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Old 06-30-2018, 10:47 AM   #1
Johnny406
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Hot Water on the Cold Side & Toilet

Hello, I am having a rather weird/trippy problem with my 2008 Keystone Laredo. We took it out for the first trip of the year a few weeks ago and on the 2nd day, hot water (all water) stopped coming out the left faucets and now only comes out the right faucets and the toilet. If I bypass the water heater cold water will come out both sides but with the hot water heater engaged there is no water at all coming out the hot/left faucets.


Any thoughts?

Thank you,
John
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Old 06-30-2018, 12:26 PM   #2
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Wow! Make sure your outside shower is off. That is really a strange one. Good luck.
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Old 06-30-2018, 12:28 PM   #3
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Do you get flow into the HW heater? Lift the relief valve manually (while not bypassed) to see if you get flow to the heater. This will verify the bypass valve itself isn't bad and is truly lined up to put flow thru the heater.

There is also a check valve on the outlet side of the HW heater that may be stuck shut.
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Old 06-30-2018, 01:44 PM   #4
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If you have a factory prep for washer/dryer make sure the valves are turned off. I saw one used unit on a lot where the prior owner had used a double female hose to connect the two outlets together. Lord knows why unless they kept the washer/dryer? As already mentioned, make sure your outside kitchen, or shower is turned off.

If you do flip the pressure relief valve to check for pressure, be extremely careful of hot water splashing around. I don't recommend it, as you can obviously check for hot ware at the sink! You will see leakage from the valve afterwards. This is to be expected, as you eliminated the air pocket at the top of the tank that allows for expansion, and contraction.

Good Luck,
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Old 06-30-2018, 03:59 PM   #5
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This is odd. Did you do "anything" to affect your water in the trailer, in any way? The bypass is working since you can turn it on and you get cold out of hot and cold faucets. Turn it off and hot only from the right (cold) faucet, not left (hot), and nothing at all from the left.


The water heater has a fresh water inlet - hot water outlet. There should be a check valve on the cold water inlet preventing any hot water from the hwh getting into the cold water line which should prevent this situation. It sounds like that is either defective or ??? Possibly it is letting the hot water back into the cold water side....but, what happened to the hot water outlet? If you have zero water flow to the hot (left) side of any faucet, and you have pressure, something is wrong at the tank seemingly; especially if you put it in bypass mode and water comes out all faucets as it should. I'm not so sure I wouldn't disconnect the outlet side of the water heater, after the water is turned off, then quickly turn it back on to see if there is some sort of blockage. Even if there were, it should not feed back into the cold water system unless the check valve is missing or malfunctioning....if I'm analyzing this correctly.
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Old 06-30-2018, 05:11 PM   #6
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Unless I'm reading the OP wrong, he has no flow out the hot water side when the HW heater is online. Not that there is cold water coming out, but there is no water flow at all. I also don't think he is saying that he has hot water coming out the cold faucets. The only time he has flow out the hot faucets (which is cold water) is when the HW heater is bypassed. This leads me to think the hot and cold water lines are not cross connected at the shower, washer/dryer, or outside kitchen. I'm thinking something is blocking the flow at the HW heater itself. That blockage is bypassed by bypassing the HW heater. He also states that this problem started day 2 of his trip so it's probably not a valve lineup issue associated with the bypass valve. I think the check valve is on the outlet side of the HW heater to keep antifreeze out of the heater when winterizing (bypass valve blocks the inlet, check valve blocks the outlet) but I'm sure there's more than one way to do it. Those check valves are cheap and have been known to fail and cause the problem he is having. Some people remove the check valve all together, some gut the valve and some replace it with a valve.
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Old 06-30-2018, 05:54 PM   #7
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Sounds like the check valve on the hot water outlet my be stuck. It's a brass valve screwed into the top of the water heater.
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Old 06-30-2018, 06:55 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DVPete View Post
Unless I'm reading the OP wrong, he has no flow out the hot water side when the HW heater is online. Not that there is cold water coming out, but there is no water flow at all. I also don't think he is saying that he has hot water coming out the cold faucets. The only time he has flow out the hot faucets (which is cold water) is when the HW heater is bypassed. This leads me to think the hot and cold water lines are not cross connected at the shower, washer/dryer, or outside kitchen. I'm thinking something is blocking the flow at the HW heater itself. That blockage is bypassed by bypassing the HW heater. He also states that this problem started day 2 of his trip so it's probably not a valve lineup issue associated with the bypass valve. I think the check valve is on the outlet side of the HW heater to keep antifreeze out of the heater when winterizing (bypass valve blocks the inlet, check valve blocks the outlet) but I'm sure there's more than one way to do it. Those check valves are cheap and have been known to fail and cause the problem he is having. Some people remove the check valve all together, some gut the valve and some replace it with a valve.
I'm thinking he said he had hot water coming out of the cold side of the faucets;

