1971 Keyston Sandpiper Hot water heater ?'s

[Epoweredrc]

Hi there, I own a 1971 Sandpiper and I have been slowly fixing it up. since purchased back in October I have

Had to hook up the main drain line to the main sewer outlet

had to remove the holding tank for the bathroom that was cracked and leaking on the floor ( yeah not fun at all)

Redo the bathroom Toilet to adapt for no holding tank being there.

Took off the Awning that was no good.

Sanded and painted the tongue and back bumper.

Rip out the stove that didn't work and turned it into storage and a counter top for a Microwave and a Conversational oven

threw out all the nasty old cushions for the bench table seats and sofa, and turned the sofa area into a bed, by putting in a full size mattress and built a support across the front of it to hold the mattress in place against the front wall.

Build shelves over the one side of the kitchen table to hold plastic containers for food and such..

Customized the kitchen table so it hang on the wall and not stick out into the walkway.

Made my own Closet short of. took a couple big hooks and put into the storage over the right side of the kitchen table and hung up a bathroom shower rod to hang my hanging cloths on. hey it works. This thing doesn't have much storage its like a 20 foot one..

So I did all of that in about 2 weeks before we started "living" in this thing...

I now am sick of washing my hands with Cold, freezing water and i finally figured out how to get the door off the hot water heater on the outside.

Now This thing already had all the propane gas lines cut out of it. i found loose hoses under the friedge, and under the kitch sink. I do not really want to run all new lines to the water heater if its not even going to work... It looks very rusted where the flame would be.. Not sure I can attach pictures to the site or not. I have pictures of the camper and the unit.

Not sure what model it is All i could read on the side was
btu 8700 7.3 gal. serial A
MFD. by Mobil temp inc Brighton Mich


I see a Copper line going into the back of the unit from under the kitchen sink.. and I see a Copper line going in the front of the unit (on the outside) next to the knob and ignitor button..

is the copper line going to it on the backside just a water line? cause there s also a rubber water line going to it on the back side also.. but i thought the copper line was just a gas line .

maybe i could just hook a line up outside the camper to text to see if the heat even works?

any idea's.

Sorry for such a long post but i thought i would give all info I can. I got this camper on a last choice situation fro a guy who only sleep in it at a deer camp for 2 yrs. it had sad for a year.

I have been wanting to just buy a Electric small hot water tank and put in place of the old stock one but i do not have the $250 for one right now. then I thought about getting a Instant water on demand unit but not sure. I guess if this thing doesn't work then I will get one of those. Again washing your hands in winter is really getting old. The camper has a tiny shower not sure i could even take a shower in it , it is so small but washing dishes and hands be nice having warm water.

Thanks again and Merry Christmas to all.

[Epoweredrc]

Another picture of the water heater itself. and one of the Bed the way we have it. it had Bunk beads. the top one would lift up out of the way. i just took one half off where the hinge was at and left the one half to use for Storage also. I still need to build some real shelves other then just piling stuff up on top of it.

[chuckster57]

Is it possible for you to take pics of the back of the HWH? There will be two water lines attached (in and out) obviously, and its possible that one of those lines is copper.

The rust in the pictures posted isn't a concern to me, but I would take the burner assembly out and clean it.

[Epoweredrc]

See that what happens when i dont look at something it does have 2 lines a hot n cold water line... how would i take apart and.clean

[chuckster57]

Is there a plug on the outside of the tank, on the bottom? It could be plastic or metal. That's the plug you want to remove to clean the tank. If its metal then its also an anode rod, used to help prevent scaling and should be replaced if it hasn't been in a year.

[Epoweredrc]

A plug? What would it look like??? I got some copper line today and flange connector wow 4 foot of copper 3/8th and fittings from.Ace hardware 30.00

[chuckster57]

The plug would look like the head of a bolt.

[Epoweredrc]

Oh, not sure i will have to look again next time im off witch is Christmas so prolly be next week before i get to mess with it again