Water only warm, not hot, after summer lay up

ice2fire wrote:
Has the electric rod corroded maybe ? Or the rod you can take out got too covered with "stuff"

Thanks for any suggestions.

NO, that is not possible. though the T-Stat could have gone bad and in AZ a good chance the Node rod is in need of replacement but the Anode would not affect temp. If the heat element was that corrorded, it would not work at all.

I see the the #1 Cause (Shower mixer valves open, shower head in "Cut off" position) has been covered.

Option 2 is the bypass if you have a 3 valve system, or a one valve partially turned.

ksg5000 wrote:
Some rigs come with a mixing valve and when that gets gunked up your water temp can go haywire - worth a look.

Atwood XT model.....OP has a Suburban


OP
Suburban SW6DE is an 'electric' AND propane water heater.
Electronic Ignition for propane


As suggested: Warm Water
*Inside/outside showers not tuned off vi hot/cold knobs just with button on handle.....hot/cold can mix
*Water heater 'Bypass' valve not fully closed/leaking thru.....hot/cold can mix

OR

T-stat for electric heat control is not allowing full heating of water
(Set of t-stats for electric and propane under top cover (Push to Reset)
Left side is for electric (black wires) Right side for propane (Red wires)


Anode rod...drain plug has nothing to do with heating abilities
It protects steel tank from corosion

Electric heat element (1400W 120V AC element) either work or don't work. 120V AC current flows thru and cause element to get hot.
If bad then no current flow....no getting hot.....COLD water not Warm water

sch911 wrote:

korbe wrote:
I had heard that this problem could result from the outside shower knobs still in the "on" position and only the head turned off.

Or the inside shower too...

YEP, been there done that, with the outside shower valves.

Some rigs come with a mixing valve and when that gets gunked up your water temp can go haywire - worth a look.

You may have the cold water and hot valves set wrong... This is easy to do with the older trailers that uses the three valves for bypassing the hot water heater during winterizing procedures... Check the position of the crossover valve shown here...



Roy Ken

If the anode rod is bad, your water heater will leak.

Check what the others have suggested so far. After that it's either the element or the thermostat. Both are an easy fix on a residential water heater, and you may as well change both if they are not terribly expensive.

We had this problem one spring, after we had winterized. I didn't realize we had a bypass switch to the water heater and DH was outside doing his thing. It would be warm because of the "bleed-over" into the hot water heater, but not warm enough to shower or wash dishes.

Could someone have hit this switch by mistake? Ours is under our kitchen sink, right above the hot water heater.

korbe wrote:
I had heard that this problem could result from the outside shower knobs still in the "on" position and only the head turned off.

Or the inside shower too...

I had heard that this problem could result from the outside shower knobs still in the "on" position and only the head turned off.