"hot water (all water) stopped coming out the left faucets and now only comes out the right faucets and the toilet. If I bypass the water heater cold water will come out both sides but with the hot water heater engaged there is no water at all coming out the hot/left faucets."
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Old 06-30-2018, 07:52 PM   #9
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Thank you gentlemen for your help, it's a strange problem. Correct, if I bypass the h/w heater I will get cold water out of both faucets in the kitchen, bathroom, and shower. I did not try the outside shower point. No washing machine or outside kitchen on this trailer. Here is a pic of the water tank from the inside under the refrigerator, I did notice that both of those brass connectors (check valves?) on the tank were hot to the touch.
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Old 06-30-2018, 09:15 PM   #10
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The bottom brass connector is not a check valve. I can't see the top one well enough to say if it is or not.

I would expect both brass connectors to be hot to the touch if the HW heater is on, however, I would not have it on until I was done troubleshooting and knew there was flow though it. It's much easier to work on something that isn't trying to burn you and if it's not full of water, you'll burn out the heating element. It doesn't need to be on for water to flow thru it.

Is the bypass valve on the top "T" or the bottom one? I expect it to be on the bottom but it looks like there is something is barely visible on the top one that I can't make out.
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Old 07-01-2018, 07:57 AM   #11
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There is a one way valve (outflow only/no inflow) on the top water heater fitting. That valve, apparently is "stuck in the closed position" and is not allowing water to flow through the water heater. You can, in an emergency, remove the top screw-on fitting, use a Phillips screwdriver and "knock out the innerds" of the faulty one way valve and reconnect the fittings. This will get you through the rest of your camping trip, but you'll have "very cold water" for a couple of seconds if you bypass the shower flow (use the handle cutoff). Ideally, replace the one way valve, available at any RV parts store and you'll be back in business.

While the one way valve is "essentially reliable", depending on the amount of "hard water" that flows through the valve, it can calcify and stick either in the open or closed position, the most "inconvenient" of the two is closed, where you have no hot water, apparently this is what yours did.
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Old 07-01-2018, 10:33 AM   #12
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Be prepared to replace the plastic fitting used to attach the pipe to the brass check valve.


Check valves are $10. I bought 2 so I'd have a spare. I'm replacing the plastic female fitting with a brass one so I shouldn't have to worry about that again when replacing.
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Old 07-01-2018, 10:42 AM   #13
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I eliminated all that stuff right after I brought my trailer home by removing the check valve and installing a foolproof bypass system (old school) works every time, any time...
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Old 07-01-2018, 02:09 PM   #14
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Thanks to you guys, I think I found the complication. I just took out this control valve from the top side of the hot water tank and all we had was a plunger with no spring and retainer.
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Old 07-01-2018, 02:25 PM   #15
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I think you can get those at most places like Home Depot/Lowes or CW for less than $10 or so. Watch the arrow when you put it in.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:43 AM   #16
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So, it would appear that the spring and retainer would be in the tank, or any short line between the tank and the valve.
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Old 07-13-2018, 02:24 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Randyf7f View Post
So, it would appear that the spring and retainer would be in the tank, or any short line between the tank and the valve.
Not in the tank. On a 1 valve system, in the line at the tank. Click image for larger version

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Old 07-13-2018, 08:31 AM   #18
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Not in the tank. On a 1 valve system, in the line at the tank. Attachment 17447
I think he's referring to the missing parts from the check valve he's already removed. At least that's the way I read it.
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Old 07-13-2018, 05:06 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by travelin texans View Post
I think he's referring to the missing parts from the check valve he's already removed. At least that's the way I read it.
Duh, my bad. Carry on. Nothing to see here.
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