Water heater temp setting?

I have changed every thermostat in every attwood WH in every RV I've had from the 140 to a 120. The suburban I have now doesn't seem to be so hot, so left it as is.

Wouldn't using the Water heater by-pass valve work?
Slightly open the bypass valve so that some cold water bypasses the heater and bleeds into your hot water line beyond the water heater. This will mix some cold in with the hot and bring the temp down. Keep futzing with the valve until you reach the temp that you desire.
Why wouldn't this work? And it will cost you nothing, just a bit of time.

rockhillmanor wrote:

Casinojunkie wrote:
I have a 10 gal Atwood propane/electric hot water heater in my 5th wheel.
After about 45 min to 1 hr running time the water is so hot coming out of faucet I could scald my hands.
Is there a way to adjust the temp setting or not?

If it is scalding hot you have a problem with the thermostat!

Go outside and see how hot the side of your RV is above the hot water heater. Sounds like your tank is boiling and relief valve not working.

I had mine my thermostat go out and the hot water tank damned near burned up the entire side of the MH the tank got so hot.

Here's a news flash: the relief valves in these RV's malfunction in incidences like this 99% of the time.

I had mobile repair come out to fix mine and he said he rarely see's one of these relief valves actually work causing the near disaster that mine did when the tank overheated. And if they do work once they never work again.:(

I no longer leave the hot water heater on if I am not right there in the RV. Had that happened while I was gone, I would have sustained serious damage and/or lost my RV.

IF it is really scalding hit (hotter than the normal t-stat of 140*F) then OP has two (2) normal t-stats that have failed and two (2) ECO (HI temp) t-stats would OPEN shutting down WH.
With his system (2 separate sets of t-stats) IF the electric ECO opened he would have to manually reset it before electric would work again. If the propane ECO opened he would get a 'fault' light and would have to reset by turning Gas switch off then back on before propane would work.

Where do you get you stats on WH TPRs? Fail 99% of time and once they work that's it----------Horse pucky!

mixing valves just turn the outside shoewr on with the head turned off:h

Why can't you just mix cold with hot at the faucets?

Casinojunkie wrote:
I have a 10 gal Atwood propane/electric hot water heater in my 5th wheel.
After about 45 min to 1 hr running time the water is so hot coming out of faucet I could scald my hands.
Is there a way to adjust the temp setting or not?

If it is scalding hot you have a problem with the thermostat!

Go outside and see how hot the side of your RV is above the hot water heater. Sounds like your tank is boiling and relief valve not working.

I had mine my thermostat go out and the hot water tank damned near burned up the entire side of the MH the tank got so hot.

Here's a news flash: the relief valves in these RV's malfunction in incidences like this 99% of the time.

I had mobile repair come out to fix mine and he said he rarely see's one of these relief valves actually work causing the near disaster that mine did when the tank overheated. And if they do work once they never work again.:(

I no longer leave the hot water heater on if I am not right there in the RV. Had that happened while I was gone, I would have sustained serious damage and/or lost my RV.

Casinojunkie wrote:

Houston Remodeler wrote:
WHat about adding a thermostatic valve to the shower and sinks ?

Sounds like a plan. Never heard of such item. Where does one purchase this thermostatic valve?

Yeah that is a plan.....

Home Depot has one starting at $96 plus needed fittings/PEX piping

Mixing Valve

One COULD install one of those Home Depot Thermostatic Valves on backside of WH Tank......keep the OEM 140*F t-stats and set thermostatic valve output for 120*F for the whole hot water system.
Plus it would extend the 'amount' of hot water available due to lower temp outpt
(Atwood has a XT Model with Mixing Valve 160*F in.130*F out preset/fixed 6 gal===9gal & 10gal====16gal)

OR you can change out the propane T-stat to the 120*F one for $15 or the Adjustable one for $25
Course the electric side would still provide 140*F hot water

There are a variety of thermostatically controlled devices available for home use and I would assume that they can be adapted to RV use. It just so happens we are in the final phase of remodeling our kitchen and the Kitchen and Bath designer recommended a kitchen faucet that has a memory and a programmable high temp cutoff. I haven't seen the faucet but I have seen the price lists and it is about $200 more than a non-memory/programmable model that has the same exterior.

Houston Remodeler wrote:
WHat about adding a thermostatic valve to the shower and sinks ?

Sounds like a plan. Never heard of such item. Where does one purchase this thermostatic valve?

Your 2002 Atwood combo WH as separate sets of thermostats for electric side and for propane side

Electric set (120V AC) are on backside of WH Tank where the electric element is located.

Propane set (12V DC) are in outside compartment behind the burner tube.

Both sets have a 'Normal' t-stat preset for 140*F and a ECO (Energy Cut Off---HI Temp) T-stat preset for 180*F

There are some options but limited:
Nothing can be done about the t-stats for the electric side as they are 120V AC and no options available

Propane side uses 12V DC t-stats and there is a 120*F t-stat available to replace the 140*F (Atwood part number 91470).
There is also an Atwood Adjustable T-stat (110*F to 150*F) to replace the 140*F (Atwood 93105)

The ECO Hi Temp remains at 180*F


NOTE: Above info pertains to PRE-2004 Atwood WHs
In 2004 Atwood redesigned their WHs and incorporated electric/propane controls to use one set of 12V DC t-stats and a combined circuit board.