Plumbing/water heater issue

[az350x]

So, I'll start by admitting that I goofed. Although I've owned about 10 RV's in the last 15 years, this last winter was the first time we've lived in a climate where winterizing was necessary. So, last fall I winterized my TT. I isolated my water heater and did the whole RV antifreeze thing to the plumbing system. My mistake came a couple weeks ago when I de-winterized for our first trip this year. I forgot that the water heater was isolated, and I lit it off and fried the element. I also removed the anode when I was changing the element and flushed the heater. When I did that, a small piece of ceramic came out. Yay. With both the element and the anode removed, I looked inside and really didn't see much. My plan is to hopefully get another year or so out of it and then replace it, hopefully before it rusts through and makes a mess. I also intend to remove the anode and element and dry it out good when not in use.

Anyway, so the weird issue I'm having after this headache I've caused myself is this. My bathroom lav faucet has reduced flow from both hot and cold. What's weird about it is that the pump is right under the bathroom sink. Forward, in the kitchen, the sink works perfectly (right over heater). Aft of the bathroom sink, both the tub AND the sink in my outside kitchen work fine as well. Do these fixtures ever fail and reduce the output flow? I mean, they ARE made from the finest Chinese plastic available and all...

Thoughts or ideas? I've noticed no leaks anywhere or anything either.

Thanks!

[Old-Biscuit]

GMandJM wrote:
Ahhh....that explains it. Thanks, B.

I don't think I ever tried to look into the ViewFinder's WH. Things were so compact in the compartment that I doubt it would have been possible.

That's one of the 'pro's for Suburban Water Heater

Electric element is on 'front' (outside compartment) vs Atwood on the backside
I barely can reach element to R&R on my Atwood due to all the other stuff inside cabinet.

Suburban other 'pros'
different sets of t-stats for electric & propane (Atwood uses same set for both)
larger size drain hole
Hi t-stat manual reset so you know it has tripped (Atwood auto reset when water temp cools)

Suburban 'cons'
need anode rod.....porcelain lined steel tank
combustion/exhaust chamber stacked right above each other to far rightside of tank (Atwood goes across tank so more surface area to transfer heat)

[GMandJM]

Ahhh....that explains it. Thanks, B.

I don't think I ever tried to look into the ViewFinder's WH. Things were so compact in the compartment that I doubt it would have been possible.

[Old-Biscuit]

Jim-Linda wrote:

GMandJM wrote:
OP: Glad to hear you're in hot water again. In this case, it's a good thing.

Jim: You could scope your WH. Is there any particular reason you want to?

Responding to OP's post.

Jim

Clarification.

OP stated with element and anode removed looked inside.
Element hole is 1" DIA. and anode rod hole is 3/4"
That can give you a decent peek inside.

Unlike Atwood with the 1/2" drain hole..

[Jim-Linda]

GMandJM wrote:
OP: Glad to hear you're in hot water again. In this case, it's a good thing.

Jim: You could scope your WH. Is there any particular reason you want to?

Responding to OP's post.

Jim

[Old-Biscuit]

Jim-Linda wrote:
My question is... how do you look inside of a WH?

Jim

Thru the drain hole with a bright pencil beam flashlight

[GMandJM]

OP: Glad to hear you're in hot water again. In this case, it's a good thing.

Jim: You could scope your WH. Is there any particular reason you want to?

[Jim-Linda]

My question is... how do you look inside of a WH?

Jim

[Old-Biscuit]

az350x wrote:
Well, it turns out I had a piece of plastic in the lav faucet aerator. I had tried to remove the aerator before original post, but it didn't feel removable. It was a spiral drill shaving of some sort.

The debris I rinsed out was grey and hard. Not minerals from the heater, I don't believe. On the upside, the heater is working GREAT right now with the new element!

Thanks for the follow up post.

Some kind of construction debris....finally made it's way thru faucet.


Ain't hot water grand!

[az350x]

Well, it turns out I had a piece of plastic in the lav faucet aerator. I had tried to remove the aerator before original post, but it didn't feel removable. It was a spiral drill shaving of some sort.

The debris I rinsed out was grey and hard. Not minerals from the heater, I don't believe. On the upside, the heater is working GREAT right now with the new element!

[GMandJM]

If you have need for an anode rod, you likely have a porcelain liner in your water heater.

And pieces of it may be clogging the aerators, so take a good look at what you find in them (if anything.)

If your see a bunch of "ceramic" pieces, you may want to consider replacing the HWH sooner.

[TucsonJim]

Looks like Old-Biscuit and I are on the same page on this one.

[TucsonJim]

First of all, that was not a "small piece of ceramic". I assume you have a Suburban water heater. That "piece of ceramic" was actually pieces of gunk from inside the water heater. Simply flush the water heater with a flush tool that you can get from Camping World. You'll be surprised at how much gunk comes out.

Second - For the lav faucet. Try removing the aerator screen at the end of the faucet and cleaning it out. If that doesn't work, buy a replacement faucet. Get a nice one and you won't have the flow problems you do with you wiz-bang OEM faucet.

[Old-Biscuit]

Anode rod is for 'sacrificing' itself vs steel tank that Suburban uses.

Just keep on using an anode rod, flushing tank

Bathroom sink faucet....reduced flow hot/cold side.
First thing.have you removed the aerator screen on end of faucet, cleaned it and checked flow w/o it installed?????

IF YES and flow is still reduced.....those high quality plastic junk RV faucets have been know to fail --- replace with a residential faucet.

Course you could disconnect cold/hot sink lines and check flow thru them but usually problem is clogged aerator or faulty faucet