I have a John Wood GSW hot water tank. It has the electric flame igniter assembly. My igniter is on the fritz, so I got a universal one that I suspect is not giving out enough resistance or too much. Anyways the igniter does glow a little but my computer thingy stops the power before it gets glowing hot for ignition. Who knows anything about this? I have already tried having both of the igniters hooked up (more is better) and that didn't work. Anyway of bypassing the igniter and getting the main burner to come on just for a full tank of hot water? Long story short..... i have been without hot water for over a month. Mrs Swamp Donkey is loosing her sense of humour... and threatening to call in a plumber.

 

What do you mean ignitor is on the fritz? Electronic ignitors either work or they don't. What kind of gas valve do you have? Does it have a power venter with a pressure switch? I need more info to help you.

 

This is what I think the gas control valve is....

Robertshaw® 7222WDER gas control for Superflue® models ending in NVH-02/04 & NAV - Maximum Temperature 160ºF- Natural Gas


This is the make and model etc....
http://www.johnwoodwaterheaters.com/...ame=6G40NVH-04

Thanks!

 

If the ignitor glows, then it is ok. If the burner lights and shuts right off, the flame sensor is dirty.(clean with emory cloth). Pressure switch is ok if the ignitor glows also. Do you have the propane model? If so, make sure your other gas appliances work ok. If all those check out ok, then most likely your gas valve is bad.

 

Also make sure that your pilot tubing and pilot assembly are clear. If the ignitor glows, but the burner does not light, either your pilot assembly is clogged, or you have a bad gas valve.

 

My igniter will sometimes barely start to glow before I hear it click then shut off. I bought a jobber universal igniter but it does not work. Wrong resistance or milli-amp output I am suspecting. I have cleaned my old flame sensor and right now a proper brand new flame sensor in. Because igniter is not giving correct signal, main burner wont turn on. There is no pilot, just the igniter, main burner, and flame sensor. Thanks.....

 

Gotta be some kinda of 1/8" or 1/4" line coming out of the gas valve to light the pilot when the ignitor glows. There is a pilot valve and main valve coming from the gas valve. Pilot valve lights the pilot, and once the ignitor/flame sensor proves, the main valve will open and allow gas to flow through the burner and light the tank.
Either something is wrong with the pilot assembly, or the gas valve is not working properly.

 

That is the weird part about this system. No pilot at all. Flame sensor is sensing off the main burner. One main gas tube going in...... and 3 wires. 2 wires for the igniter and one for the flame sensor. That is it. Thanks for your help!

 

I'm not questioning your intelligence an any way shape or form, but in all my years, you have a pilot light that lights, it proves, and that opens the main valve to light the burner.
If your ignitor is glowing, then all the other safety controls are proving, and providing that the flame sensor is sensing the flame, then the main valve should be igniting the main burner.
If everything checks out, then you have a bad gas valve.

 

Looking at the owners manual, there is a paragraph that says upon call for hot water, the gas controller will energize the igniter which lights the main burner. When the main burner is lit, the gas control will monitor electronically the presents of a flame. It could be the fuel control valve, as I have yet to get any gas at all when the igniter is heating, although it only tries and heats up for about 1 or 2 seconds instead of the 17 seconds like the owners manual says. Thanks for the help! Gets us both looking and covering all bases.

 

Uh, why didn't you order the correct replacement ignitor?

You have a power vent unit? Often they have must prove venting before the control unit will allow the ignition process to continue. Does the flue vent unit come on?

 

If it is trying to light the burner then is has proven all of the control/limit switches up to the point of ignition.

You need to check the resistance of your igniter. It should have around 50ohms of resistance new. How many ohms does your igniter have across it?

If it is around 50 ohms and not heating up properly you may have a problem with your control module not putting out enough voltage to the igniter.

 

Thanks guys........ you would not believe the fiasco I have had ordering the new igniter. I ordered on Monday Aug 18th. By Friday I was getting impatient, but thought for sure it would be here the following monday. Well after a no show on monday, I got a little mad and asked them to find out where my igniter is. Said it was never shipped. New computer system in the warehouse blah blah blah. I then told them to re-order it. By Thursday I was getting irate and so was Mrs Swamp Donkey, because of the long weekend and school starting for the kids and Mrs Swamp Donkey is also a teacher so she needs to clean up before school. Anyways..... I phoned thursday and it was still never shipped after 11 days of waiting. So I bought a jobber universal igniter that never worked. Then Friday morning I was on the chip! Fuming mad. They OVERNIGHTED me the part. I picked it up this morning all happy. Until I opened the box. Not a word of a lie, the sent me a push button BBQ igniter. So...... I am at my wits end. School kids wife etc need hot water, and I can't even go shove the BBQ igniter you know where until Tuesday morning while my wife and kids are at school. This is why I am trying to even bypass the igniter and get the main burner on just for a bath or laundry. Been using tide cold and showering out in the yard in our travel trailer. Mrs Swamp Donkey went on a stink protest recently and it only lasted 3 days. She said she is not showering again in the travel trailer. But Wolseley Mechanical had other plans! Big pain, but I am not as stinky as it would seem with no hot water for the last month. Long story on why it has been over a month. Don't ask...... The worst part about all of this is now, is me who is really quite a handy guy who can haywire just about anything together to get it to work has Mrs Swamp Donkey saying she is going to call a plumber. GAH!!!

Fueling around.... Yes the venting unit comes on for at least 30 seconds before the controller calls for igniter to come on.

6speedcowboy..... I will check the resistance. When I was talking to the tech help line, I was wondering if my universal igniter would work. I gave them the specs of the universal igniter what was 10 - 25 ohms. He would not tell me what specs their part was, but he did say it was more than the universal one I bought.

 

Been there done that on the replacment parts hassle.


6speedcowboy;
Can you think of any way to fool the controller due to the lower cold resistance of the ignitor?


I lost my furnace ignitor in a Seattle winter many years ago. Washington law does not allow selling HVAC parts to an unlicensed person. No problem I thought. Called my neighbor that worked for a HVAC. He was at reserves for the weekend. 3 electric heaters plus the oven and it was still getting cold in the house. Monday rolls around and now neighbor is in bed with flu. He got up and drove to work to pick up the ignitors, dropped them at my house and went home to bed for the next 2 days. (Make sure critical skills neighbor always owes you one?)
I kept a spare after that incidence (which you will probably do, too.)

Do you have an Espar? Same rules apply to that unit

 

I'm still going over the details. Very possible megacabdad hit the problem on the draft indicator.
Have you tried jumpering the draft control limit switch?