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Old 06-09-2018, 06:16 PM   #1
captcolour
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Hot Water Issue

Replaced the heating element and anode rod last week at home. Hooked up the water, opened a hot water faucet to fill the tank, then opened the relief valve to make sure water was in the tank. Turned on the electric element. After a couple of hours, hot water.


Arrived at West Memphis this afternoon. Hooked up water, turned on hot water faucet, checked for water at the relief valve, then turned on electric element. I get no consistent flow of hot water. Seems like a few seconds I feel it then nothing. End of anode rod feels hot. Relief valve seems hot. Water at relief valve is hot (not scalding, but hot).


Any ideas? Hot water heater bypass switch is as shown in the attached which I'm pretty sure is correct for off. Labeling sucks!


Help!
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Old 06-09-2018, 06:30 PM   #2
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I would think off is horizontal. Wording seems “backwards” if I am reading it right.
OFF- normal flow
ON- water bypasses the water heater.
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Old 06-09-2018, 06:52 PM   #3
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If you look closely to the picture, you can see where the dealer drew a vertical position during the PDI last year by the bypass off, indicating that vertical is bypass off. If you just look at the label, it does appear that horizontal is off, at it points to the word "off". Apparently being above the word "on" is more important .


Anyway, the tank was obviously empty when I replaced the rod and element, and it does have water in it now so it isn't bypassed. I did move the valve back and forth a few times. Is that lever the valve, or is it a rod or cable that connects to the actual valve? If so, perhaps it has come loose at the real valve. If that lever is the real valve, then at a loss.


Can't get the gas to fire for the hot water heater either. Don't know what's up with that. Thermostat resets aren't tripped. Breaker is fine. Electrical switch at the tank and inside are both on.
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Old 06-09-2018, 07:03 PM   #4
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Ok. Now you got me wondering. That should be “the valve”.

Turned one way, the water is directed to the hot out. Turned the other way it directs water into the tank. They aren’t known to fail. So we should start at square one. Take the anode rod out, drain the tank. Then with the anode rod OUT, turn on the water and watch for water coming out of the anode rod hole. Then switch the valve and see if it does the opposite. When water is flowing, the bypass will be set to normal.

Once you have verified that operation, it’s time to put the anode rod back in. Turn on any HOT faucet and turn the water on. DO NOT open the relief valve, wait for water to flow from the faucet without any air. Then turn the water heater back on. If you don’t have hot water in 20 minutes it’s time to start testing the element. We can deal with the gas side later.
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Old 06-10-2018, 12:59 AM   #5
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That is a quarter turn valve, sometimes they do not orientate the valve properly when installing it. Ours is the same way. No help with the spotty hot water, I would start with Chuckster57 suggestion.

You can also get a water short circuit in the shower, washer mixing hose and the outside shower. Both valves open (hot/cold) and the end device turned off. This is common with the outside shower. Like anything else water will take the path of lease resistance.
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Old 06-15-2018, 07:20 PM   #6
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I noticed same issue with labeling. Not correct. As for the gas not lighting I found my brand new Alpine had the ground wire at the heater was loose and not making contact. Tightened screws and heater lit.
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Old 06-17-2018, 04:26 PM   #7
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So last night I decide to put some water in the fresh water tank so I could disconnect from city water since leaving in the morning. Plus when I get to the next site for just one night before home, won't have to hook up for water.


Got here in TN, and for kicks, made sure the hot water heater was full and turned it on. Went to dinner. Came back and you guessed it, hot water flowing from the faucet.


So, what could be different between being hooked up to city water and using the pump/fresh water tank that could cause my flow issue when hooked up to city water? Is the hot water bypass valve in play at all when using the pump/fresh water tank?


I may get to take one shower in this unit on this trip after all!
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Old 06-10-2018, 05:01 AM   #8
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What changed between the unit working and it not working? As mentioned don't open the relief valve as the space in the top of the tank acts as an expansion tank, as the water heats up it expands and needs somewhere to go but that will not cause the wh to stop making hot water. Focus seems to be on the bypass valve so was it re-positioned between the hwh functioning and not ?
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:27 AM   #9
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This is year two with the unit, so last fall was the first time I winterized. First trip this year, I checked for water at a hot water faucet and then turned the heater on. The bypass was still on from winterizing so my bad, fried the element.


Everything else documented above is from that point forward.


Had hot water all last year so the only difference was the first winterization by me. It acts almost like there is a vapor lock somewhere.


