Hot Water Low Flow

[SMIES]

I have almost no hot water flow. I have tries the following:

Turned valve to by pass and had great water flow
Drained tank and flushed with spray nozzle
Reverse flush hot water tank from hot water spigot from washer. Had good flow from heater drain.

Any suggestions or ideas since cold water flow is excellent atthis park.

[jacmat]

Hello Stan,

I have the same problem as you have and did what you did and also blow air into hotwater pipes but still have the same problem but water flow is a bit bigger.

As I was coming to the IRV2 forum to find help, I saw your message.
I did a search on the forum and found that there are 2 check valves in the back of the Atwood water heater.

After I complete writing this message I'm going to take a look a that.
Have fun.

[David K]

I would suspect one or both of the check valves have gone bad --- there is usually no advance warning when they decide to go --- they just fail. There is a check valve on both the "ingoing" and the "outgoing" sides. Not an easy access item but, as a rule, that tends to be the cause of the problem you have described.

[CaptBill]

I had the same problem when I commissioned my rig before leaving for Florida. The problem was the check valves... both of them. On my RV, the one on the cold inlet to the water heater was located right at the back of the heater. Tough to get to, but doable without disconnecting the gas line or moving the water heater. I removed the check valve body, took it apart, and found the valve, spring, and retainer clip had come apart, and were therefore obstructing the inlet.

That solved the problem for about a day; then same thing. Since I gutted the valve, and reinstalled only the body (so as to restore the connections), I knew it had to be the other one. But it was tough to find. It was NOT located anywhere near the water heater.

Turns out it was located on the other side of the motorhome, behind the water-bay compartment panel, just before a 3-way fitting that distributed hot water to different faucets.

I gutted that one as well, and re-assembled with just the valve body, and pressures were back to normal.

You do not need those check-valves if a.) you have a water-heater bypass system so you don't fill the heater tank with antifreeze, or b.) if you winterize by blowing air thru the system, drain your water-heater tank, and just use antifreeze in the sink traps and toilet.

[Ding-a-ling]

Here's a thought for you guys.

My outlet valve went bad a couple years ago and I had a devil of a time working around the corner to get at the back of the WH.

When I finished, my neighbor laid on his back under the WH compartment and said, "This looks like a removable panel!"

Sure enough! It is a plastic, rectangular panel with rounded corners, about 3" by 6".

By removing it there was access straight up to the rear of the waterheater.

Good luck.

FJF

[kscouple52]

I also removed the check valves (gutted them) and got my hot water pressure back but now seems like the water flows into tank to fast and cools the hot water down faster so i dont keep hot water as long