TT Water Heater Question

[MartiniSCP]

Hello All.

Just trying to get to know our new rig better.

Attached is a pic of the water heater.

The lowest horizontal white tube/pipe is from the fresh water tank.
It goes past a valve to the bottom of the water heater.
There's a pipe from the top of the water heater, through another valve to the red pipe and out to the hot water side of the various faucets in the rig.
What I don't understand is why there is another pipe and valve between the hot water out and the cold water in.
Why would you want heated water to get into the cold side or cold water to get into the heated water pipe?

Also, I just discovered that that thing attached to the side of the water heater is probably an electric heater. When I turn it on I hear water start to simmer almost instantly inside the water tank.
But the lights in the TT dim when I turn it on.
I'm plugged into power from my garage. Probably a 20 amp fuse.

Thanks all.
Happy travels!

[JJBIRISH]

Its towed three trailers now… the first was around 5,000 (Terry Resort) pounds dry… my Sunnybrook was 6500 dry and about 8000 loaded… this one bought in 2003 is better than 95000 fully loaded and my combined weight is a little better than I think 16000 without pulling a weight slip…

I retired it for a year while I tried a V 10 Excursion but was happy to go back to the van… it just did better, but don’t climb the mountains at high speed like the 10 would… its comfortable on most of them at 50 to 55 where I limit it so it’s not upshifting to a gear that can’t hold it…

Even with its short comings I couldn’t of hoped for a better vehicle…

[MartiniSCP]

That's awesome.
What's your engine?
Trailer weight?
Slow going up big Hills or mountain passes?

[JJBIRISH]

MartiniSCP wrote:
Holy Smokes JJBIRISH!

You're towing that thing with a gas powered van?

How did you get the pic of the heater to post?
I couldn't get mine to load.

Thanks

200,000 as a dedicated TV runs like new and looks good inside and only uses a quart of oil in about 4000 miles… handles, pulls and breaks great…
It’s not slowing down and has great compression, but I and the DW am wearing down pretty fast these days…

The absolute best part is that it has never had or needed an engine or running gear repair yet…

[MartiniSCP]

Holy Smokes JJBIRISH!

You're towing that thing with a gas powered van?

How did you get the pic of the heater to post?
I couldn't get mine to load.

Thanks

[JJBIRISH]

Just for clarity… The winterizing bypass systems come in 3 configurations, a single two direction valve and a one way check valve, a two valve as pictured here, and a three valve like yours, but all use the same basic piping…
In this picture it is a different water heater but this piping is very close to yours except it uses a one way check valve for the hot out pipe where yours has a third manual valve…

[MartiniSCP]

Excellent!
Thank you.

Not totally new to RV'ing... Kinda... Sorta.
We've had a popup hard-sided Aliner TT for years now.
Took it to Grand Canyon, 4 corners (towed with Toyota Camry! 🙂 ), and did Canada and Glacier National Park this past summer.

The Aliner has served us well, but it finally proved to be too small.
Does a popup, even a hard-sided one, qualify as an RV for RV'ing?
🙂

Regardless, we have the real thing now.
I'm kind of surprised at how large the initial learning curve is.
Seems like I learn something new every time I mess with it.

But I'm having a blast and haven't even slept a single night in it yet.

I'll certainly be asking more questions and do appreciate the answers.

Thanks a bunch Mr. Biscuit.

[Old-Biscuit]

YES..normal operation is cold inlet valve OPEN, hot outlet valve OPEN and bypass valve CLOSED

Here are a few rv basics........

RV Electrical INFO........LINK

RV AC & DC Electrical block diagram...what gets power and from where....LINK

Basic RV Plumbing System.......LINK

Roof top A/C Unit..........keep return air filter CLEAN....LINK

And by the way........WELCOME to RV'ng!

[MartiniSCP]

And, I assume, when using the water heater that bypass valve should be closed.

No such thing as a dumb question, right?
😄

[MartiniSCP]

Ah. I didn't know that.

Yes. There is water in the heater. But I turned the switch off anyway.
Don't need hot water right now. Just learning the rig.

NICE!
Good to know about the bypass!

Thank you!!

[Old-Biscuit]

First off.........do you have water in the water heater?

IF NO...turn the electric heating element OFF.......but probably too late!
The elements will burn out quickly if no water in tank.
They use 110V AC power and are 1500 Watts (roughly 13 amps)

The line and valve connected between hot & cold is called a 'bypass'
You close the cold inlet, close the hot outlet and then open the bypass when you want to take water heater out of the flow path.....such as when 'winterizing' your rv plumbing system

To post a pic you need to use a public photo site.

[2edgesword]

I couldn't see the image.