Water heater in Texas winds

[roadking2005]

I am wintering in the rio grand valley and as you know it is very windy here a lot of the time. As luck would have it my water heater is on the side of my rig that is getting hit by these strong winds all the time. The problem this creates is the water heater will go out a few times before it stays lit and in the meantime enough lp gas is emitted to set off the lp detector. On calm days, no problems. Is there any type of shielding I can do so the heater still gets plenty of air but no direct wind that would look decent?

[racerjoe]

I am not familar with your area but can't you run it on electric for now? What else I can think of,is go to a tin shop and have them bend you a shield with a bottom outlet to replace your screen. they can use your screen for size. they can extend it out about 4" and also cut a few slots into the top of it.

[steves]

Suggestion - look at your flame when the heater is firing. If you do not see a bright blue flame your heater my need to be serviced or cleaned. I just had this same problem, I had a gas smell inside my coach, and found the nut holding the gas tube in place was off and the tube delivering the gas was not aligned with the igniter. I cleaned the burn chamber and realigned the gas delivery tube and all now works correctly. I too thought it was wind related but was wrong in my assumption.

[SlickWillie]

I think Steves is probably correct. We've been on the TX coast in winds that would make the RGV seem like calm, and never had problems with the water heater on propane.

[roadking2005]

Thanks for the replies. I went to an rv parts store and they had a metal shield that bends in the shape of a V and attaches to the screen on the door and acts as a wind deflector. In my case it solved the problem.