water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

[irbo]

Help! I fired up the LP water heater in my Trail-Lite Bantam tonight, the first time this summer. It had a slight burning smell, and after 5 minutes, was exhusting a slight black smoke. I turned it off, started it up again, andd this time it shut itself off. Any ideas what is going on? There is lots of LP, stove works fine, and the water tank is full. I ran water through the hot line first to ensure there was water in the tank. Any hep or suggestions would be appreciated!

irbo

 

[TexasClodhopper]

Re: water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

You've got something in the firebox of the heater. Maybe a bird nest or a bunch of spider webs or a bee nest; something combustible.

 

[irbo]

Re: water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

Texas, thanks for the repsonse; any idea how to get it / them out? Can the heater be dismantlted in any way?

 

[TexasClodhopper]

Re: water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

One of those small plumber's "snakes" comes to mind where you can twist it. You'll probably have to disassemble something to find out what is combusting. There isn't a really long combustion path, though. It shouldn't be hard to see, but I don't know exactly what your model looks like.

 

[ARCHER]

Re: water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

It is probably just the burner that you can see when the flame/lp is lit and the exhaust vent to the left. I think you can probably see into the burner area to determine what is or was burning. i think you can also take the vent grate off by removing a couple screws. All if it is an atwood hot water tank, but they are basically all alike, IMO.

 

[irbo]

Re: water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

thanks Texas, Archer, will try tomorow, see what crawls out! MAy not have cook for a few days!

 

[irbo]

Re: water heater smells, slight smoke, shuts off

sorry for this very late response; it was exactly that; a very small web in the intake; cleaned it out and works great again!

thanks for the help.