Hot water temp. adjustment

[maxman07]

My 2004 Dolphin water temp. is scalding hot. I have looked but can't find an adjustment on the tank. Help!!

[Rook]

Is this a 6 gallon Atwood water Heater? Rook

[g-cando]

There is no adjustment on hot water tank. You will find two thermostats. One is 180 degrees which is what sets your temp and another that is an overheat thermostat that protects tank from getting too hot. I believe this one is 200 degrees. Sounds like one or both are malfunctioning.
Your propane or electric should turn off after 20 minutes of heating. Water is hot at taps so you must mix cold to cool off.

Atwood sells a kit with both thermostats. Get your model # off tank and any RV store should carry them

[flaggship1]

Ours is Atwood 10 gallon electric/gas. It has a mixing valve on it that reportedly can fail. The mix at the water heater makes 10 gallons perform more like 16 gallons.
The valve is on the back side of ours and can be accessed by Cinda the Circus Contortionist. So far we are good - but a tech has told me that some people remove it and mix at the faucets / shower rather than pay $200 for the part + labor. I have no idea how much mark up was in that price or if it was a guess.

[Rook]

I had a similar problem on my Atwood 6 gal heater. Problem was the fixed temp thermostat and the thermal cutoff thermostat were not "touching" the metal tank surface.....causing the heating to not turn off until the water was way too hot! The thermostats were not sensing the water temperature accurately. Easy to check. They are mounted behind a stiff felt-like black pad on the front of the heater. You can see the 4 connections protruding out from the black felt cover. Remove the wires and cover and see if the metal thermostats are making direct contact with the metal tank. They are spring loaded and twist mount into a fitting that is part of the tank. Rook

[firedoc]

We have removed that mixing valve from our Atwood 10 g water heater as it was defective and causing a greatly reduced water flow (both hot and cold). Rather than replacing it we just left it off. The water needs to be mixed at the faucet as just hot is extremely hot. Solved our water flow problems. Here is a pic of valve we removed

[Cbones]

Originally Posted by firedoc

We have removed that mixing valve from our Atwood 10 g water heater as it was defective and causing a greatly reduced water flow (both hot and cold). Rather than replacing it we just left it off. The water needs to be mixed at the faucet as just hot is extremely hot. Solved our water flow problems. Here is a pic of valve we removedAttachment 87565

The problem with removing the mixing valve is that you can easily get scalded with 180 degree water. If someone turns on the cold water at another faucet, you will easily get burned. The fix for the mixing valve is very simple. Remove the little dab of glue in the Allen screw on the end of the mixing valve by the plastic cap. Unscrew the Allen screw until you can pull the cap far enough to allow it to rotate. Then turn the cap back and forth several times, while trying to have it rest at the same spot that you started at. This will loosen the mineral build up on the valve, and it will most likely start to work properly. If that doesn't work, remove the complete mixing valve and soak it in straight vinegar overnight. Reassemble and you will be good to go.

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by maxman07

My 2004 Dolphin water temp. is scalding hot. I have looked but can't find an adjustment on the tank. Help!!

Is your heater gas and electric or just gas? If it is gas and electric, turn off the elec and see if it gets cooler. If it is gas only as the other poster said, remove the black foam pad. check that the thermostat cutoff switch is touching the tank. If it is touching, remove the switch, lightly sand the tank and switch, install white temp sensing paste on the tank and switch. It looks tooth paste and makes a conductor for the heat. The paste is available at radio shack. Just tell them you want the paste that is used on temp sensors and heat sinks. If it is still too hot then change the thermostat sensor. If this only happens when driving, then you have the motor saver Hot Water Heater. That is a system that pipes hot water from the engine to the hot water heater and heats it under way. The bad thing about the motor saver system is that the hot water is heated to the temperature of the engine coolant. The factory makes two temp. switches. One is 120 degree and the other is the high temp which is 140 degrees.

[Rook]

Max....here is a helpful document. Thank you for you service.
Atwood-Water-Heater-Service.pdf Rook

[maxman07]

Thank you, this is the most sound answer I have received. I do also have the slow flow problem!

[Mystictravel]

We were told there is none found a camco adjustable thermostat that can be installed .Mine same way have been turning on and off afraid grandkids going to scald themselves.

[speed racer]

In MHO your trying to fix something that isn't broken.

[Mystictravel]

Not broken but could be made safer.

[speed racer]

The water is that hot so when mixed with cold water the hot water will last longer like when you are taking a shower. This is what an auto mixing valve does but they had problems with these also.