Boon Docker wrote:
JBarca wrote:
ncladfw3 wrote:
Ok thanks, when I unscrewed the aerator that improved the flow. I still don't have hot water though. It is supposed to be an electric HW heater. I checked all of the circuit breakers and they are fine. Outside water valve under the trailer is closed.
Hi,
A few things to confirm and then look for,
1. Confirm this, at any faucet in the camper (bath, shower, kitchen, outside shower etc) at the hot water faucet "only", does any water come out of any faucet? The water may be cold, but knowing if any water comes out helps pinpoint the issue. Water coming from a hot water faucet (even if cold) means water is getting into and out of the water heater, just it may not be hot, which is a different problem. No water coming out of any faucet points to the bypass valves are not letting water in, or out, OR a check valve on the hot outlet port of the water heater is defective pending the type of bypass setup you have
2. Please let us know the make and model of the heater. We are assuming you have a tank-type heater, but some campers now have tankless heaters, which are different.
Assuming you have water coming out of hot faucets, just not hot, try this:
3. Make sure the circuit breaker in the power converter is ON for the water heater.
4. If you have an Atwood or Suburban tank-type water heater, they normally have an LP gas mode. Does the LP gas mode work to fire the burner? If the gas side does not fire the burner, the controls can lock out the electric portion. Here is where we need the make/model of the heater to dig deeper.
Make sure there is water in the heater before ANY water heating is started. The electric element can burn out in short order, seconds if there is no water in the heater. If the LP gas mode works, but the electric portion does not, as long as 120 AC power is going to the heater, and the controls are on, the water should heat in about 20 to 30 minutes. The element may be burnt out if 120-volt AC power is getting to the element heater.
The above is sort of generic, we really need to know the heater make and model to help better.
If you do not know how the bypass valves work, post a picture of the back of the heater, and they will tell us how it is piped.
I hope this helps,
John
Reply #1 - Misinformation.
Water will still come out the hot water faucet if the water heater is bypassed.
Hi Boondocker,
Not all campers are created equal. And then there is an interpretation of the meaning. There are at least two types of water heater bypass systems. There may even be more. We do not know which the OP has. My comments came from these two types I often see not knowing what they have.
1. One 3-way valve / one check valve bypass setup. In this setup, there is a 3-way selector valve on the bottom cold inlet to the heater and a check valve only on the hot top discharge port. A bypass pipe connects the selector valve T outlet to the downstream piping of the check valve T. This setup looks like this in general. Different types and brands of valves can be used, pending on the manufacturer.
The yellow arrow points to the Flar-It brand 3-way selector valve on an Atwood water heater.
At the top of the heater on the hot water discharge is a brass outer check valve with a plastic poppet valve stem with an O-ring. You can see the brass fitting here.
In this type of bypass setup, a common failure as the camper ages is the check valve. The keeper on the plastic valve stem pops off and lands inside the tank. The spring on the valve stem pops the valve stem out into the hot water piping system. If the plumbing has a hard 90-degree elbow like in the picture above, that valve stem jams into the elbow and will result in greatly to totally restricting the flow to a dribble.
Here is the keeper on the end of the valve stem that can pop off into the tank
This is the other end of the plastic valve stem that can fly out and jam in a 90-degree elbow
With that valve stem jammed in the elbow, even if the water heater is not bypassed, water is greatly reduced or will only dribble out the hot water faucet.
2. There is also a two-valve bypass setup. In this case, there are two 3-way selector valves on the water heater and no check valve. This setup eliminates the check valve failure, but it can be confusing sometimes to a new owner of this style setup if the top or bottom 3-way valve is not selected correctly. The bottom valve can be in bypass mode, and the top valve still be in the normal operating mode (non-bypass), and no water will flow out of the hot water faucet as the system is only partly bypassed. The combo can be mixed up the other way also, the top in bypass and the bottom not, water sill will not flow to the faucet.
Here is one example of the two, 3-way selector valve set up on the bench when the water heater was being serviced. The brass fittings you see are not check valves; they are brass hex-close nipples.
I have seen enough plastic plunger check valve failures on the first bypass setup to know "it happens." I stand by my troubleshooting advice; water can be greatly restricted to not flowing out of the hot water faucets regardless, the 2 valve setup could be set wrong, the check valve/ one 3-way valve method could be set to not bypass with the check valve failed and no water flows pending the piping setup. The OP stated, no hot water at the faucet, he just never stated water was flowing even if cold or not flowing, or what the bypass condition exactly was.
If you see an issue with my thought process, please let me know. I learn something new all the time, and I am open-minded to listen.
Hope this helps
John
