What you should know about the Atwood Dometic Water Heater

What you should know about the Atwood Dometic RV Water Heater. This week Todd goes over the difference between the Suburban and Atwood / Dometic RV style water heaters.

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[marcgoldstone]

Hi Todd, I have an Attwood GE16EXT combo GAS/Electric water heater. I believe there is a design problem on the controller board that causes infant mortality (some might call it a retroactive abortion) of the PCB's transistor that sends 12VDC to energize the Relay mounted behind the heater that sends 120VAC to the heating element. I have had to replace the potted controller TWICE in a 3-year period because the yellow wire was not getting energized. Otherwise, a $0.25 transistor is all that would be necessary. The Propane portion of the heater was working. It is good engineering practice to add a DIODE (1N4001) to clamp the back EMF produced when the relay is deenergized. I soldered the Cathode to the yellow wire and the Anode to the Green wire in position #6 of the connector. This way the new controller's transistor will not be damaged in the future. The PCB's relay that sends power to the Gas Valve may very well have a similar issue but there is no way to add a protection diode due to the potting compound.

[tglass]

Thermal fuse went out on mine. Cold water for the rest of that trip. Later learned that I could have temporarily bypassed the fuse by connecting the two wires together, being sure to clean out any debris that may have caused it to burn out. I have a couple of spares on hand now. It’s also a good way to trouble shoot what might be the cause if a heater that won’t fire up. I thought it might have been the board, but this simple test proves it was the fuse.

[waynevaughan]

Thanks Todd. So I will be sure to have some spare plastic plugs in the unit. This was great even if you were being harassed from behind the camera.

[byronewhite]

The thermal fuse is there also because if a spider makes a nest in the forward section of the burner tube it can actually flame at the air mixer. Thirty years working on these rigs taught me that.

[entrthedragon]

Thanks. Forgot to drain and cracked my aluminum tank at the heating element weld in the back. It’s about 3” long. Since Dometic doesn’t make these anymore I plan on having it welded. I’ve read people have had this done with no problem.

[AdamMyhr]

What I wouldn't give to get a resettable heat sensor instead of a one time fuse. I like the safety aspect, but we've been in some windy locations lately and it's gotten blown out with no obstructions in the heating path out multiple times due to wind hitting the back of the rig.

[paullywalnutz]

The pressure relief valve is brass. Why couldn’t you use a brass plug?

[azarelthecreator]

my cutoff fuse blew and i dont use propane for anything in our rig. I havent had hot water all week on electric because after that piece blew no matter what i do its not getting even warm. There is barely any room in the crawl space in the back of where it is to get to and there is a big septic pvc pipe right in front of it. They dont install these things with consideration that someone will need to access the back of them. For this reason i hate the atwood models.

[alorruz]

This was helpful, however, it would have been nice to have a closer look at the unit instead of all the wasted space around you. I didnt watch the suburban video because I have a dometic. It would have been helpful to get a more detailed overview of the parts instead of referencing the suburban. Thanks

[projet]

What about the safety valve which is brass? And the material used for the element it is compatible with aluminium? Only the plug is plastic? Thank you for this video.

[ksh]

We have this in our new Forest River Solera. We have read that to heat with electricity there should be a on off switch inside at the place this is installed.
There is nothing like that. We switched it on inside the camper but it did not heat up the water. We are perplexed. We are new RVers and so far having a awful time finding info. Looked all through the 159 page booklet the FR community etc. I think allot has to do with supply issues and FR using other brands then normal. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

[Oilerrocker]

Great video the fuse blew on mine so easy fix thanks!

[juanlanderos]

Tanks for the video, really helpful, question, where I can buy a new because my star leaks I don’t know from where

[ronnie]

Hello, I’m a newbie and would like to know when I turn my switch on for my Atwood hot water tank what color of flame should I see? I’m getting yellow but I thought it should be blue in color.

[richardreed]

Good tip thank-you. Love the retakes 😅

[danielp.]

Great video. Answered several questions I had. THANK YOU. I enjoy your channel.

[jojester]

I cleaned out calcium and my igniter light goes on but doesn't engage the melt away is intact. The switch was bad as well but even connecting the leads together without a switch fails 🤔?

[rhondareyna]

I've had to replace the circuit board three times now and the latest one is also failing. Any suggestions on where to get one that works?

[Yukonjackman]

The controller circuit board by Atwood was a free replacement by Domatic for me it failed right away .

[MrMedicAdnan]

Well, I'm glad I have the Atwood model in my toy hauler.