newbie with a few questions. prob simple to you RVers

ok I have posted a few things on this site and you all have giving me the best support and advise, and i thank you for that. Since the last time we talked I have moved into my RV and love it, just added a TV and fixed the little things. now comes the big questions.

1. When i received my RV it had the low point on the hot water heater open, i think it requires an anode rod, because it looks to have been eaten away to a small rod, looks like a welding rod, very thin, I think it had the anode wrapped around it , so its all gone now, thats not the problem, I have a new one ordered , should be here in a day or so. my problem is that the water does not last long at all. it heats up with gas, it takes about 30 min for it to heat the water fully. when i go to take a shower it last all of 1- 2 min. if that. the first night i used alot of hot water and finished it off with cold water to make it just right. but i have been trying different ways of setting the water, but nothing works, last night it had is verrrry low and lasted 2 min at most. does this sound right? it cant be, is there a better way of cleaning the hot water heater besides using a spray nozzle cleaning threw the low point and cleaning with vinegar  50/50 solution? can i take it apart and hand clean it mechanically? or do i need to get another one? im trying to keep this one if possible.

2. i have 2 furnaces in my RV and the front one works great, the back one does not work, Im getting gas to the valve, the valves is clicking on, but no fire. its under my closet and i have taken the closet all apart to give me room around my furnace , I looked into the intake and exhaust to that  furnace  to reveal "dirt dauber nest" my question is. after i get off work tonight im going to take it out and clean the heck out of it. is there any thing i need to keep and eye out for when doing this? ill clean the ignitor and stuff like that. anything info will help. I think a good cleaning will do the trick.

3. there is a safe in my RV. it was attached to my closet floor, it weighs about 30 −40 pounds. its called "conceal -A- safe" has a S&G lock, i called S&G and they said i need to contact the safe manufacture and that all they would tell me, For the life of me i cant find any info on this safe. If i cant get it opened or buy a key then ill trash it because its so heavy,

4. I have hydraulic leveling jacks one in the front  , two in the back between the tires, everything works good but one of them, to operate i open the valve to the jack i want to use and hit the button. i do this for all if i want to lower a jack or all of them i open the valve to the jack and then open a bleeder valve so all the fluid will run back into the holding tank. One of the rear jacks will let a little press off , lower the RV a few inches and then nothing, i was thinking it needed a little help so i put a bat under it to help it along and it bent the bat, has anyone came across this problem? im guessing it will need a rebuild, but getting it up is my problem, and taking it off fully extended is next to impossible.


thanks for your help. here is a few pics.

a picture of the safe

a picture of the safe

1. What brand and model of water heater? If its a Suburban, it needs an anode in the drain hole. If it's an Atwood, it should NOT have one, even if there was one there before.

You probably have a 6 gallon water heater (what is the make & model number of it?), so it won't last a long time if running hot water only. Should be more than two minutes, though. When the hot runs out in the shower, check the water at the tank itslef and see if you still have hot water there. It may be you are getting cold water mixed with the hot. This can happen if a bypass valve (winterizing valve) is partly open, or another hot/cold mixing faucet (e.g. outside shower head) is partially open.

2.Clean out those dauber nests and vacuum the air intake and exhaust ports thoroughly.

3. Can you contact the safe manufacturer? If not, try a local locksmith.
Conceal-A-Safe
  15571 Placid Circle
  Huntington Beach, CA 92647
800-248-7233


4.What brand and model is the hydraulic jack system? Can't say that I've ever heard of one that you have to manually open valves to raise or lower one.

1. yes it is a suburban

2. im going to get on that right after work, its diffrent than my other one, ill need to remove it to do anything to it. the only thing on the outside of the RV is a intake tube and exhaust tube, the one in the front is exposed to the out side with a door  so its easy to work on and trouble shoot,

3. called them and they are getting back to me, but he said its so old that he does not know if he can get me a key, and he said locksmiths dont have the keys,

4. dont know the brand , but ill take some pics in tonight

5. my fridge is not working ether but i guess ill need gauges with that one.

See, told you just getting (and keeping) the motorhome up and running would keep you busy. No need for a motor swap to eat even more time.

lol you are very right, this unit was the possession of an older couple that could not drive any more and could not do any work on it to keep it up. everything looks new nothing is damaged its looks great, the couple has passed on and I got bought the RV, So i knew it needed some TLC, but when its all done it will be a great RV, and could sell it for way more than i paid,

the reverse camera Tube TV does not work any more, does anyone know if swapping out the tube screen with some sort of LCD is doable or would the whole system need replacing, dont know if the old systems were only made for each other or if i can swap screens, thats a job for this week end, First off is heat and hot water.

I don't mean that as a "told you so" (I don't think you took it that way) just I see your to-do list and see you have plenty to keep you busy.

rvmobile.com and bryantrv.com are two sites with lots of fridge info. Not lais out great, but lots of info if you dig.

