Community Forums

lhutter1 · 08-15-2012, 12:58 PM

Hey guys!

Say, this past weekend we were out in the RV and the hot water would spritz out of all the faucets as if air's in the line (cold was ok). We ran everything for some time, but it never got better. I also noticed the water tank made a gurgling noise when the hot water was running. If that wasn't making me scratch my head, when you would run the cold water only, it came out very hot for the first maybe 15 seconds or so, even if the hot hadn't been run for hours. Water tank is a little 6 gallon propane (not sure of model at the moment). We never had this happen before... Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Lorne

NeilV · 08-15-2012, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhutter1

Hey guys!

Say, this past weekend we were out in the RV and the hot water would spritz out of all the faucets as if air's in the line (cold was ok). We ran everything for some time, but it never got better. I also noticed the water tank made a gurgling noise when the hot water was running. If that wasn't making me scratch my head, when you would run the cold water only, it came out very hot for the first maybe 15 seconds or so, even if the hot hadn't been run for hours. Water tank is a little 6 gallon propane (not sure of model at the moment). We never had this happen before... Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Lorne

Lorne - How hot was the water? Was there a lot of steam? The thermister that limits the high temperature sometimes gets loose in its mount on the front side of the tank so that it does not make good enough contact to do its job and shut the burner off at the correct temperature.

The directional flow valve on the inlet of the hot water heater may also be failing so that some hot water is flowing backwards into the cold water piping. Also if you shut off the outside shower at the shower head and left the hot and cold water valves open hot water could flow into the cold water line from there.

Radarman · 08-21-2012, 03:34 PM

You may want to try this too. Let the Hot Water heater cool down and slightly open a hot water faucet while hooked up to outside water. Using gloves and being careful, slightly lift up on the hot water heater's bypass valve hinged handle located at the top of heater on the outside. This will remove all the air you have built up on top of the tank as new water enters the tank. When you get all water and no air, the tank is now full and all the air is out. When you get ready for a trip, slightly open a hot water fauct while filling the hot water tank. When nothing but water comes out, the tank is full. A hot water tank will not fill completely with water when the air inside has no where to go. Just a thought

lhutter1 · 09-27-2012, 10:37 AM

Hey guys!

Lots going on this year, just finally got back to the RV last week and got to play with the water a bit... First off, the hot water tank is an Attwood 6 gallon. There are 2 thermal switches mounted to the side of the tank. The one to the right (aft) is definitely loose. They seem to be glued on or put on with adhesive (not so much on the robust side). There is foam and such around the area and I will have to remove it all to get a closer look after our last time out this season. Is that mounting technique common on these? Thoughts/Recommendations?

Thanks!
Lorne

Ontheroadrv · 09-27-2012, 08:00 PM

Sometimes it takes longer than you think to fill up. Also if you open the pressure relief when it's full you lose the air pocket in the top of the water heater which will cause it to drip when it's hot since there's no room for expansion.

lhutter1 · 09-28-2012, 07:16 AM

Here's a question... What temp should the water be coming out of the tap (figure closest to the tank)? I can have a thermocouple to test that...

wildbill001 · 09-28-2012, 02:20 PM

It may be thermal paste on the thermal switch. At least it was on mine. I replaced with the same stuff I used on a CPU when attaching its cooling fan. To re-attach I just had to press in and turn until the little plastic washer/ring was seated under the three tabs.

Oh, and that foam is important. At least that is what I was told. Helps to insulate the switches from outside influences. My Atwood is supposed to be set for 140, I think is what I read. Don't know for sure because the control board has apparently run out of magic smoke.

lhutter1 · 10-01-2012, 12:39 PM

OK, got it, I didn't see the mounting tabs, makes more sense now. I've got heatsink grease, so it sounds like a pretty straight forward repair. I have to wonder if the over-heated water was also causing the issue with hot water coming out of the cold plumbing... Maybe fouling up the inlet valve? Have to see... Meanwhile, we'll try to keep the magic smoke in! lol

Thanks!