Hot water pressure problem

[alanhageman]

I have a 2006 Itasca Suncruiser and the hot water just quit working. Not the water heater - it works just fine. I was washing dishes and everything was fine, then the hot water just quit flowing. The cold water will flow fine, but the hot water will not flow from any faucet or shower. There is water going into the water heater as I have opened the pressure relief valve and water flows just fine and I can hear the water pump (directly below the water heater) working. I have completely shut down the water system and released all pressure, then restarted the system and still no hot water anywhere. I'm hoping it's not an obstruction in the line as they are EXTREMELY difficult to get to. Any suggestions?

[Cousin Ed]

I would bet it's the check valve on the back of the wate heater. It happened to us twice. It's a pain to reach!!!!

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanhageman I have a 2006 Itasca Suncruiser and the hot water just quit working. Not the water heater - it works just fine. I was washing dishes and everything was fine, then the hot water just quit flowing. The cold water will flow fine, but the hot water will not flow from any faucet or shower. There is water going into the water heater as I have opened the pressure relief valve and water flows just fine and I can hear the water pump (directly below the water heater) working. I have completely shut down the water system and released all pressure, then restarted the system and still no hot water anywhere. I'm hoping it's not an obstruction in the line as they are EXTREMELY difficult to get to. Any suggestions?

i replaced my 2 plastic water heater check valves with brass camco valves from camping world, pn 23303. others on this forum just remove the guts of the failed check valve and reinstall it. the valves are behind the water heater and are a pita to reach.

[Jim]

hi..this is a common problem most likely caused by check valves in the lines..i had this happen to me and i removed the valves ..i believe they are there to prevent backflow during winterization ..do a search on check valves or hot water problems and you will find a lot of information on how to diagnose and fix the problem..jim..

[alanhageman]

Since I made the post last night I've read several other posts from people with the same problem. I think you're right and this morning I'm going to pull out the water heater and locate the check valves. Since I live in Colorado year round I think I'll opt for the brass replacements. It's my understanding that the purpose of the check valves/balls are for winterization and the last thing I want is to have ice burst water lines. I'll post back a little later about how the repair goes.

Thanks again for the responses and the help.

[John Hilley]

I just went thru the same thing. On mine I was able to access the water heater by unscrewing the breaker panel and pulling it out. I used a 1" deep socket to remove the check valve. The valve causing my problem was the hot water out at the top of the water heater. Winnebago put in a male to male check valve and my replacement Camco valve was a male to female so I had to use a 1/2" close hex nipple to install it. The hex nipple I tightened with a 7/8" deep socket. I had a Flair-It tool to remove the plastic "T" on the end of the check valve. A small slip joint plier will work fine also. They are called back flow preventers in the parts listing.

Check valve/back flow preventer

[HENZEN9]

I went through the same scenerio with my water heater. The "brass" check valves are brass only on the outside, internally they are mild steel. My replacement lasted only one year. I replaced the automatic check valve with a manual ball valve. Fixed forever.

Allen

[alanhageman]

Well 6 hours and a lot of frustration later - problem fixed. It was the check valves on the back of the water heater. I tried to get to them through the little access hole behind and below the water heater, but there just was not enough room. I had to take the water heater out and that was quite a chore. For anybody else who reads this and has this problem, try to get to them through the access hole first if you have one and there is enough room. The check valves installed by Winnebago were brass, but the spring(s) inside them were steel. The steel had corroded to the point the spring on one of them had broke so there was nothing to hold the plunger in place. I decided to "gut" the valves and will use the blow-out method for winterization. The fact that the valves (or at least the valve body) was made of brass leads me to believe that Winnebago has recognized this problem and has tried to solve it. However, as long as the springs are steel then my conclusion is that this will still be a problem for a lot of RV'rs.

Thanks again for all the responses. Without them I would not have had a clue where to start. At first I was thinking it was a clogged water line and was in a cold sweat trying to think of how in the world I would be able to locate and fix a problem like that.

Thanks again everybody!

[RJay]

Alan,
A lot of those check valves are plastic and when they fail are replaced with the copper/brass valves. I'm surprised the springs weren't made of stainless steel...wait, no I'm not.

Glad you found the problem and good job!

[yepekya]

No hot water pressure, sure enough, it was the check valve. Winnebago could not identify the part number so we ordered the camco 23303 as advertised. Well our unit check valve had two male ends not the male and female ends/23303. The two male end part is 88-8230 found at Tweetys.com. Great company. Brass part. You may wish to identify your part before you order. We did not want to mess with the part twice and as a result ordered the wrong part. Amazing adventure.