I have a Suburban water heater which work great on 240 V but on Gas it stops after about 5 seconds, keeps trying to start but stops almost all the time.

Any clues on what the fault may be.???

Assume other gas appliances are working...Stove & Fridge on gas. If yes, check gas tap open to Water Heater, otherwise check if jet is blocked.

The gas jet could have a spider in it happens quite often 

Dragonfly1

My thread re same/similar problem.

http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t62526988/hot-water-problem-on-gas/

Aussie Paul. 

Thanks I will check for blockages or spiders, but yes all the other gas appliances work.

Occasionally the Hot water system works as well but mostly not.

Cheers

Perry

Hi Perry

Rub you finger across the jet out let , it does not work, push a very fine wire into the hole to clear any debris.  Still no go, get it checked out. 

Cheers

Thanks for all the replies, I will drag the van out tomorrow and let you all know how I go.

Cheers

Perry

Hi Perry,

Just had the same thing on both our van, as well as that of a friend. There's two things you need to do...

1. Using an air hose, blow out the combustion chamber and the fire tube. You can do this in situ without dismantling anything. You will probably blow out a lot of rust and scale.

2. This bit though is the more important step. Unplug the fat red wire from the spark igniter/flame sensor and remove the sensor. There's one screw to undo and it pulls straight out. Using a fine emery or even a nail file, clean the tips to remove any scale, back to a bright-ish metal surface. DO NOT bend or adjust the rods or the gap between them. Replace the unit and reconnect the wire (spade terminal) making sure it is clean and tight.

That should fix it for you for another 4 or 5 years. Good luck.

Thanks Gerry, I will try blowing it out with a air hose.

Cheers

Perry

No worries Perry. But the second bit, cleaning the electrodes is the more important thing to fix the problem though.

Good luck mate. :)