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gas water heater problem

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 3:42 pm
by whealie
I have a 20 year old R380 Pilote campervan. It has a Leblanc water heater. The water heater had a burst so I carefully removed the heat exchanger unit and had it repaired today. I was especially careful not to disturb the gas burners. I did have to undo the two pipes going to the pilot light, but was careful not to damage or bend these.
I put the repaired heat exchanger back and carefully replaced the pilot light gear. I was then able to light the pilot light and flash up the water heater but, when I shut down, the burners continue to burn at a very low level and won't switch off unless I disengage the master switch. Does anyone have any tips or advice.

Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 1:27 pm
by Schau
Image

Gas water heaters are the most common type of water heaters in residential settings. Gas gets the tank up to temperature about twice as fast as electrics do, and costs less than half what it takes for an electric water heater to produce the same amount of hot water.

Gas water heaters are less efficient than electric heaters, but electricity is much more expensive.

The tank should be firmly affixed to a structure such as the wall in earthquake prone areas to prevent a potential gas fire if the tank falls over and breaks the gas connection.
TPR Valve is a safety device for the water heater

Storage type units that have a tank have a TPR valve (and so do electrics). Some times tankless units have TPR valves, and sometimes they don't.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 1:47 pm
by htg engineer
There'll be a diaphragm that may be stretched or there could be muck stopping the valve closing fully - either way you need a RGI with LPG qualifications.

htg