water heater reset button?

[Karalyn]

Where is it? I can not find it.
The only possible thing I find is the black knob that says off, pilot, and on. If I go to Pilot and push that knob down and hold it for 60 seconds, am I doing it right? Is the "reset" button working if pushing the knob down. I don't see another button.
Thanks

[Alan #1119]

Where is it? I can not find it.
The only possible thing I find is the black knob that says off, pilot, and on. If I go to Pilot and push that knob down and hold it for 60 seconds, am I doing it right? Is the "reset" button working if pushing the knob down. I don't see another button.
Thanks

I suspect your water heater is just like mine and your control button is off-pilot-on. The reset is for some of the newer units which have electronic ignition etc. I responded to your post on the Casita Forum about how I light my water heater. I can repeat it here if you like.

[Karalyn]

Thanks Alan, I tried your suggestion and held that pilot buttton down for over a 1/2 hour. Still would not lite. It says turn to pilot, and push reset button down. I am stumpted. Will try again tomorrow. I still have the fridge and the fantastic fan to figure out tomorrow also. I want to know what I am doing before I take the Egge out camping. I don't want to end up with a fried egge or a burnt egge out on the road.
Thanks for your help

[potteralice]

karalyn,

have you tried calling the folks at the casita factory? thet tried to explain it to me and i didn't get it until someone showed me that what i was looking for was not visible unless i practicall lay on the ground and looked up UNDER the water heater pilot light thingy.

do you have any of the manuals that came with the casita when it was new? if they are not available here have you tried the casita club site?

i had a problem bringing my new-to-me 2000 casita home from florida this february and finally just stopped and read the stuff.

( it still didn't help when the circuit breaker needed resetting and i did not have sense enough to flip it ALL the way off to get it to go on!)

[Karalyn]

karalyn,

have you tried calling the folks at the casita factory? [i]No, I have not tried that yet. thet tried to explain it to me and i didn't get it until someone showed me that what i was looking for was not visible unless i practicall lay on the ground and looked up UNDER the water heater pilot light thingy.Guess I will lay on the ground tomorrow. What were YOU looking for on yours?

do you have any of the manuals that came with the casita when it was new? if they are not available here have you tried the casita club site? Yes, I have tried both. Have had suggestions, but nothing is working so far.

i had a problem bringing my new-to-me 2000 casita home from florida this february and finally just stopped and read the stuff. Been there, read up on everything about it I saw. Just think I am "missing" something. Unless it is full of bugs or spider webs.

<span style="color:#000000">( it still didn't help when the circuit breaker needed resetting and i did not have sense enough to flip it ALL the way off to get it to go on!) </span>[color=#3333FF] I looked at circut breaker, did not see a fuse for hot water heater. Will go flip that switch in the morning too. Thanks much for the suggestions. Karalyn (responding in blue ink)

[Chuck Jenkins]

Stating the obvious here but sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious....is the propane cylinder ON? If so, maybe it is out of propane. Just something to check since it sounds as if everything else suggested has been tried.

[potteralice]

karalyn.

i have the manual for the suburban water heater that came with my casita. naturally the type is so small that even if i scanned it to you (if i knew how) you might not be able to read it.

it has drawings (too small) and many, many warnings. scary to read.

there is an exploded view which is readable but the numbers identifying parts are even smaller than the tiny print used elsewhere! so i may not be of any .

ok, i just went out and looked at the actual machine and tried to match it to the drawings.
MY ANODE ROD is lying there covered in fuzzy white chemical residue and not screwed in AT ALL! now i have a problem. glad to find it now. i have never used the water heater is my former casita and now it looks like i am not going to use this one without some work (i knew those places with showers were terriffic, now i know why).

my "lay on the ground" experience was on my last casita. i had taken it to an rv place to be winterized and found water stains on the driveway for days afterward. it was very cold. the rv guy didn't drain the water heater so i tried. you don't want to hear this. i found out who in my neighborhood has good sets of tools and who does not (me).

anyhow, if you would like me to send you a copy of the manual i can take it to staples and mail it. it is only 9 pages long, half is disclaimers and warnings. send me an address if you want me to. and by the way the phone number for suburban is 423-775-2131.

