Water Heaters - Robertshaw Ignitor

I have a robertshaw controller that i have to reset every couple of days to get my water tank burner to run. The FR light on the controller blinks when there is a fault. After reseting the controller (unplugging and plugging back into the recepticle) the controller starts and everything is fine for a couple of days. Any ideals

This is the exact same issue I have. Fortunately mine fails to ignote about once a month. See my posting which I have attached below. I am also looking for ideas.

We have been having an intermittent problem with our water heater. It's a Lochinvar DVN 051 installed in 1996. It has electronic ignition and no standing pilot light. About once a month the pilot does not ignite and (Surprise!) we have no hot water. I shut everything off, wait five minutes, restart it and it works again - until it doesn't.

It has a Robertshaw SP 845 control valve. When it is not working, the LED indicator light is flashing. I think that means it isn't sensing a flame.

Before we call some one to come out and look at it, any thoughts re. what is likely to be the problem or any suggestions on anything a reasonable handy homeowner could check?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Most electronic ignition systems use a flame rectification circuit to verify that the burner has lit. Your repairman should measure the DC microamps flowing through this circuit when the water heater lights. If the microamps are marginal (less than 3 microamps, the flame sensor should be cleaned and the microamps checked again to see if they have improved to a 5-6 microamp level.

If the measured microamps are good, five or better replace the ifnition control.