HELP - Hot Water Heater

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gfracerx

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Hello,
My Rheem 21VP50-1 hot water heater is acting up.This water heater is natural gas, with a power vent, and has a auto igniter,
I had no hot water so I cycled the power on it. The power vent turns on and I can see the ignitor glow, then it clicks and the burner lights.
This happened a few times over the last couple weeks but now it won't light at all.
The power vent continues to run with no flame in the burner area.
If I cycle the power switch, I see the ignitor glow, hear a click and then nothing. It will then glow again, click and then go out again. It does this 3 times.
After that it does nothing, except the vent continues to run.
Any Ideas?
Thanks
 
You aren't getting any gas to the burner, and the controller has a lockout that will not do anything but run the draft inducer (blower) to keep itself safe.

It would be helpful if you gave us the make and model of the controller / valve, or at least if it has a thermocouple / flame sensor and a pilot (This is not a standing pilot type, right?)

Now the problem is why isn't it getting any gas.

1. Gas valve isn't opening because of a stuck pin or diaphram, broken start or hold open coil, electrical problem on the circuit board.
2. Obstruction in the orifice at the burner.
3. Gas at valve turned off or obstruction in the line to the heater.

My bets are that it is a Honeywell gas controller and there is a problem with one of the two coils that open the valve or on the control board. I had one particular model that failed this same way twice in 3 years on the same appliance.

You should be able to get a replacement gas valve and replace the entire thing on your heater fairly easily, but please, only if you are used to plumbing gas lines (this can be more dangerous than water lines if there's an error). Most Honeywell controllers are around $25-30 here. If not a plumber or HVAC technician should be able to fix it in about 1 HR if they bring the part.

HTH
 
Spaceman Spiff said:
You aren't getting any gas to the burner, and the controller has a lockout that will not do anything but run the draft inducer (blower) to keep itself safe.

It would be helpful if you gave us the make and model of the controller / valve, or at least if it has a thermocouple / flame sensor and a pilot (This is not a standing pilot type, right?)

Now the problem is why isn't it getting any gas.

1. Gas valve isn't opening because of a stuck pin or diaphram, broken start or hold open coil, electrical problem on the circuit board.
2. Obstruction in the orifice at the burner.
3. Gas at valve turned off or obstruction in the line to the heater.

My bets are that it is a Honeywell gas controller and there is a problem with one of the two coils that open the valve or on the control board. I had one particular model that failed this same way twice in 3 years on the same appliance.

You should be able to get a replacement gas valve and replace the entire thing on your heater fairly easily, but please, only if you are used to plumbing gas lines (this can be more dangerous than water lines if there's an error). Most Honeywell controllers are around $25-30 here. If not a plumber or HVAC technician should be able to fix it in about 1 HR if they bring the part.

HTH
Click to expand...

Hello,
So I just had a repair man here and like you said it's not getting gas. He told me it could be one of two things. Controller or gas valve. He said there is no way to test either and to start by replacing the controller. ($300.00 installed). He said if that didn't fix it to consider just getting a new water heater($900.00) because the gas valve is another $300.00! Ouch......
Well he had a new controller on his truck and talked him into doing it for $220.00. Mine is a Robert Shaw H5780, Part 17NL-304A, his was a 17NL-104A. He made a call and said it would work. He plugged it in and nothing......So he cleaned the contacts on my old one and BINGO, it worked! Is this just a coincedence? He charged me $70.00 for the service call and left.
The serial # on my water heater is RN 0694D02815
Thanks for your help.
 
How old?

You didn't say how old your water heater is. What you have are common problems that I have experienced also. You got lucky by having a quick, relatively cheap fix. You should be able to clean and adjust contacts by yourself in the future, but eventually you'll have to decide as to whether replacing modules or replacing the whole water heater is a better idea.
 
I Am Imprssed

The odds of having a gas valve to replace a
1995 power vent Rheem Hot water heater
on his truck is probably about 10,000 to one....


That fellow is a top notch plumber and knows what he is
doing when it comes to power vents...
he must have to mess with them every day


The parts simply are not available around here
for one that old.....after about 7 years they are
not required to keep them in stock anymore..
it costs them too much money to keep antiques available
collecting dust on their shelves..

We are replaceing a 9 yr old 50 gallon rRheem power
vent today for the low, low price of 1150.....with a Brad White...


How much longer your Rheem willlast before leaking is
just a matter of time... maybe even tomorrow

At 900 bucks, that is a very good deal,
the heater cost at the very least 700
and personally I think that you should have replaced the heater cause he
is not gonna give you no refunds next month for a used thermostat.
 
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