[CD Smith]

When I started my water heater the first time after buying my 1999 Casita SD, I followed all the directions, but the pilot lite would not light.

After holding the pilot button down for more than enough time for the gas to reach the pilot, I turned the OFF/PILOT/RUN knob toward the run position while continuing to hold the pilot lighting button down. The pilot light immediately lit and stayed lit after letting the button go.

I added this new step to my water heater lighting procedure and have not had any problem lighting it in the last 2 and a half years.

[Darwin Maring]

Never light anything if you smell gas.

Be sure you have opened the propane gas valves in the tanks. Don't feel bad if you forgot because it was on the news the other day that a computer expert couldn't get her computer to run and the fault was determined to be that she had plugged the power strip into it's self. Things happen.

You may need to bleed the air out of the gas lines so Go inside the egg and light the cook stove and let it run a few minutes. I always use the cook stove to purge the air out of the lines before I use the water heater or furnace. That way, I know the lines are purged and that I'm getting gas to the appliances. If I'm not getting gas, then I may have an empty tank, a plugged line or a bad regulator. Lines get plugged if you remove the tank(s) and leave the hose dangling. Critters build nests in the line.

After the cook top burns a blue flame, turn it off and then go to the water heater. You will need to warm the thermocouple, I use a propane grill lighter so I don't burn my fingers, then after the thermocouple is hot is when you press the pilot button in. If it does not light right away, hold it for a while so the air will purge out of the system.

If it still does not light, you may have a bad thermocouple. You can purchase a new thermocouple at a camper supply place and restart from there.

[CD Smith]

Never light anything if you smell gas.

Be sure you have opened the propane gas valves in the tanks. Don't feel bad if you forgot because it was on the news the other day that a computer expert couldn't get her computer to run and the fault was determined to be that she had plugged the power strip into it's self. Things happen.

You may need to bleed the air out of the gas lines so Go inside the egg and light the cook stove and let it run a few minutes. I always use the cook stove to purge the air out of the lines before I use the water heater or furnace. That way, I know the lines are purged and that I'm getting gas to the appliances. If I'm not getting gas, then I may have an empty tank, a plugged line or a bad regulator. Lines get plugged if you remove the tank(s) and leave the hose dangling. Critters build nests in the line.

After the cook top burns a blue flame, turn it off and then go to the water heater. You will need to warm the thermocouple, I use a propane grill lighter so I don't burn my fingers, then after the thermocouple is hot is when you press the pilot button in. If it does not light right away, hold it for a while so the air will purge out of the system.

If it still does not light, you may have a bad thermocouple. You can purchase a new thermocouple at a camper supply place and restart from there.

Bleeding the lines by lighting the cooktop works only for the cooktop and the refrigirater. The line for the water heater is teed under the bathroon.

This means that you have to wait some period of time with the pilot buttom depressed before the air is cleared from the line to the water heater. This time period is approximately the same time it takes to clear the air from the cooktop line.

[Karalyn]

wow, thanks for all the hints!
Propane is on, stove has nice blue flame, refridgerator works on gas. That side of the trailer has gas.
I left the pilot light on for 45 minutes today held down by a piece of wood jammed to keep it down. Still did not light, and no gas smell.
I will try the suggestion to turn to run tomorrow and see if that works. I did try that once today without success. I will try holding the run button down longer tomorrow
I am assuming I should see some sign of it working, like a slight flame, or something.
I am also assuming I should hear the heater heating up.
If the lines have not been open and gas disconnected, can a bug still get in there? I don't see how if he can't crawl in there
I only see one place to light it, where the hole is next to the round thing on the left, and then there is an open spot and then a pipe to the right. I am assuming the little round thing with the hole in it is where the gas is lit. Appreciate all your responces, and please continue to
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

[potteralice]

karalyn,

REPEAT... do you want the instruction book or not?

alice

[Darwin Maring]

Please don't be dismissed by thinking that doing the cook top first is not necessary. The cook top working tells you that you have propane in the tank, the regulator is working, the line is purged up to the cook top and that the line is not pluged. Always start from there everytime you turn on your tanks.

