I was just wondering how many people have had issue with their furnace or water heater igniter boards? Last winter I had the igniter board on my furnace fail and now I'm pretty sure the control board on my water heater is on the blink. My coach is less than a year old. On the water heater the propane ignition spark seems very weak and won't ignite the gas. I've been using propane all summer and it's worked fine until yesterday. I pulled the electrode and cleaned it and checked the gap. I can hear the coil firing but the spark is weak. The water heater works fine on AC power.
I bit the bullet and purchased a Dinosaur Electronics UIB S from Amazon which is a direct replacement for the Suburban board. Hopefully this solves my issue. My furnace board is also now a Dinosaur Electronics.
Yes, I've lost a board on our furnace and I helped our neighbour in California replace the board on his furnace last winter, I believe his replacement was a Dinosaur board as well. The replacement was a bit different in size but came with adapter pieces to fit the Suburban brackets.
Yes, I've lost a board on our furnace and I helped our neighbour in California replace the board on his furnace last winter, I believe his replacement was a Dinosaur board as well. The replacement was a bit different in size but came with adapter pieces to fit the Suburban brackets.
I've had a bit of experience with Dinosaur Electronics before as I replaced the board in my Norcold refrigerator in my previous RV. Their boards are superior craftsmanship and have a great warranty. It's frustrating to see failures on such new appliances though. Yes I'm under warranty but I've learned quickly how much a pain dealer service is though when you are a full-timer and your rig is your only home. I have to give some props to Keystone though as they covered part of the mobile service cost when my furnace board took a dump.
I'm a bit interested in these "adapter pieces to fit the Suburban brackets", as the igniter module on our Suburban Water Heater is just taped to the outside of the unit with aluminum duct tape.
I'm a bit interested in these "adapter pieces to fit the Suburban brackets", as the igniter module on our Suburban Water Heater is just taped to the outside of the unit with aluminum duct tape.
You might not have to use an adaptor bracket if you select the correct size board. Dinosaur Electronics ignitor boards are universal and work in most manufacturers appliances but they do come in two sizes (UIB S and UIB L). The board that was installed in my furnace was the exact same size as the factory board and just slipped right into the circuit board slot.
I'm going to attempt the installation of the new water heater board myself (if I can get my fat butt squeezed into that tight basement). I had heard the board is taped to the outside of the water heater but I'm assuming it has a cover or something. Can anyone confirm this? They do have a cover but I didn't order it assuming I could just reuse the cover from the factory board.
Here is a link . . .
Here are a couple photos of the failed board. Chinese manufactured . . . go figure. You can see the burned up resister under the igniter coil and the other burned up component at Q3. The photo of the back of the board shows the burned area and the melted foam cushioning they applied to the bottom of the board to insulate it from the styrofoam tank shell. It's interesting that they only use tape to attach these assemblies to the styrofoam shell. If you switch out to a Dinosaur board make sure you buy the corresponding Dinosaur cover as the original Suburban cover is smaller than the Dinosaur board and wont fit.
This is still under factory warranty but it would be more of a pain in the butt to schedule warranty service than the $120 it took to fix it. Now both my furnace and water heater have Dinosaur boards so I expect much better reliability.
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I might make a suggestion the next time you need an electronic circuit board replaced...
Before spending that money, contact the following...We send all of our boards there from work and its far less than buying new. They have 24 hour turn time if you need it. I won't guarantee them to be the least expensive every time. But it is certainly worth a call: They will provide estimated for free. Send them a picture of the board and if you have the schematic, that helps. But I haven't seen anything so far that they can't fix.
GLOBAL ELECTRONICS
1010 Pamela Dr, Euless, TX 76040
Cross Streets: Between S Pipeline Rd W and W Euless Blvd
Neighborhoods: Mosier Valley
(877) 249-1701
gesrepair.com
Mon 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Tue 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Wed 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thu 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Fri 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM Opens tomorrow at 12:00 AM
Sat 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sun 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thanks GipC. I'll definitely keep this info in mind should I need to have a board repaired. I don't have any regrets about replacing my factory boards with the Dinosaur Electronics boards though even if it was on my dime. They are superior quality and have a 3 year warranty.
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