Community Forums

denochs · 04-01-2014, 04:56 AM

Full timers just got back from FL and noticed warm water yesterday (Monday) when taking shower. All day wife said water was only warm. Our water heater has electric and gas heating elements. So, I decided to turn on gas. Burner kicked on and ran for about 5 minutes. Still only warm water. Checked fuse and other electrical on the water heater. Seems to check ok. However, propane stayed on longer when outside door was left open.

This morning I checked it again, only warm water. Opened outside door again and propane stayed on for about 10-15 minutes. Water is warmer, but still not hot.

We did have very hard water in FL where we stayed the winter. And I have not drained the tank in 4 years. Do you think it is full of sediment or corrosion? Any fixes for that?

Dave

al2ride · 04-01-2014, 05:48 AM

Turn everything off and depressurize the tank. Remove the plug or anode rod if you have one and flush the tank. We bought a WH flush wand that goes in there with a bent tip to help get the stuff out. Take a look at your anode rod as you many need to replace it. Make sure your bypass valves are fully opened if you have the three valve setup. If you have the one valve setup, make sure it's full opened and also check the one way valves as they could be bad. Hope this helps.

LEMO · 04-01-2014, 06:17 AM

Just a thought, I have seen this problem before. Did you happen to use the hot water faucet in your wet bay, and leave the hot water faucet on? On some units this causes a problem. My cousin had similar problem. RV Tech, shut off faucet, instant hot water.

denochs · 04-01-2014, 12:34 PM

Found both hot and cold water faucets on in wet bay. Not sure how this could affect hot water. But have shut them off and have hotter water already. May take a while for it to recover fully. Hope that is it.

Will let you know. Thanks for the responses.
Dave

jesilvas · 04-01-2014, 01:51 PM

When both faucets are open and nothing coming out the spout, you create a path for cold water to go into the hot line, and premix, like a faucet is supposed to do. So then that warm, premixed water goes down your hot line, where you mix it again at the shower.