I will have to check the outside shower to see whether both valves may be open. I wish I had changed the thermostat while I was at it just in case.
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Old 06-10-2018, 07:16 AM   #10
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Just curious but does there seem to be good pressure even though it’s not hot? Nah how is pressure on cold side?age
Had a problem like that one time and it turned out to be a blockage at the screen on city water connections would not let enough water pressure to build up to force water thru the system.
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Old 06-10-2018, 08:39 AM   #11
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Bruce,

Maybe I missed it somewhere in the thread, but do you get hot water when using the gas function on the water heater? You said, "Can't get the gas to fire either"... Does that mean it wouldn't light or it lights but the water doesn't flow hot at the faucets?
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Old 06-10-2018, 10:13 AM   #12
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Gas portion won't light. Doesn't even try.

To add insult to injury, the bath house shower had no hot water either! So ended up taking a cold shower! Could have done that back in the 5er. Geesh
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Old 06-10-2018, 10:24 AM   #13
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OK, let's look at the situation (as I understand it)....

Everything worked normally last fall. You winterized, and then this spring, you de-winterized, but forgot to turn the water heater bypass to fill the water heater. Turned on the electric element, burned it out, replaced it and the electric and the gas functions don't work. First, are you sure the element you used is a 110VAC element and that it's the proper wattage? (1100 watts, if I remember correctly)

You say the end of the anode rod feels warm (transferred heat from the water through the metal rod), so there is some electricity getting to the element. And the gas function still won't light....

The only common component between the electric side and the gas side is the thermostat/high limit switch (one is 110VAC for the electric element and the other is 12VDC for the gas function). If those thermostats or those high limit switches are burned up (possibly from the same event that burned up the electric element) then the water heater COULD (not would) function on electricity for a few minutes, then stop based on a faulty thermostat and not turn back on because of a faulty limit switch. If the 12VDC limit switch is tripped, then the gas would not function at all.....

So, have you pressed the reset buttons under the black rubber seal in the upper left hand portion of the outside of your water heater???? You may or may not feel a "tactile click" when you push the buttons. You can remove the rubber seal to visualize the two thermostats/high limit switches. Be sure to unplug the RV from shore power or turn off the water heater circuit breaker on the power panel before removing that rubber plug or you may get more than a tingle if you touch the wrong part !!!!!

Let us know what happens when you press the reset buttons on the limit switches.
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Old 06-14-2018, 03:21 PM   #14
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Did you replace the relay for the electric heater. Most of the time in our shop the relay is bad not the heater. The board controls the gas and the electric sides. Do you have 110 volts to relay, 12 volts to board. Since you have a anode it is a suburban let me know what model you have as some 10 gals have a blend valve can can be stuck.
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Old 06-14-2018, 04:47 PM   #15
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It is model SW12DEL.
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Old 06-10-2018, 12:07 PM   #16
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It has an anode so it's a Suburban water heater. On mine the black cover over the reset buttons had pinched the wires against the tank shorting them out. Had to trim the black cover about 1/4", folded the metal over a bit, repaired the wires, & replaced the thermostats, hot water again.
The odd thing about this was that our friends with the same brand of 5er had the very same thing happen the same day. Him & I came outside & both said we didn't have hot water, the same problem was found on both 5ers.
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:23 PM   #17
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So, next I did this. Turned off electric to the water heater. Shut off the city water coming in. Figured I could de-pressurize the system and perhaps remove a vapor lock if that is causing this. Turn on a cold water faucet to remove pressure. After running for 30 seconds or so and with a drastically reduced water flow, hot water comes out the cold faucet. Turn on hot water faucet and cold water comes out (not much flow by this point). Turn city water back on, no hot water.


Took my IR thermometer. Pressure relief valve body and anode rod end are both 104F. Aluminum panel is 83F.
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:25 PM   #18
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Oh, reset switches have been pressed multiple times. Don't feel that they were tripped, and nothing clicks or makes any noise when pressing. Took the rubber covers off too. No loose wires or shorts.
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Old 06-10-2018, 07:37 PM   #19
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Based on your last couple of posts, I'm leaning more and more to it being a valve problem. I'm guessing you have the "multifunction" valve behind your convenience center wall. There are several posts about O-rings slipping or tearing and causing various problems. Nobody has complained of what you're experiencing, but with what you've posted in the last 2 posts, I'm thinking it's the valve that's causing your problems.
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Old 06-11-2018, 04:58 AM   #20
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John's assessment is spot on, I would add that if you have one bypass valve on the cold side then the hot side should have a check valve that may have failed. Let us know what you find.
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