Water Heater advice

[FreedomRings]

Any advice as to how to get this to ignite since I don't have a Pilot valve and looks as if no electrical capacity. Gas only?

[handn]

It works simply.
The ignitor switch is in the bathroom. It is electric and works off your battery.
When you turn the switch, the heater opens the gas valve and sparks the ignitor. If it lights you hear a whoom as the burner ignites the flame heats the hot water.
If there is no gas or some malfunction, the ignitor sparks a couple of times and then the unit shuts off as a safety factor.
About all you can do as an amateur is to make sure you have propane gas getting to the heater and enough battery to spark the ignitor. If you have a manual you can perhaps adjust the flame so that it stays on and burns cleanly without an excessive roar. If there are more problems, they should be dealt with by a skilled rv tech.

[nilesrob]

Not sure in yours, but in our gas water heater there is an inline fuse. Sometimes you can see a burn in the fuse, which would cause your heater not to ignite. But I had a situation where the fuse looked good, and yet it was not. So if your heater has a fuse and you can replace it, that is a simple, cheap and easy thing to try without putting yourself at risk. Bugs sometimes build nests in the vent pipe, so another thing to check. Otherwise, I'd follow the previous post and have someone who knows what they are doing work on it.

[TG Twinkie]

The connections on the circuit board (upper left) may be corroded. Disconnect each wire and clean the connections.

[Chae]

Originally Posted by handn

It works simply.
The ignitor switch is in the bathroom. It is electric and works off your battery.

Ha! So that's what that little round nub switch was. I spent most of the day gutting my new '76 Ambassador. By the time I got to the bathroom, I was in full hack and slash mode so I just cut that wire without giving it a lot of thought. I plan on getting an auto ignition water heater so I assume that switch is no longer needed...

Now to get that &$#@$ water heater out of there...

[FreedomRings]

Originally Posted by Chae

Ha! So that's what that little round nub switch was. I spent most of the day gutting my new '76 Ambassador. By the time I got to the bathroom, I was in full hack and slash mode so I just cut that wire without giving it a lot of thought. I plan on getting an auto ignition water heater so I assume that switch is no longer needed...

Now to get that &$#@$ water heater out of there...