Water heater problem - unusual one?

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Clay L

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John, you may want to move this  since  I am not sure this is specific to Winnebago. I don't know if other manufacturer's use the same plumbing scheme for winterizing the water heater or not.

A week or so ago our hot water temperature dropped from the usual 136 degrees down to 112 degrees.
Suspecting cold water cross feed I checked the outside shower to make sure both valves were off.
They were so I jumped to the conclusion that the thermostat was bad. I replaced it and the ECO disc at the same time. Still no 136 degree water.

I finally got a little smarter and checked the temp of the water in the water heater instead of what was coming out of the faucets - it was 136 degrees, so there had to be a cold water cross feed somewhere.
The only thing I could see that would cause the problem was a leak in the winterizing diverter valve but since it has only been used once six years ago it seemed unlikely that it could have gone bad. I replaced it anyway and sure enough that fixed the problem.

The old valve has a small leak from the cold water inlet port to the port that connected to the hot water line.

If I had been smart enough to check the water temp in the water heater first I could have saved some time and about $20.
 
Clay - thanks for the report!  While there are some similarities with all RV plumbing systems, placement/use of check valves, three-way valves, etc.,  is specific to each house builder.  We'll claim your post!
 
SargeW said:
That was an impressive find Clay.  Don't think I would have thought of checking that valve :eek:

Good Job!

Sarge
Click to expand...

Thanks Sarge. I would love to take all the credit but being able to download the plumbing diagrams and part call-outs from the Winnebago site let me see how it worked and figure it out.

By the way, Winne uses two check valves - one on the hot water out and one on the cold water in.
I plan to pick up two and keep them on hand. It looks like they won't be too difficult to remove and replace.
 
Clay L said:
Thanks Sarge. I would love to take all the credit but being able to download the plumbing diagrams and part call-outs from the Winnebago site let me see how it worked and figure it out.
Click to expand...
A tremendous advantage for the Winnie owner owner that is a DIYer!
 
Clay...Just want to add one more....good detective work. I have had to replace my check valves and they always fail at the worst times. I would not have thought to check that either. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Clay L said:
By the way, Winne uses two check valves - one on the hot water out and one on the cold water in.
I plan to pick up two and keep them on hand. It looks like they won't be too difficult to remove and replace.
Click to expand...

Clay, the original check valves (at least the ones in my 2000 Horizon) have a center poppet valve which is made of plastic with a groove near the tapered tip for an "O" ring which forms the seal.  It is common for this "O" ring to come off the poppet and then the check valve function is lost.  Solid brass replacement check valves are available (Camco mfg) and I believe these will provide a more reliable check valve function.  These valves (the camco solid brass units) have 1/2" MPT on inlet and outlet and will require Flair-it PEX fitting adapters to adapt to the PEX tubing used in RV plumbing systems.  http://store.flairit.com/  is the URL for an online source of Flair-it plumbing supplies.  The Camco check valves are available from Amazon.com
 
tennsmith said:
Clay, the original check valves (at least the ones in my 2000 Horizon) have a center poppet valve which is made of plastic with a groove near the tapered tip for an "O" ring which forms the seal.  It is common for this "O" ring to come off the poppet and then the check valve function is lost.  Solid brass replacement check valves are available (Camco mfg) and I believe these will provide a more reliable check valve function.  These valves (the camco solid brass units) have 1/2" MPT on inlet and outlet and will require Flair-it PEX fitting adapters to adapt to the PEX tubing used in RV plumbing systems.  http://store.flairit.com/  is the URL for an online source of Flair-it plumbing supplies.  The Camco check valves are available from Amazon.com
Click to expand...

I saw two styles at an RV store in Quartzsite. The Camco were female female and the ones with plastic parts were female male. I wasn't sure which style I needed so I didn't buy anything.

Looking at the valves on the heater it appears that the Camco female female is what I need. Does that jibe with yours?
They don't seem to connect directly to the PEX tubing but have brass nipples that screw into them.
The Camco ones were about $8 each.

Just for grins I attached a drawing I did of the heater layout to email a friend so he could see how it works.
 

Attachments

  • water heater schematic.jpg
    water heater schematic.jpg
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It may have been that mine had female threads....I just don't remember and both are inaccessible for a look without either pulling the water heater or removing the control panel in the water compartment.  Mine had no brass adapters that would fit the PEX tubing...I do know that.  I bought from Flair-it, the fittings I needed which were plastic and adapted to the PEX tubing.
 
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