Hot water Heater working but no hot water just cold

[rocknron]

I have a 2004 Winnebago Adventurer 33v with a Atwood 10gal hot water tank,2 weeks ago while out camping we had no  water coming out of any of the faucets on the hot side,After some research I determined it was a check valve that went bad.when I went to replace the check valve it looked like there were 2 check valves on the back of the heater. One right after the other. I took it with me to the RV place and they said one must have gone bad and someone just put another one right after it.So I only replaced one the other one you could see right thru it.I go camping this weekend and I got water coming out all faucets but all cold water.My hot water heater is full and when I open the relief valve its very hot water coming out it.My question is do I need 2 check valves on my water heater.I even tried the bypass valve to and still cold water coming out. Thanks Ron

 

[darsben]

My guess is you need to find and open(close) the bypass valve that you use for winterizing

 

[NY_Dutch]

There should be just one check valve on the output port of the heater, and the arrow on it should point away from the heater. The check valve goes between the port and the 'T' for the bypass. If you can post a photo of the back of the heater and bypass setup, we can probably spot any potential trouble spots.

 

[John Canfield]

Winnebago uses two check valves on the water heater and they are notorious for failing. We have several threads about these check valves and water heater problems. Click on the Search button and enter check valve for the search term (in this Winnebago board).

 

[Rene T]

The 2 check valves John is talking about are not on the same line. One is on the inlet (bottom pipe) and one is on the outlet (top pipe).
I don't believe he has a check valve problem. Check valve problems typically stop the flow of water or at least slows it down. I think he has a bypass issue.
How many valves do you have on the back of the heater?  If you only have one, that's where your issue may be. That is a directional valve. You may be thinking the valve is switching from one flow path to the other and li may not be.

 

[jims94vmx]

Not sure if you have an outside shower, but many have found if left in the open position cold water seems to circulate.....just a thought.

 

[rocknron]

OK, So I got to work on the water heater problem today,I removed the water heater again and low and behold my water heater has a check valve on the inlet side and the outlet side. I replaced the inlet side last time when I had no water,I replaced the outlet side this time and I have hot water now.The outlet check valve was also bad.I'm thinking when I was up in new York camping a couple weeks ago my buddy said he put a gauge on his water line and had 70lbs of pressure,He has an adjustable water valve and he let me borrow his old reducer with no gauge on it.So i'm thinking it blew both check valves out.I bought an adjustable one today and set it at 38lbs

 

[ChasA]

I don't think a check valve would "blow out" from 70 psi. And if it did, you'd still get water through it. It probably just got full of mineral deposits.

 

[kdbgoat]

And 38 psi is very conservative. 55 psi should be no problem for your coach.

 

[Rene T]

Something doesn't sound right here. The first problem was no water coming out of the hot water faucets. That typically is a bad check valve. A valve was changed then there was water but it was cold and the water in the tank was hot. That isn't a check valve issue. It is a bypass valve issue. FYI, the bottom pipe is the inlet and the top pipe is the outlet.