In my camper, the water heater is close to the cook top thus there is very little time remaining to further purge the water heater.

Did you heat the thermocouple while pressing the pilot button?

[Steve L.]

I only see one place to light it, where the hole is next to the round thing on the left, and then there is an open spot and then a pipe to the right. I am assuming the little round thing with the hole in it is where the gas is lit.

No. You light a Suburan water heater in the "tunnel" on the right side. The hole on the left is for mixing air with the gas.

[Steve L.]

You need to stick your long necked gas lighter into the tunnel about an inch or two while holding the button in and the rotating valve set to pilot.

[ATTACH][/ATTACH]


The hole in the tube to the left is the air/gas mix.

Here's a free opinion:

If you hold the pilot button down with a piece of wood, you should stick the lighter in there frequently so that gas won't build up and cause a problem. Pushing the button down defeats the thermocouple to allow gas to pass(!) to the orfice(!!!). Once the pilot is lit, it heats the thermocouple which then allows you to release the button.

Have we even established yet that you have a Suburban water heater? I'm also assuming you have a manual light model and not the automatic ignition.

[potteralice]

oh steve,

i just assumed (and you know the breakdown of THAT word!) that since karalyn has a 2000 casita sd that it would be the same as mine and since i have all the paperwork it would be helpful to her to have it..

i love the fact that you printed out a photo of your water heater and it shows that mine is different from it. i guess i will shut up about something i know nothing about and send everyone apologies. sorry.

[Steve L.]

I made the same assumption as you did for the same reason, but it doesn't hurt to be sure.

I just found that picture of a Suburban manual light water heater out on the web. It's not exactly like my 2003 either. Frankly, upon close examination, it looks like the automatic light model but the RV parts web site I found this had it in the manual light section.

But it does show (with my artistic red arrow!) where the pilot is lit on a Suburban.

[Steve L.]

FWIW,

Early on, I had trouble keeping my water heater lit. I'm including a pitiful Paint illustration of the burner end. There is a little do-dad with rolled edges that is located under the pilot light and it is bent up slightly to deflect the pilot flame up onto the thermocouple. If the thermocouple is in the flame, it keeps the gas flowing. If the flame goes out, the thermocouple signals to turn the gas off right now.





On mine, the do-dad was cock-eyed and it deflected the flame off to the right of the thermocouple. CAREFULLY, with a pair of bent nose needle nosed pliers I finessed the do-dad so that the thermocouple was centered in the deflected pilot flame. I haven't had a problem since. (OH PUL-Leeze. I used artistic license in color choices for the flame. Mine is pale blue, thank you very much.)

For Karalyn: When the pilot is lit, you will clearly see it in the "tunnel", which, technically I suppose, is called the burner tube.

[Karalyn]

karalyn,

REPEAT... do you want the instruction book or not?

alice

I do have the instruction book. Thanks. The instructions just isn't working

[Brian B-P]

If this water heater is a Suburban, like the one in Steve's photo, it is a newer model of the American Appliance unit in my 1979 Boler. With that design, the pilot flame is clearly visible inside the burner tube, and is deflected by that do-dad onto the thermocouple. In mine, the pilot flame is quite visible and you couldn't possibly miss the main burner firing up - it looks like someone has a flamethrower stuck just into the opening of that tube.

If the do-dad is not directing the pilot flame onto the thermocouple, then the pilot will still light, but it will go out when the button is released. Since the pilot flame is visible (again, in the American Appliance / Suburban design), this is straightforward to diagnose.

So maybe the problem has nothing to do with the controls on the appliance, and is the same thing that got me the first time I fired up my furnace: the shut-off valve. In my Boler, each appliance (range, refrigerator, furnace, water heater) has a shut-off valve in the gas line feeding the appliance. If it is closed (and no, they're not marked in any way to indicate which appliance they feed or which handle position is "open"), then there's no propane reaching the appliance.

By the way, I use the stove-for-bleeding method which Darwin described, because the stove burners are easy to light, reducing fiddling time with other appliances (especially the refrigerator).