Suburban Water Heater in RV Will Not Stay Lit

by Don
(Harrisburg, Pa)

The water heater will not stay lit past the 3 times the igniter cycles. When the igniter is igniting the gas valve stays open and it stays lit. The second the igniter stops the gas valve goes shut and the flame goes out. I've checked the Hi Limit and thermostat and both are closed.
I think I've narrowed it down to the control module, which looks fine. Nothing burnt or out of place on the board.

Thank You - Don

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ANSWER: Greetings Don thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

Yes the problem could be caused by a bad Water Heater Control Board and you will not normally be able to see any visible damage to the board itself.

The problem you describe can also be caused by a bad Thermocouple that is not allowing the Water Heater to stay lit.

Without really looking at it and running some tests there is no way that you can really tell for sure what the exact problem is. You may want to take your RV in and have a Certified RV Technician take a look at it, so that you do not spend money on parts you may not need.

I hope this helps.

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