  You mentioned the reefer; " for that one I'll need gauges."  Unless you have a residential type reefer you are talking about a whole  different type.  RV reefers use ammonia and heat to cool and not the compressor type at home.  That statement has about depleted my knowledge but I'm sure if you ask the right questions somebody here will have answer. Remember to start  your questions with make model, serial number.  That starts the ball rolling.

update.

i took the furnace all the way apart, its a duo-therm and was not easy getting it all the way down ,cleaned, and back together, now it seems the circuit board it not working, the fan comes on , both fans are blowing and sucking. one for the fire and one for the air blower. the gas valve opens fine because i can smell the gas, the ignitor is not working, i tested the wires going to the ignitor and its not getting power. so im guessing its the board. my next question is what to do next? replace the board ( can anyone tell me where to get one?) or do i throw it out and get a new one? the furnace is a duo-therm model # 90125-001  19750 btu output

anyone know about the fridge? its a Dometic royal designer series RM 3807

the reverse camera system is called  CAR VISION for intec by mitsubishi . it comes on but only a line across the picture , no picture, any info on that?

Before you replace the board, check that the Sail switch is working. This is a paddle operated switch that switches (I'm guessing 12V to the board) when it sees enough air flow over the paddle. Since the furnace was plugged up, you may also have a plugged duct. Without adequate air flow, the igniter will never fire.
Hope this helps,
Ernie

Ernie n Tara said:

Before you replace the board, check that the Sail switch is working. This is a paddle operated switch that switches (I'm guessing 12V to the board) when it sees enough air flow over the paddle. Since the furnace was plugged up, you may also have a plugged duct. Without adequate air flow, the igniter will never fire.
Hope this helps,
Ernie

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yes , it had a few things in it as well, its all cleaned out, even took the fans out wire brushed the blades and now it blows great, it was thinking the switch might have something to do with it,  i was going to replace it as well but its simple to check, so ill check it and go from there. thanks for your input,

not the sail switch. it tested fine. I did call an rv parts house and having the circuit board sent out along with the anode rod that was missing, the hydraulics problem i was dealing with has worked its self out, i had to pry it up and about half way it started to go under its own power, so i lifted them all up and put 5" thick blocks of wood under them all. seems to be working great now. I guess it was extended to far, Ill get it rebuilt when I get home.

next thing is the batteries, It seems the RV dealer put a few in that look like they dont belong, all 3 look like car batteries, they are all new, but one is called a deep cell marine battery, and one of the un marked batteries Is hooked up to my RV engine ,so only 2 are going to the living space, Do i need to replace thies? it seems they were just throwing in to get this thing sold.  I have room for 6 batteries in  the tray but that for both the engine and RV. should i find the 6 volt batteries and all 4 for them and wire them to give my RV 12v, and run 2 batteries for the engine? how did they come from the factory? or what is the best way the set this up?

What year, make & model of motorhome? Gas or diesel power? A diesel needs a pair of 12v batteries for starting, not just one.

You want deep cycle batteries for the house and a regular engine starting battery for the engine. Nothing "RV" about that one.

Whether you need 2 or 4 house batteries depends on whether you will ever be without campground electrical hook-ups. More batteries simply means a longer time without recharging.

its a 1987 Monaco diplomat . has a 454 gas. has room for 6 total,

there is a power inverter under my steps, it runs all the time, even when Im sleeping , should it run all the time? it just seems that would make it go out prematurely.

RabbitCTSV said:

there is a power inverter under my steps, it runs all the time, even when Im sleeping , should it run all the time? it just seems that would make it go out prematurely.

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Actually electrical devices will go out sooner if it is turned off and on a lot rather than letting it run continuously. There is a power surge when something is turned on then the device heats up to operating temperature. When it is turned off it cools down again. That heating and cooling is not good for just about anything electrical.

ok thanks very much. makes since

Did you ever find your hot water?

As was briefly mentioned above, it sounds like your outside shower. If the shutoff valve on the shower head is closed, but the hot and cold valves feeding it are open, the cold water will feed thru that valkve into the rv's hot water plumbing. Don't ask how I know this... Symptoms exactly as you descibed, hot last just long enough for wife to get her hair all soapy!

A few years ago, I helped out a guy with a brand new TT, he had exactly the same symptoms as you are describing with the ho****er for only a very short period of time.  The unit had been winterized and the valve was closed off, so he was actually not pulling the water from the right hose.  Turned the knob and problem solved.  Not sure if this is the same issue, but it sure sounds like it.

JimM68 said:

Did you ever find your hot water?

As was briefly mentioned above, it sounds like your outside shower. If the shutoff valve on the shower head is closed, but the hot and cold valves feeding it are open, the cold water will feed thru that valkve into the rv's hot water plumbing. Don't ask how I know this... Symptoms exactly as you descibed, hot last just long enough for wife to get her hair all soapy!

Click to expand...

yes , as i was taking a shower half the water was coming out of the shower head and the other half was going out of the faucet , the water draining out of the faucet was all hot water, so I rigged it so that it only comes out of the shower head and now my showers last 5 min. thats great, now i need to find a replacement faucet.

on another note my hot water heater when on , I can hear a loud continuos high pitch buzzzzz. its coming from the ingitor on the circuit board. It does not seem right to me but is working fine, im going to order a new board as a stand my when that one goes out, does every ones make that noise? mine is a suburban water heater. thanks