Surveyor Legend 19BHLE Water Heater (bypass valve location?)

[McHattoncampers]

Hey there,

We are the new owners of a TT Surveyor Legend 19BHLE. We just took it on it's first trip to a local park to try it out. My husband has minimal experience from TT camping when he was a kid and this is all new to me. We had fairly good luck with everything EXCEPT the water heater. I called the dealer, I consulted with several campers at the park and the host of the campsite as well. No one could figure out the issue with our water heater. It would fire up but not stay lit. My husband tried locating any bypass valves, we took off all covers that "made sense" that the bypass valve could be behind. No luck. SO... does anyone know if we DO have a bypass valve, and if so, where? If there is no bypass valve, then what did we do wrong? I just checked when we returned and there may not be water in the tank. We were connected to city water, so from what I've seen, the hot water tank should have received water. We tried the hot water taps and water came out. So, either there is a bypass valve not allowing the tank to fill or we did have water in the tank and maybe it dumped when we emptied?

I am crossing my fingers that we haven't done any permanent damage, but like I said, we're new and I guess everyone is going to have some newbie mistake. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

Elizabeth

[fonzie]

Have a look underneath the bed for the by-pass valves. Might have to take mattress off, see if access panel. Also look into the front storage compartment for an access panel next to city water connections.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

I'm not familiar with your model, but it certainly sounds like you have bypass valves that are still in the winterization positions.

In the campers I've had the bypass valves have been directly behind the water heater. In my current camper the water heater is under a closet in the rear bath. There is an exterior storage compartment adjacent to it and you access the bypass valves through the storage compartment, reaching over and behind the water heater and the panel that protects all the connections. In my previous camper the water heater was also under a cabinet/closet, but you accessed the bypass backed from inside the trailer. There was a panel under the cabinet/closet that you removed to access the area behind the water heater. The screws were color matched to the paneling and weren't obvious unless you were looking for them. They also required a square driver. Good luck, let us know how you make out.

[BarabooBob]

Every bypass valve I have ever seen was right next to the water hookups for the water heater also. Your water heater will have a panel on the outside of the TT, on the back of the water heater will be the bypass valve.

[clarkbre]

As others have said, it's likely the bypass valves need to be turned to allow water into the water heater. Looking at your floorplan, the water heater should be located under the bottom bunk towards the rear of the trailer. There should 2 or 3 valves that need to be turned 1/4 turn each. My educated guess is that if this is a brand new unit, the dealer didn't de-winterize it; therefore, didn't actually test the systems of the travel trailer.

I would call the dealer first thing Monday to explain your lack of hot water. Hopefully, you didn't try the electric portion of it and blew out the element. If that is the case, push on the dealer to correct it. Your lack of hot water proves that they did not properly ready the trailer.

Worst case scenario, call Kate Ebolle at Surveyor's warranty department. She can put the screws to the dealer to correct things in short order.

Lastly, if this was your first outing, it was not your fault! Have the dealer correct this.

[MR.M]

The valves are behind the water heater you may have just one 2 way valve or 3 valves depending on what the manufacture used .

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by McHattoncampers

Hey there,

We are the new owners of a TT Surveyor Legend 19BHLE. We just took it on it's first trip to a local park to try it out. My husband has minimal experience from TT camping when he was a kid and this is all new to me. We had fairly good luck with everything EXCEPT the water heater. I called the dealer, I consulted with several campers at the park and the host of the campsite as well. No one could figure out the issue with our water heater. It would fire up but not stay lit. My husband tried locating any bypass valves, we took off all covers that "made sense" that the bypass valve could be behind. No luck. SO... does anyone know if we DO have a bypass valve, and if so, where? If there is no bypass valve, then what did we do wrong? I just checked when we returned and there may not be water in the tank. We were connected to city water, so from what I've seen, the hot water tank should have received water. We tried the hot water taps and water came out. So, either there is a bypass valve not allowing the tank to fill or we did have water in the tank and maybe it dumped when we emptied? Elizabeth

I am crossing my fingers that we haven't done any permanent damage, but like I said, we're new and I guess everyone is going to have some newbie mistake. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

See if this thread can help. It explains how you may gain access to the water heater valves, and then how the valves need to be positioned.


We keep this common problem as a sticky at the top of the plumbing section



http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...st-103381.html

[wmtire]

Since you said you were new, this link may also help as it explains a lot of the things that new RV owners may encounter:


http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ts-157524.html

[RitaB]

If you haven't found the bypass values yet. Try this , you know where the out side access is to the water heater is, just figure out what where the back of it is. There should be a wood panel on the inside as one of the others mentioned. Just unscrew the corners and remove the panel. On my Surveyor it's in the rear bathroom next to the toilet with a cabinet above. One thing I've done is to replace the screws with stick on velcro, so now I just have to pull the panel off. Much easier. Just took a look at your floorplan, yours might be under the bunk.

[upflying]

I just had my WH cover off, it's behind the panel that you see just inside the left front side cargo door. Unscrew it and it's behind there.
Pull the pressure relief valve open while the WH is filling to relieve air pressure and confirm its filled..