Regulating Hot Water Temperature

[Mike & Molly]

I usually run my Hot Water Tank on electric.
It gets way to hot, especially with children aboard.
Is there a way to regulate the temperature?
For the 2013 - 3010DS.

[BarryD0706]

What brand/model of water heater do you have? I have an Atwood with the mixing valve and think it "mixes" too hot too. No adjustment on it however.

[ependydad]

I don't know what kind of water heater that I have in my Sabre (Suburban, I think). I read the manual and there is no adjustment on the temperature. But, it's way too hot- almost to the point of being unsafe with the little ones.

I was just reading a thread here about someone only getting lukewarm water. I wonder if I can muck with my winterizing valves to allow a little cold into the hot.

Not sure, though.

I'm not happy with it- that's for sure.

[sideout1961]

They may have the water temp high because of the small tank size so you have to use less hot water to take showers and such.

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by sideout1961

They may have the water temp high because of the small tank size so you have to use less hot water to take showers and such.

That's exactly why the water is so hot.

[RJHuser]

I've read in some post where the temperature switch has failed on the electric side resulting in over temperature water. You might check this and replace if necessary.

Another alternate is to get a kilkon thermostatic switch af a temperature you prefer (such as 120*) and make up your own thermostat with the high temperature limit thermostat.

Rick

[RJHuser]

Sorry, that should be klixon.

Rick

[Itsthetwoofus]

Personaly I have not done this but I have heard of people that use the heater tank switch on the RV control panel to turn the heater off when the water gets hot. It'll stay hot for a long time, then as you use water and the hot turns cooler flip the "heater on" button until it heats up again. I guess that way your saving power and the water doesn't stay there and boil. Could be worth a try. A lot of us are beyond little kids and we don't think of this stuff.
Good luck BerryD0706

[RJHuser]

Just took a look at the Suburban service manual, and beside a defective thermostat, it says that if the thermostat/Eco is not in good thermo contact with the heater tank wall it can result in over temperature water.

Also, there are two thermostat/Eco units available, 130* and 140* set point. They had a 120* but it has been discontinued.

Rick

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by RJHuser

Just took a look at the Suburban service manual, and beside a defective thermostat, it says that if the thermostat/Eco is not in good thermo contact with the heater tank wall it can result in over temperature water.

Also, there are two thermostat/Eco units available, 130* and 140* set point. They had a 120* but it has been discontinued.

Rick

Mine is definitely not malfunctioning (can't speak for the Op) - it's just very hot. Quite a bit hotter than we keep our home water heater.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I wonder if I can muck with my winterizing valves to allow a little cold into the hot.

That was my suggestion. If it is open all the way it only gets lukewarm. Maybe part way will solve your problem.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by herk7769

That was my suggestion. If it is open all the way it only gets lukewarm. Maybe part way will solve your problem.

I'm going to try that the next time we're out. Thanks.

[RJHuser]

You could install a thermostatic mixing valve like this:

Honeywell Thermostatic Mixing Valve-AM101C-US-1 at The Home Depot

In the winterizing bypass line and adjust your temperature to whatever you want.

Atwood does this on some models of their water heaters to get increased capacity (that's how they get 16 gallons of hot water out of a 10 gallon tank, they operate the hot water tank at like 160* and use the mixing valve to reduce the temperature to 120* or so)

Rick

[ependydad]

Rick, that's awesome!

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by RJHuser

You could install a thermostatic mixing valve like this:

Honeywell Thermostatic Mixing Valve-AM101C-US-1 at The Home Depot

In the winterizing bypass line and adjust your temperature to whatever you want.

Atwood does this on some models of their water heaters to get increased capacity (that's how they get 16 gallons of hot water out of a 10 gallon tank, they operate the hot water tank at like 160* and use the mixing valve to reduce the temperature to 120* or so)

Rick

We had high calcium well water and an oil fired hot water coil in the furnace when we first moved here. After my third ruined mixing valve, I replaced it with a ball valve and manually set it. This would be no different than the bypass valve trick.

[RJHuser]

Herk:

That is true about calcium build up in the valve. We saw that both here in west-central Ohio and when we lived in north-central Pennsylvania.

One problem with using just a ball valve is that you can get varying temperatures out with varying flows.

The thermostatic mixing valve does need to be checked and maintenance performed on a regular basis depending on the hardness of the water.

Rick

[KyDan]

Mike and Molly, there is no adjustment on the hot water tank.
I suggest you put a thermometer in the hot water stream and tell
us how hot it really is.
It should not be more than 130.
IF it is, you have a defective thermostat. Easy cheap fix of about $24.
If it's just around 130 then you'll have to try opening one of your
winterize bypass valves slightly to cool it as others have suggested.

You can fix this but to your original question it's not technically adjustable.

Good Luck!
Let us know how hot it really is by thermometer.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Mike and Molly, there is not adjustment on the hot water tank.
I suggest you put a thermometer in the hot water stream and tell
us how hot it really is.
It should not be more than 130.
IF it is, you have a defective thermostat. Easy cheap fix of about $24.
If it's just around 130 then you'll have to try opening one of your
winterize bypass valves slightly to cool it as others have suggested.

You can fix this but to your original question it's not technically adjustable.

Good Luck!
Let us know how hot it really is by thermometer.

This is an excellent point. Is it only too hot on electric; but not on propane?
If so, you might have an incorrect thermostat installed on the AC side.

Suburban Water Heater 130 Degree Eco Thermostat 232306 | eBay

[BarryD0706]

I'm glad that Rick mentioned the new Atwood models. I was going to because I have one of those. Unfortunately the mixing valve is not adjustable (as near as I can tell) and the water is too hot. Note that if they'd let me turn it down, my 16-gallon "virtual" capacity would actually increase. I'd also like to point out that it's only the tank temperature that matters as far as capacity so whether I mix in cold water in the shower or it's mixed in at the WH with a mixing valve, the "virtual capacity" is the same for a given end-user temperature.

Edit: Oh...and one more point: Turning off the WH until
it cools down a bit, etc. doesn't work on these mixing-valve WH's until the temp is below the mixing temp, at which
point you've lost your "virtual capacity".

It looks like I could replace the Atwood mixing valve with the adjustable one from Home Depot (once I'm out of warranty) (although one review says what HD sells is the cheap version of that valve).

I also need to measure the water to get a real temperature.

[RJHuser]

I read on one of the forums that the Atwood mixing valve can be adjusted. The thread delt with repairing and cleaning the valve. The adjustment is sealed with silicone or epoxy that has to be dug out to tear the valve apart.

I'll try to find it.

Rick

Edit: found it, it was on the sister site.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f116/atwo...ir-105558.html

Rick