end of the wire.It worked and the water never failed again while we owned the 5er.

[Redoldcar]

 

Well it was circuit board. Contacted atwood and they are sending me a replacement free of charge. They had a bad batch and mine was one of them. 

[Dutch_12078]

Glad to see they're taking care of your problem, Red!

[markandkim]

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, Redoldcar said:

Well it was circuit board. Contacted atwood and they are sending me a replacement free of charge. They had a bad batch and mine was one of them. 

Is it still under warranty or are the Atwood folks just standing behind it? 

[oldjohnt]

6 hours ago, Redoldcar said:

Well it was circuit board. Contacted atwood and they are sending me a replacement free of charge. They had a bad batch and mine was one of them. 

THANKS for the feedback Red, I appreciate it. Wellllllllllll it comes as no surprise if it wasn't any of the other minor problems we discussed and tried to help with it came down to the board, but with that replaced and the new ignitor you should be good to go.

 Take care now and God Bless

 John T

[Dutch_12078]

And for anyone else that has an Atwood water heater and a Hydroflame furnace, remember the substitution test I mentioned earlier. It would have been a big time saver in troubleshooting.  

[Redoldcar]

On 6/25/2019 at 1:20 PM, Kirk W said:

Is it still under warranty or are the Atwood folks just standing behind it? 

They stood behind it

[RV_]

Good for Atwood! (and you)