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sgfrye's avatar
sgfrye
Explorer
Mar 11, 2019

Suburban hot water heater luke warm problem solved

Just wanted to share this info from this past weekend camping trip for anyone having problems with Suburban hot water heater and only having lukewarm temps. I learned a long time ago to always trouble shoot the simple things first. Got to campsite friday afternoon. Hooked up to shore power and water. made sure hot water tank was flowing full then turned on propane. An hour later water was lukewarm and never got hotter in the bathroom and kitchen. This was our 3rd trip in this TT. After last trip couple weeks ago i "red neck" winterized by blowing out water lines including outside shower and draining all tanks. Our previous TT did not have outside shower. I pulled out the trusty iphone and googled the problem. several posts into the search i found it. the cold faucet on the outside shower was open mixing cold water with hot. with the shower head and hose not attached i never thought about the cold faucet being left on. problem solved and we had hot water the rest of the trip. Live and learn...
  • One of the 'classic' way for luke warm water be it Suburban or Atwood

    Inside/outside shower turned off via button on shower handle.
    Yep...faucet then becomes a mixing chamber and Cold/Hot mix resulting in 'Warm" water

    Anther way is the Water Heater 'Bypass' being left open


    And then there is the Atwood XT model with 'Mixing Valve'....Hot from tank to mixing valve gets clogged up and then Cold just flows.
  • Yes, I've had the same problem and used the same fix myself.

    Last year I suggested the same fix when someone posted having only luke warm water and I was told it was impossible for the outside shower valves to effect the inside hot water...........

    Bill
  • Trackrig wrote:
    Yes, I've had the same problem and used the same fix myself.

    Last year I suggested the same fix when someone posted having only luke warm water and I was told it was impossible for the outside shower valves to effect the inside hot water...........

    Bill


    Bet I can guess 'WHO' :B
  • Old-Biscuit wrote:
    Trackrig wrote:
    Yes, I've had the same problem and used the same fix myself.

    Last year I suggested the same fix when someone posted having only luke warm water and I was told it was impossible for the outside shower valves to effect the inside hot water...........

    Bill


    Bet I can guess 'WHO' :B


    Probably me. In 40 years as a RV tech, I have NEVER seen or encountered this problem. So, that makes it extremely unlikely to happen. MY TAKE is simple. Very few Outside Shower Spray heads have a POSITIVE water shut off. They do NOT have a positive shut off because the flex hose is not designed to handle the constant pressure. They ALWAYS drip if the Hot or cold or both are ON. SOOO, you would have water constantly leaking and dripping out of the water bay area and you would see it dripping. Then you would shut it off at the hot and cold knobs. MOST people would see that and STOP the problem before it causes a Hot Water problem. Doug
    PS, How come the Inside Tub/Showers that have the SAME set up as the outside shower NEVER seem to cause this problem???? You can just as easily shut off the shower head leaving the HOT and COLD Valves ON and cause the same problem. How come nobody ever notices that?
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    I have "Fixed" a couple of folks water heater issues that way (Told 'em to check the outside shower) NOTE both hot and cold need to be on but cut off at the head.
  • dougrainer wrote:

    PS, How come the Inside Tub/Showers that have the SAME set up as the outside shower NEVER seem to cause this problem???? You can just as easily shut off the shower head leaving the HOT and COLD Valves ON and cause the same problem. How come nobody ever notices that?


    One possible reason might be that most people really notice the lukewarm water when taking a shower?
  • wa8yxm wrote:
    I have "Fixed" a couple of folks water heater issues that way (Told 'em to check the outside shower) NOTE both hot and cold need to be on but cut off at the head.


    correct both were on.


    shower head and hose were not connected
  • dougrainer wrote:
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    Trackrig wrote:
    Yes, I've had the same problem and used the same fix myself.

    Last year I suggested the same fix when someone posted having only luke warm water and I was told it was impossible for the outside shower valves to effect the inside hot water...........

    Bill


    Bet I can guess 'WHO' :B


    Probably me. In 40 years as a RV tech, I have NEVER seen or encountered this problem. So, that makes it extremely unlikely to happen. MY TAKE is simple. Very few Outside Shower Spray heads have a POSITIVE water shut off. They do NOT have a positive shut off because the flex hose is not designed to handle the constant pressure. They ALWAYS drip if the Hot or cold or both are ON. SOOO, you would have water constantly leaking and dripping out of the water bay area and you would see it dripping. Then you would shut it off at the hot and cold knobs. MOST people would see that and STOP the problem before it causes a Hot Water problem. Doug
    PS, How come the Inside Tub/Showers that have the SAME set up as the outside shower NEVER seem to cause this problem???? You can just as easily shut off the shower head leaving the HOT and COLD Valves ON and cause the same problem. How come nobody ever notices that?



    i think i'm following what you are mentioning. my water bay is small and the shower head and hose are not connected to the faucet. they stay in my pass thru storage. my faucet doesn't drip if the hot and cold faucets are on therefore i wouldn't know they were on unless i physically checked them.

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