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Mckapp · 02-19-2025, 02:11 PM

2003 Itasca Horizon pusher. Hot water heater fires and gets hot but when the hot water faucets are turned on no hot water. Full flow of water but not hot water motor home is new to me. Frustrating?? Thanks

David 70 · 02-19-2025, 02:14 PM

Is the water heater turned to normal, and not bypass?

Mckapp · 02-19-2025, 02:53 PM

Yes it is in normal use. If I put it in bypass and turn on the hot faucet nothing comes out.

David 70 · 02-19-2025, 03:15 PM

In bypass you should still be able to get water. Bypass is used to winterize with rv antifreeze so it will not fill the water heater. On my present one I was having a lot of trouble getting the hot water to work correctly. It turned out the bypass valve was labeled wrong from the factory. It took me a lot of switching back and forth before I got that figured out. On some of those valves the handle just pulls off because they are on splines, and they can be put on in several different positions.

wildtoad · 02-19-2025, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mckapp

Yes it is in normal use. If I put it in bypass and turn on the hot faucet nothing comes out.

Then you have a valve in the wrong position.

DustyDriver · 02-19-2025, 03:31 PM

There's a safety issue here as well. IF you are bypassing the water heater - as all of us seem to believe - you need to consider whether that water heater has water in it. If it's empty of water and you heat it up, you could have a ticking bomb on your hands.

DD

Old-Biscuit · 02-19-2025, 07:59 PM

No water in WH tank,,,,,,,,,electric element is burnt out within a few minutes or less.
Propane.....t-stat and or high temp t-stat will open and shutdown the propane heating
Just do not find/open cold water inlet valve until tank has cooled down

But doubt that is your issue

If BYPASS valve is in 'Normal' position and you get flow from faucets but is cold........BUT in 'Bypass' position and NO FLOW
Then labeling is backwards and WH HOT Outlet CHECK VALVE has failed prevent water to flow out of WH

d23haynes57 · 02-19-2025, 08:37 PM

Test open relief on top and make sure there is water in the tank. That should always be done for first operation of the heater. If it was operated dry the tank is most likely damaged. If you tried it on electric that element is likely burned out also.

DFord · 02-19-2025, 10:31 PM

If you have a cut-off on your shower hose, make sure you didn't turn that off and leave the actual shower valve open.
I did that a year ago and couldn't figure out why I had full flow but no hot water. The water in the water heater was hot but I couldn't get it to come out of the faucets at the bathroom sink or kitchen sink. I wasn't about to try taking a shower in cold water! Then I thought to check that 1/4 turn valve I put in the shower hose so I didn't need to readjust the water temp every time I stopped water flow to soap-up. Sometimes, it's the little things.

yeloduster · 02-20-2025, 07:19 AM

You may have a 3 valve bypass system for your water heater. If so it will be plumbed something like the picture attached.

In normal operation the red valve is closed but both blue valves are open. In this case water flows through the water heater

In bypass operation both blue valves are closed and the red valve is open. In this case water flows through the read pipe and not through the water heater.

If you have this bypass system and you are only turning on and off the 'red' valve you would get exactly your symptom. Presuming either or both the 'blue valves are closed, you would get cold water when the 'red' valve is open and no water when it is closed.

Mckapp · 02-20-2025, 07:56 AM

Thank you to all that has responded to my question. I found the issue and fix. I was turning the bypass valve to far. When I turned to mid point on the tee it worked perfectly. Great hot water. Yeah 🤓 thanks again to all!!!!