Atwood Thermal cut off switch

[terricrowe26]

I am looking for some advice on my Atwood G6A-8E water heater. My thermal cut off switch is tempermental, and I would like to have a replacement of hand but the one that Atwood says I should use is not what is on my water heater. I can easily replace the one that is one there now with the same exact one because it has two female ends so unplug and plug back in, no biggie. The one that is suggested has one female end. I have attached photos to explain.

[terricrowe26]

I cant post a picture of the one I have.

[Martee]

I believe the thermal fuse was to protect the Atwood heater from any power surge, such as lightning, or hooking up a 30A trailer to a 50A connection. In an emergency where that fuse is being tempermental and connection is intermittent, you could just bypass the thermal fuse until the proper thermal fuse is purchased. Always replace the thermal fuse, with an exact matching thermal fuse. Atwood customer support can be inaccurate sometimes in their advice to customers.

[rmkrum]

The thermal fuse is for protection against the water heater thermostat getting stuck and overheating the water to a dangerous temperature. It's designed to blow at a temperature that is usually marked on the body of the fuse. Bypass one at your own risk. If it's being flaky, replace it. You could try re-crimping the spade connections on the thermal fuse and the wiring connectors it plugs into. The thermal fuses usually either are good, or totally open if they blow. Flaky sounds more like a wiring issue.

If the connectors do not match up on the proper Atwood part number, you can correct the connections, just he sure to use the exact same insulated connector that the new fuse requires. Get a spare--better to have the part in your small parts box than wait for Amazon to deliver it...

It has absolutely nothing to do with protection against power surges, over-voltage or other electrical upsets...by the way...

[OTRA15]

Excellent post Rich.

“Bypass . . . at your own risk.””

Peter

[rmkrum]

Yup. Scalding hot water is NOT a fun thing, and can be fatal in the shower.

[Backfortyjoe]

I have been working on the same Atwood model for some temperamental problems. One problem was the thermal cut off that had a cold solder joint on the spade end. The one that is on there has one male and one female connection on it. On the new ones you can see that they send an extra wire. I would go ahead with it so if there are problems in the future It would be an easy change out. Good luck. Regards, Joe

[terricrowe26]

the one I have has female connections on both ends. The picture of the one I purchased shows it that way, two female end then it comes as you said with one male and one female and a new wire. It does say ( I noticed after I got it) one the website that the product may differ.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

The thermal fuse is for protection against the water heater thermostat getting stuck and overheating the water to a dangerous temperature. It's designed to blow at a temperature that is usually marked on the body of the fuse. << snip>>.

I'd like to add one more thing:
If there is a blockage in the burn tube that causes flashback (fire on the exterior of the water heater), the flame will cause the fuse to melt. This will turn off the gas valve immediately, hopefully extinguishing the flame before any damage occurs.
POSITION OF THE FUSE IS CRITICAL!
Keep the new fuse in the original position above the burn tube. The new wire is not used to relocate the fuse.