Dometic 92104 Water Heater Igniter WH-6GA/6GEA/9GEA

Here's a scene a lot of us know. You flip on the water heater before a shower, you hear the click, click, click, and then nothing. No whoosh, no flame, no hot water. Nine times out of ten the igniter is the part that's given up. This is the genuine Dometic 92104, the electronic igniter built specifically for the WH-6GA, WH-6GEA, and WH-9GEA series gas water heaters. It drops into place with the spark gap and fit the factory intended, so you're not fighting a generic part that almost works.

The igniter is the small component that throws the automatic spark to light the burner. It lives in one of the harshest spots on the heater, right up close to the flame, so it takes a beating over the years. Heat cycles it. Moisture creeps in. Road vibration works it loose. Eventually the electrode cracks, the tip corrodes, or the wire chafes through, and you end up with a heater that clicks but won't light, sparks weakly, or won't spark at all. Swap in a fresh 92104 and the spark comes back the way it should.

One thing we really like about this part is that the ignition wire comes attached. That matters more than it sounds. The wire itself is a common failure point, right up there with the electrode. If you only replace the igniter and reuse a tired, heat-baked wire, you can be right back where you started in a season. Replacing the igniter and the wire together means you're renewing the whole spark path in a single repair. Do it once, do it right.

Because it's a genuine Dometic OEM igniter, you're getting the exact spark characteristics and dimensions your heater was engineered around. That's the difference between a part that seats correctly and sparks every time and one that fits close enough to be frustrating. When the spark gap is right, the burner lights fast and clean, and you're not standing there cycling the switch hoping it catches.

This one fits the Dometic WH-6GA, WH-6GEA, and WH-9GEA gas water heaters, the 6 and 9 gallon units you'll find in a lot of RVs and campers. If your data plate shows one of those model numbers, this is your igniter. It's a gas ignition part, so it's the piece that lights the propane burner. If your heater also runs on electric, that side has its own heating element and doesn't touch this repair.

The swap is a job most owners can handle with hand tools and a little patience. Turn off the propane and cut the 12 volt power to the heater before you touch anything. Pull the outside access door and you'll find the burner assembly with the igniter mounted near the burner tube. Note how the old igniter sits and how the wire routes back to the board before you disconnect anything. A quick photo on your phone saves a lot of guessing later. Disconnect the wire, back out the old igniter, and set the new 92104 in the same position with the electrode aimed at the burner the way the original was. Route the new wire along the same path, reconnect it, and you're most of the way home.

Before you button it up, restore power and gas and test a light. You want a strong, steady spark that catches the burner within a second or two. While you're in there, take a look at the burner tube itself. Spiders love to build nests in that tube on a heater that's sat for a while, and a blocked tube will keep a perfectly good igniter from ever lighting the flame. A little canned air or a pipe cleaner clears it. If the new igniter sparks fine but the burner still won't stay lit, that points you toward the gas valve, the thermocouple, or the control board rather than the igniter you just put in.

It's a small part with a big payoff. For about the price of a tank of gas, you get your hot water back and skip a service call. Keep one in the parts bin if you travel a lot, because the igniter is exactly the kind of thing that fails on a Friday night at a campground three hours from the nearest RV shop.