Hot Water problems on shake out trip

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This is a good reason to drain the water heater every so often. Some of the stuff should come out each time it is drained, if there is any in it. I use to drain after every trip but have been skipping it lately.

I am going to start draining after every trip again. Haven't had any trouble and don't want any.

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Mark:

If you're using the city water inlet to apply air pressure, it'll go thru the (city) cold water line, thru the check valve and thru the hot water tank. Depending on whether the anode is removed, it'll blow thru the check valve on the outlet and on to the hot water faucet. To 'blow out' the hot water tank, all the cold water faucets need to be off. There's also a check valve on this side of the 12v water pump. Ya can't 'blow' past this check valve to the pump or fresh water tank.

Air pressure applied at the fresh water tank won't do any good.

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:wave
I couldn't resist spending a little time working on the system this evening.

I put a low pressure air line on the hot water line from the faucet. I blew the junk down the line and everything worked fine for a few minutes. then no flow. Tried it a few more times with the same result. What ever the blockage is, I haven't really cleared it yet.

I went ahead and pulled the bench so I could get to the tank and lines.

I think I have narrowed down the blockage to the hot water tank outlet. (top of the tank)

I noticed the lines are attached with metal bands that don't look that easy to remove. Any suggestions before I attempt to remove the line from the top of the hot water tank? I don't want to create more problems than I fix ;)

Suz, how did you get your lines loose for your plumbing job?

Thanks
Mark

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Casita uses a PEX plumbing system. In my Casita the tubing is 1/2 inch ID, 5/8 inch OD PEX. The tubing is held on PEX fittings with copper rings that are crimped on with a pricey PEX tool. I found the most varied selection of retail PEX product in my area a Lowes. I didn't ask if I could rent the tool.

Others may know if a normal hose clamp would work on PEX. I'm inclined to be pessimistic, but I don't have first hand knowledge.

Sounds like you're narrowing in on it. The hot water line and/or the the hot water outlet on the tank does seem like the culprit.

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Mark,

I cut it off with PVC cutters. Let me explain why.

Right after I got my trailer I discovered a small leak near the city water inlet. I went through all the pain, agony, and research so hopefully you won't have to...Just kidding. Being dramatic here. I did look at all my options, talked to a bunch of RV people, and this is what I came up with. The repairs I made a year ago have held up great, So that is what I used when I did my bypass and re-plumbed some of the lines.

Suz's plumbing

You can get the QEST pipe at any home store, but I do not recommend using those huge gray fittings. The ones that work the best are the white ones that you see in the picture in my plumbing link.

This is important: The trick to getting the compression fittings to work properly is a hairdryer. A regular 110 one. The 12v just doesn't cut it. Heat the line, then force it onto the fitting. Once it is securely flat against the coupler, screw the couple together. Don't forget to have the screw cap on the line before you fit them togeter. It'll sqeak as you tighten it down. Once there, you are good to go.

Going into the water pump, there is a different type of fitting. It is a female fitting with a built in rubber washer. This screws on over the male fitting.

Once you get the hang of it, this stuff is super easy to work with. But more importantly, it holds up. I assume that if the repair I made right by the city water inlet will hold, then so will the others.

The nice thing about it is that you just cut off the gray pipe (I use PVC cutters) and splice it with a coupler/compression fitting.

If you look closely at some of the pictures in the link, I think you'll be able t see where I peiced it together. I went ahead and replace most in that area.

Hope this helps.

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I removed the top fitting on the water tank – not much to see. There is some kind of valve in the tank. I cleaned out what I could get to.

I used a compression fitting to replace the PEX fitting and crimp ring as Suz suggested. The hair dryer trick worked great, and I got a good seal.

I thought I had the blockage cleared. Eventually the flow slowed to about ¼ of what I am getting out of the cold side. There is some calcium in the tank I can't wash out.

I am thinking of using a few gallons of vinegar as acid wash for the tank. If I can dissolve the calcium that is left in the tank, I think I can clear this problem up. My thought is that I can use baking soda to sweeten up the tank after the treatment.

Anyone ever try vinegar in the tank? :conf

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Mark,

Since you have already cut the output line on the tank it would be easy to connect a water hose to it and run water backward through the tank. With the drain plug open, maybe you could flush out more of the calcium.

Then you could reverse the flow of water and run it through a short water hose out on the ground.

Going through this procedure several times may clean it out.

