Atwood Water Heater Heats but no water Flow

[bowats]

Atwood water heater. Never had any problems before. Water heater will heat on both propane and AC power, but no flow inside the MH on hot water faucets. Open the faucet and you get a small surge then the flow stops. Local guy replaced a check valve on the back of the heater tank, but this did not fix the problem. Cold showers are getting old....help.

[bowats]

Atwood water heater. Never had any problems before. Water heater will heat on both propane and AC power, but no flow inside the MH on hot water faucets. Open the faucet and you get a small surge then the flow stops. Local guy replaced a check valve on the back of the heater tank, but this did not fix the problem. Cold showers are getting old....help.

[RV Wizard]

It sounds like a bad check valve or is installed backwards. You could also have a restriction going into the tank. You need to diagnose which side (in or out) it is and get back to us.

[troth]

bowats, did this problem just happen one day, or did it occur after the check valve replacement?
There are two check valves on the backside of the water heater, one in & one out. Make sure your winterizing valve is on "Normal", not set at Bypass.
If you do find that the checkvalve(s) is bad, you have several options: 1.) eliminate them totally (depending upon your climaste, the only reason they are in the system is for winterizing really); 2.) replace both of them (or may be possible to dismantle & rebuild the guts); and, the best option IMHO 3.) buy a dual quarter-turn valve Camco winterizing bypass kit and eliminate the pesky check valves once & for all. There's lotsa threads on this; try searching under the Winnie forum for "check valves".

[MaverickBBD]

I would concur, it sounds like classic check valve problem. As you mention only the one check valve was replaced, maybe it was the wrong one.

[JC2]

Quick Turn ByPass Kit

[bowats]

Thanks for all the input. Haven't had a chance to do anything else yet as I am working on this trip and will have to wait until the weekend. The water heater will fill so I have to assume the check valve going in is okay, right? Has to be the out check valve. Cannot believe WGO didn't provide better access to the back side of the WH. If I pull the whole unit out, do I disconnect the propane line and all plumbing first, or is there some slack in the lines to allow for pulling it out?

[troth]

bowats, you'll need to disconnect the copper propane line to the regulator on the WH. There's enough slack/extra hose behind the WH to get it about 2/3 out of it's enclosure. You should remove the white vertical board along the side of the cabinet that holds the pump; it sure makes things a lot easier.
Send me a PM with your regular e-mail address and I can send you a Word doc with pics that shows the whole process.

more WH bypass info