Shower runs out of hot water

[Sprinter17]

Has anybody had any problem with the hot water in the shower? I have a problem where I run out of hot water during a shower. I know it is not the hot water heater. I makes plenty of hot water and has been tested by the dealer. I think it might be the mixer in the faucet? Does anyone have any other ideas?

[chuckster57]

Are you letting it run while you shower? You don’t get that much hot water in an RV. Common is 6 gal. If you set the temp, get wet and turn the flow off at the shower head. Then apply shampoo/soap, turn flow back on at shower head you should be fine. Only caution;

Point the water AWAY from you for a few seconds when you resume the flow. It will be either very hot or very cold for a very brief time.

[JRTJH]

Most RV shower heads have a flow rate of about 2.5 GPM. If you mix it 50/50 hot/cold, the 6 gallon water heater volume, mixed with 6 gallons of cold water would produce 12 gallons of "shower water".... At 2.5 GMP, that 12 gallons would last less than 5 minutes (at full flow). That's why almost all of us use the "navy shower" technique of getting wet, turn water off (at the shower head), soap up, shampoo, etc, then turn shower head back on to rinse off. After getting clean, if you want to "luxuriate in the rest of the warm water", you might be able to do so for 2 or 3 minutes before you'd best be finding a towel......

[Sprinter17]

No, I have been camping for a few years. I do know to shut it off in between doing my hair, body soaping and rinse. But thank you for your post

[Sprinter17]

I have been camping for a few years. This is my 4th new camper. This is the first camper I have had this problem with. I have camped with four people using the shower and never had this problem

[bobbecky]

No mention about what the rig is or what water heater is installed in the rig, but if the water heater is able to run on electric or gas, then run it on both at the same time and your recovery will be much better and your hot water will last quite a bit longer. The RV water heaters are rated for gallon recovery time when both modes are turned on, which will give the best numbers.

[sourdough]

I think a lot more info would be helpful; make/year of the trailer, size of the HWH, is it dual elec/propane, how long you've had it, did it used to work before, how you try to shower etc. If it's a newer trailer with both elec/LP on it I can tell you I don't run out of hot water in my showers with a 6 gallon and I don't turn anything off.

[flybouy]

All good advice, you may want to check the outside shower to see if the shut off valve at the shower head is off. This can cause mixing and issues. Also check winterizing valve on hwh to make sure it's turned fully to the "normal" not in bypass.

[BigTexRex]

All good advice, you may want to check the outside shower to see if the shut off valve at the shower head is off. This can cause mixing and issues. Also check winterizing valve on hwh to make sure it's turned fully to the "normal" not in bypass.

Spot on advice.

[Sprinter17]

My unit is a 2017 Sprinter 298FWRLS with a suburban 6-gallon water heater. It is a gas and electric unit. I have both turned on. I have never used the outside shower since I bought the coach last year. I really think it is a mixing issue. Sometimes it works fine and sometimes it doesn't. I had a service tech out and he ran the hot water. He checked that the water heated as it was suppose to and the recovery rate was correct. I didn't ask him to run the shower with the hot and cold as if you were to take a shower. This seems to be the only time the cold takes over. I do turn it off at the shower head between doing my hair and soaping. I have replaced the shower head but still get the same results. I just ordered a new faucet to see if the mixer in the faucet is the problem.
Again thank you so much for your replies. Any help is useful.

[bobbecky]

Another thing that affects the water temperature when showering is the incoming water temperature. In the coldest months, we need the hot turned on full and mix in some cold, but in the summer, many times it is full on cold and only mix in a little hot, so the problem may have nothing to do with the rig or it's plumbing, but might just be the cold water entering the rig, which will also affect how long the hot water lasts, as the colder the incoming water, the longer it will take to heat.

[Sprinter17]

This happens when it's hot or cold outside

[Sprinter17]

I'm thinking of replacing the faucet but I cannot access the back of the faucet. Any ideas on that other than cutting out the wall in the bedroom?

[Rangerj]

Hey Sprinter, I have exactly the same unit. With the hot full force my water stays hot for 5and a half minutes. However, when I run the electric and gas at the same time it will go longer going from hot to good warm. I can shower, shampoo, and shave without cutting the water off to soap. The flow rate is more in the one gallon to slightly over one gallon per minute range. Do make sure the outside shower knobs are fully closed as that will cause the cold to mix with the hot. Off course I have to mix cold water initially because the hot is set at 140 degrees.

[cpaulsen]

Ours did that also.....replaced shower faucet because the old one the diverter did not work right.

[wiredgeorge]

You have a Suburban SW6DE hot water heater. On my trailer (I have the same one), I have no inside on/off switch for the electric element. The inside switch can be installed with a SW6DEL model which has extra electrical stuff to allow the inside switch. If you are not turning on the electrical element, it is located on the bottom/left on the outside of the water heater and a tad hard to see. Make sure you turn it off if the tank is dry as the electrical heating element burns out quickly. The electrical part doesn't work automatically, you have to turn on the switch.

I am surprised you don't have an access panel behind the shower faucet. Our trailer has one an it would make swapping the whole thing out fairly easy. You might also look into a special RV shower head like one of the Oxygenics models. There are other brands with similar performance.

[chuckster57]

I am surprised you don't have an access panel behind the shower faucet. Our trailer has one an it would make swapping the whole thing out fairly easy. You might also look into a special RV shower head like one of the Oxygenics models. There are other brands with similar performance.


Some shower faucets are mounted on a “box” that is screwed into the surround. There will be access somewhere, otherwise they couldn’t assemble the shower at the factory.

[swanson]

Pull the handles/spindles off and check for debris from construction/build of the unit. This happened to me once.

[Sprinter17]

Thank you all for your help. Sorry I haven't been on in awhile. I think whoever said check the outside shower was right. I didn't think that would be the issue because I never use it but when I was dumping the black tank I noticed that my hand bumped the faucet knobs. By making sure the knobs are in the off position my shower works properly

[cpaulsen]

Probably the mixer for the shower valve. We had one that went bad and even with a 12 gallon water heaters.....it got cold quick!! Put new shower valve in and solved the problem. Now a nice long hot shower is nice!!!

[DOWva]

damn I have no idea sorry

[notanlines]

Sprinter, thanks for checking back in with the solution. It makes for a better forum when the problem actually has an answer.