If the above doesn't work I would drain the tank, replace the drain plug, then pour a bottle of lime away in the top of the heater. Let it sit for about an hour then fill it up. Let it sit for another hour or so and then flush it again using the same procedure as before.

This should clean it pretty good. I would run some chlorine through the system when I was finished to clean things up.


Everyone,

I brought the Casita home yesterday and drained the hotwater heater. It is only 3 1/3 months old and hadn't been drained before. When I took the plug out a lot of calcium came out. I still can't believe the amount that came out. There was probably 1/2 cup mixed in with the water. And this water didn't come from a well. It came from the County water system.

On my old trailer I had always kept it empty when not used and never had any calcium come out of it. From now on I will drain it everytime I return from a trip before it is put in storage.

Make sure you check your water heater NOW!

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Ron,
Good ideas - I will add them to my plan of attack.
I especially like the idea of nuking it with LimeAway.

I found this link:

http://www.trailerlife.com/forums/index.cf.../Yes/page/1.cfm

Calcium in the hot water heater seems to be a common problem.
Thanks much!

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Don't forget CLR. but I don't think it likes aluminum so watch that. viniger sounds good too. the hotter the better. I guess the use-to-be-owner never cleaned out the tank.

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My Pharmacist buddy pointed out that it would be hard to harm myself or my tt with vinegar. Good point. I took his advise and started with the most benign of the acids I was considering.

I now have 3 gallons of vinegar and 3 gallons of water in the water heater. I have it set to HIGH …. it smells like a pickle factory.:banana I will give it several hours at temp and see what happens.

I love science experiments – especially ones that smell.

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I found the problem. :sporty

In the cold water intake is a little plastic valve consisting of a white plastic piston shaped like an automotive valve with an O Ring on it. There is a spring that presses the piston and O Ring into the valve body.

I believe this was designed to keep the water in the water heater if the pressure on the cold water line drops. It is hard to tell how exactly it functioned, since it came out in pieces.:censor

I believe without the return spring in place the valve was sticking and causing a slight vacuum in the hot water tank this cut off the flow on the hot water side until this pressure was equalized.

Thanks to everyone for the help!:ola

It was not a total loss. I am no longer afraid to pull my little egg apart. I have the bench removal down to about 5 minutes.

Since I had the bench out anyway I tested my battery and found the FO had not quite spoken the truth when he told me the battery had just been replaced. :splat

The Casita battery was more likely used as a replacement in another rig.

I found a small old Marine battery with several dead cells in the battery box. :reyes

I replaced it with the local battery warehouse’s best RV battery that would fit the battery box. :thumb

I am starting to be very skeptical about everything the FO told me he had recently done to the tt. I think I can use his comments as a list of things I should check right away. He seemed like such a nice guy – marriage counselor by trade – hum?.......:wak

At least the exterior and the interior including the furnishings are in really nice shape.

I will look for parts tomorrow. I am also having pilot problems. If the water heater turns out to have too many problems I will just replace it. I found an exact replacement water heater for $195. It looks fairly easy to replace, especially now that I have all the lines disconnected.

Thanks again.

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New, out of the box, my Casita had trouble keeping the pilot lit. There is a metal deflector on the pilot that, well, deflects the pilot flame up onto the thermocouple that keeps the gas valve open. The flame was being deflected off to the side, missing the thermocouple. I bent the deflector back with with a bent nose pin nose pliers. No problems since.

Once lit, you can usually see where the flame is directed.

While doing some plumbing work, I removed the kick plate on the back wall, at the floor wall junction. I was surprised to find a wire mesh water filter in the line between the water storage tank and the rest of the system. You might eyeball it as long as you have one of the benches out and access is easy. You're not having a problem with the cold side, but as long as you're there...

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Thanks Steve - good idea.

My pilot flame is too small to heat the thermocouple enough to open the gas valve. It could be my propane regulator or a clogged pilot assembly.

The folks at San Diego Trailer Supply told me if I remove the pilot assembly they will test it for free. I have been in there enough lately that they are calling me by my first name.

The malfuctioning valve turned out to be the Cold Water Intake Check Valve. You can see it in Suz pluming photos. It is the brass fitting that screws directly into the COLD connector on the water tank. The T fitting screws into it

Trailer pluming will put you in your place in the Universe. :yep

I learned a lot this week - thanks to everyone here at this forum.

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Mark:

If you're thinking of replaceing the hot water heater, The deluxe kind with DSI ignition is really, really nice (not cheap) but you might get to like it. :)