dougrainer wrote:
Suburbans have a bent interior pick up tube(mounted on the interior hot exit fitting) that KEEPS Hot water flowing without getting the diluted cold water intake. IF that tube is knocked loose, the cold water coming in the bottom as it mixes with the hot water will dilute to normal hot water that would exit at the top. Things that can dislodge this tube
That helps a little but replace 2/3 of the water in the tank, you can expect it to be a mix of hot and cold water and the water coming out the tap will gradually get cooler.
This is just normal operation with a tank based water heater and why home based water heaters are typically 50-100 gal...if you replace 5-10 gal, you are only diluting with a small amount of cold water. In an RV, water is heavy, so they limit the size to typically 6 or 10 gal tanks and more than a quick shower or two and the water starts coming out colder because you've diluted with 50% or more cold water. It's just the nature of the beast.
