suburban hot water tank

[RC08]

I have a new 2014 Cherokee 274dbh I'm getting about 3 minutes of hot water then water goes cold. I have tried tank on gas an electric and both on at same time. I checked the valves on the tank. cold is open hot is open bypass is closed. gas is firing up when calling. acts like tank is not full but I open the relief and water comes out so I'm at a loss. any suggestions thanks

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by RC08

I have a new 2014 Cherokee 274dbh I'm getting about 3 minutes of hot water then water goes cold. I have tried tank on gas an electric and both on at same time. I checked the valves on the tank. cold is open hot is open bypass is closed. gas is firing up when calling. acts like tank is not full but I open the relief and water comes out so I'm at a loss. any suggestions thanks

Make sure your outside shower taps are not on whilst the outdoor shower wand itself is turned off at the wand. If you have the detachable type outdoor shower, make sure the taps aren't turned on. These scenarios allow cold water to be drawn into the hot water line while you are showing inside.

Now on the inside shower:

Also, if this is your first travel trailer experience, you learn to take navy showers. You wet yourself, turn off the water at the shower wand...soap yourself, shampoo hair......then turn the water back on at the wand and rinse off. Then turn all the taps off.


You only have a small tank and won't be able to shower like you do at home.

You can also check that bypass valve again and make sure it is completely closed. The handle has to be perpendicular to the actual bypass pipe. It makes a T across the pipe. Some people confuse this since the bypass pipe isn't running the same direction as the inlet/outlet pipes.

[RC08]

thanks I will check the out side shower. we had a old Starcraft before this one the tank seemed to last longer than this one by leaps and bounds. the old unit didn't have outside shower in it so I will check it out. thanks

[RC08]

just checked outside shower it was off at the valves so that wasn't the issue. thanks for the info I would not thought of checking that out for cross contamination

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by RC08

just checked outside shower it was off at the valves so that wasn't the issue. thanks for the info I would not thought of checking that out for cross contamination

You might want to check the bypass valve again as shown in the illustration above that I added. It's also possible to have a bad valve that's not fully closing too.

[OldCoot]

Also make sure the inside shower faucets are turned off or the same thing will happen as if the outside faucets were left open.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Also make sure the inside shower faucets are turned off or the same thing will happen as if the outside faucets were left open.

Aaah, good suggestion. I assumed RC08 meant the water went cold after 3 minutes of showering...but they might have meant washing dishes.

Many times though, the inside shower wand has the drip feature that lets you know the taps are still on, even if shut off at the wand....since the water is dripping out of it.

[mjones12]

Yeah, I noticed a big puddle of water under the back of my camper and said, "Oh, #@$%, what has happened now." Turned out not too bad. My wife had cut off the outside shower with the shutoff button but left the faucets on. So there was the normal drizzle you always see when you use the shutoff button. She had closed the door to the outside shower, so I thought at first it was leaking out the bottom of the camper, but it was actually just coming out the shower compartment door.

[RC08]

well I have tried all the things that have been mentioned nothing has helped thanks for taking the time to give me the info you did. I just took a shower and was out of hot water before I could barely get wet. it was Luke warm at best in less than 2 minutes. so I will turn the issue over for warranty I guess. Thanks again for the help.

[Ford Idaho]

This does smack of a bad valve.

[BooBoo23]

If you have electric and propane on the water heater you may want to turn them both on when you shower so there is faster recovery. Then turn the propane back off for normal use, use the campsite's electricity.

[MrJoe]

Maybe change the shower head to a water-saving type?


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[wmtire]

You might can test that by pass valve by first making sure that the water heater is turned off and not being powered by propane or the electric heating element. (This is just for safety reasons).

Now you will close the cold water inlet valve and hot water outlet valve at the water heater. Leave the bypass closed too. Now you shouldn't have any pressure really when you turn on any of the hot water taps in your trailer....since there should be no way for the hot water line to be pressurized since the heater is shut off and the bypass valve is shut off.

If you are getting pressure out of your hot water line taps, then that would be an indication that possibly the cold water is being able to get into the hot water lines thru a faulty bypass valve. I don't think it would need to be a lot of pressure, but you should be able to tell if it's happening....and go from there.

Who knows, it could be something a simple as the handle being broken on the bypass valve and it's not turning the valve inside.

I would think using the above procedures, that you could leave a hot water tap on and open/close the bypass valve to see if water flows/stops.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Aaah, good suggestion. I assumed RC08 meant the water went cold after 3 minutes of showering...but they might have meant washing dishes.

Many times though, the inside shower wand has the drip feature that lets you know the taps are still on, even if shut off at the wand....since the water is dripping out of it.

My factory shower had a positive shutoff on the shower head and I switched to the Oxygenic with the trickle shutoff which I immediately threw the trickle shutoff in the trash and replaced it with a positive shut off.

[pt1655]

wmtire,
thanks for the great illustration on water pipes and bypassing. A lot of us are confused about all that and your posts really help.
Happy Camping!

[47chevy]

check for a "mixer" valve in the lines. It may need adjusting. Had that problem with the new Sanibel.

[Harkerr]

Make sure connections to WH are not reversed. Cold to cold. Hot to hot. Also check thermostat.

[saltyman]

I was going to suggest check the thermostat??????? Water on startup should be at least 160 degrees, which is really HOT.

[RC08]

the water is actually to hot if left idle it starts to lift the relief valve just a little and starts dripping

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by saltyman

I was going to suggest check the thermostat??????? Water on startup should be at least 160 degrees, which is really HOT.

Most water heaters come from factory with 130° hi limits on both gas and 110V and can be replaced with 142° hi limits .