Newbie question about water heater

[edhodge]

I hate to seem stupid but I am!  DH picked up our new Jayco Series pu without me and evidently, they did not teach him how to use the water heater.  It has an Atwood.  I have read and read the manual but no luck!  Went to their website but the operational video is nonoperational.  

Can someone give me "water heater 101"?  We are hooked up to city water at the moment.  I am terrified that, at any moment, I am going to hear a big BOOM!

Thanks in advance for your help!
Diane

[Tim5055]

OK, I just copied this off my Frequently Asked Questions Web Page


How do I fill my Hot Water Heater (HWH) with water?

This is one of those things that seems difficult, but is actually very easy.  First you need a source of water; either hook up to the city water connection or fill the on board water tanks and turn on the pump.  Now comes the hard part, just open the hot water faucet. The water entering from the water source you selected will displace the air in the HWH and begin to fill.  At first air will be expelled from the faucet, then it will spurt water and finally a full stream of water.  When you have this full stream of water flowing out of the faucet with only the how water handle turned on, your HWH is as full of water as it should be.  

 
How do I light my Hot Water Heater (HWH)?

As there are several manufacturers of hot water heaters (HWH), read and understand you owners manual.  The first thing I want to say is when lighting the HWH it takes a LONG time holding down the pilot button to get gas flow all the way to the HWH.

Now, in case you don't have the instructions, so here goes the general steps:

Turn the HWH gas valve knob to the "Pilot" position, then push this knob in. Gas will NOT flow unless you are holding this down. It is a safety thing.

Wait at least 1 minute, usually 2 and gas will begin to flow. Now try to light it. It will usually take a couple of tries.

After it lights, keep holding the pilot knob down for 20 - 30 seconds. There is a thermocouple which will cut off the gas if it doesn't have time to heat up, again safety.

Now turn it to the ON position. The HWH should now roar to life.

Do not try to be quick about this, it will only frustrate you. Take your time. There is a very small hole that you need to purge all of the air out of the line through before the gas gets to the HWH, that is why it can take a couple of minutes. I find that lighting my stove first helps in getting gas to the HWH heater, but if this helps you will depend on the configuration of your gas pipes

[tlhdoc]

Hi Diane and welcome to PUT!

 
You need to fill the water heater first.  You said you are connected to city water so open a hot water faucet and let the air in the water heater and the hot water lines escape.  It may take a couple of minutes until the water heater is full.  Once it is full you need to turn the propane on.  The next step can take a little time.  There is air in the propane lines that has bleed out, before you can light the water heater.  Turn on the stove or other appliances and light them.  This will clear some of the air out of the propane line.  Then go out to your water heater and turn the button to pilot.  You will need to hold down the button for a while until the propane gets to the water heater.  When you smell propane let go of the button and then wait a few minutes until the propane has time to dissipate.  After you are sure there is no lingering smell of propane take a long lighter to light the pilot of the water heater.  I light my lighter first, and then put it in position, then push the propane button again.  The spot where you want to point the lighter is into the body of the water heater.  You will see the gas line going into the water heater.  Just follow the gas line to the end.  Move the lighter around a little bit until you see where the flame is.  Continue to hold the propane button down and the lighter on for about 30 seconds.  Then let go of the propane button.  If the flame doesn't go out remove the lighter.  If the flame is still burning keep your face back and then turn the water heater to "ON".

[edhodge]

That is exactly what I was hoping to get- very clear directions!  So after we have done the above, we just need to wait until the water heats and presto- hot stuff?  :lol:  Thank you so much!!

[abbear]

Tim - this is exactly why I refer so many people to your site.  I really appreciate it being there!

[Tim5055]

Tim - this is exactly why I refer so many people to your site.  I really appreciate it being there!

 

While I would love to take credit for the information, most of it came from the great folks here at PUT.  I have just "culled" the questions folks ask and post them on my site.

[tknick]

Once you get the hang of actually lighting the hot water heater, I suggest you take some advice I found here.  Measure the height between the depressed pilot switch and the top of your hotwater heater.  Then cut something a little bit shorter than that.  I use a piece of grey PVC conduit.  I use one end of the PVC to push down the pilot swich and the other end is against the frame of the hot water heater.  The PVC keeps the pilot switch depressed while I actually light the pilot.  Then, I can continue setting up the camper and doing other things while allowing the thermocouple to warm up.  After a minute or so, I come back, remove the PVC and turn the switch to the on position.

Two words of caution: First, by holding the pilot switch down, you are allowing gas to flow freely into the hotwater heater burner and bypassing the auto-shut off provided by the thermocouple.  Because of that fact, make sure the pilot is lit before you walk away.  Second, do not wait more than a minute to at least make sure the pilot hasn't blown out.  If it has, turn everything off and make sure you allow LOTS of time for the gas to dissapate before relighting.

[ScoobyDoo]

I don't have WH in my PU, Dad full timed for a while in a 5er. He would heat the thermal-couple with a propane torch then turn the gas to on. I don't know if there was something worng with the WH or if he just had more guts than patince. I think the torch would be safer than by-pass the safty.