RV Repair: Hot Water Heater Problem, suburban water heater, hot water heater

Question
Smelling some burning insulation around our hot water heater, i threw the breaker and found some wiring burning at the on/off switch, so i just took the power supply wires off and taped them up....thinking i will just run on propane till i fix it.BUT the propane is not coming on now.I turn it on, the red light comes on,but turns off immediately.I thought the electrical and propane were two completely separate systems, but it looks like they may share something, cause now nothing is working.Any ideas?
Thanks!
Rick

Answer
Rick, I am sorry but I really need more information. What year coach is it, and what brand water heater, and where is the switch for the electrical side located? For being general I can say if it is a suburban water heater the switch is probably outside inside the door of the water heater. These are separate and should not affect the other. Now Atwood newer model water heaters that have both switches side by side on the wall can indeed affect what happens, although with the light coming on and then going off says that it should be trying. When the light goes out it should be trying to light. If it fails to light the red light comes back on to let you know it failed. Now newer atwoods have 2 separate pin connections to the board and though different sources are used they both still have to go through the E.C.O. and T-Stat mounted to the water heater. Let me know just what you are working with and I should be able to explain where to look and get what you need in the right places to work. Thanks, Bill