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Old 03-29-2015, 07:51 AM   #1
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Newbies: our instant hot water heater just stopped working!

Hi there,
We are on our first ever trip in our 95 Excella. Most things have gone fine. We have a precision temp 500 and have loved it for the past two days.

This morning, doing dishes...ran for about 10 mins, and all of a sudden stopped working.

We changed the LP tank at 5am last night (don't ask...), but again....we ran the hot momentarily at that time to be sure it was still working, and then used the hot for about 10 mins this morning, 3 hours later, so not sure changing the LP is related.

Here is what seems right:
The green light is flashing on the heater when powered on.
The wheel is turning on the water valve as it is supposed to be, when the water is on.

We do NOT see the unit igniting or firing up. Yellow ignitor wire seems fine.
Any thoughts? Very weird to me that it was working fine, and all of a sudden won't fire back up......

Thoughts?
Nikki
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Old 03-29-2015, 07:53 AM   #2
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oh....PS...

Oh also.....
We have tried the "turn off, wait one minute, turn back on" trick about 20 times. The first 5 times with hope it would work, the next 5 because we weren't ready to accept it, and the last 10 just out of insanity.

Nikki
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Old 03-29-2015, 08:12 AM   #3
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Maybe this will help.

http://www.precisiontemp.com/wp-cont...stallation.pdf
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Old 03-30-2015, 07:30 AM   #4
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Thanks, we had found that online as well, and that lead us to the thinking that it's the ignitor.

However...update....
we switched the tanks to one that we knew was TOTALLY full....and it started working after a bit. Is there a chance that we have a tank that isn't letting gas release at full pressure? Would that have anything to do with it???
Nikki
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Old 03-30-2015, 07:47 AM   #5
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Propane tanks now have a flow valve which restricts or stops propane flow when it is excessive. It is a safety situation. The proper way to turn on a propane tank these days is very slowly, so the "too much flow valve" is not activated. There is some possibility that is what happened to you, although why in the middle of a tank use is unclear. If your tank was very low there is some possibility that the propane actually froze in the bottom of the tank with the high demand of the instantaneous water heater, cutting off the supply.
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Old 03-30-2015, 01:21 PM   #6
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do any other propane devices work.. like your stove?

I use the stove to 'flush' the LP lines after a 'swap'.. to purge the lines. The WH won't do that..until, well, lots more cycles of the switch..
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Old 05-18-2015, 07:28 PM   #7
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Edgewood , Kentucky
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My Eccotemp L7

I may have the solution to your issue. I too had fairly similar symptoms going on with my unit. Heard the igniter clicking, but no flame. I then took the cover off and seen the igniter actually sparking (do this with propane off of course). Once I knew that, it leads to one thing. No gas.

The systems are all similar. From the tank it pigtails into a regulator which sets a specific pressure. From there it travels to your unit in which runs into a valve with a electric solenoid that controls it. The valve is spring loaded to stay closed at all times until the selinod is given power (3V). To check this unplug the solenoid and check voltage there when the igniter is attempting to light. If it reads 0 Volts you might want to check your water pressure (which I doubt is the case). The solenoid then opens the valve until finished then lets the spring shut the valve again.

My problem was that my LP was a poor quality and had some sort of moisture within, so the solenoid was sticking closed (thankfully not open, spring compression would hopefully prevent this). The solenoid was not strong enough to pull it loose from being stuck by the moisture. I called Eccotemp and they assured me that I went through the right troubleshooting process. They were great to work with and shipped me a new solenoid within 5 days.

I installed the new valve/solenoid and once again I was able to take hot showers. I kept the old one and rebuilt it by cleaning the rod and spring unit with break parts cleaner. I found a small amount of rust on the rod and spring. That took care of it and it functions just like the new one. I have kept it as a spare (hopefully to never use it...).

Below is a picture of it.. I hope This helps
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