Hot water issue

[LauranRob]

Hello,
We are on a camping trip with our 2018 Casita and after hooking up our water supply there is no water coming out of the "Hot" faucet handle. We do have water coming out of the cold handle...but nothing is coming out when turning the "Hot" water handle.
Any input or suggestions are gratefully accepted.
Thank you
Rob & Laura

[Donna D.]

Well, lets start with is the water heater in by-pass mode? Is there any water in the water heater? How did you test that?

[LauranRob]

Hello Donna,
I did check to see it there was water in the heater by pulling on the pressure release valve and hot water came out. I tried looking for a "bypass" switch with no luck. I could not find a bypass switch on my unit and never touched anything like that in the past and had no issue switching on the heater and having hot water? Looked on Youtube and the videos I came up with had units that did NOT look anything like ours. I've attached a photo of our hot water heater unit for you to see.
This is very puzzling to me...again...as I've never messed with this other than to flip the little toggle switch (on/off) to turn it on?
Any suggestions are certainly welcome and appreciated.
Rob & Laura
2018 Casita

[Casita Greg]

First, there is no bypass "switch." It is a bypass VALVE, and it is accessed from inside the trailer. In the inside aisleway, open the compartment hatch under the driver's side rear bench and you will be facing the rear of the water heater.

There should be a short vertical piece of PEX tubing staring you in the face, and behind it is a small brass valve, which is the bypass valve. If this valve is closed, it is most likely the reason you're not getting hot water flow. The handle of the valve should be in the vertical position to be open, (and horizontal when it's closed.) A word of caution about the valve, NEVER, EVER ATTEMPT TO MOVE IT'S POSITION WHILE THERE IS WATER PRESSURE ON IT!!!!! Turning that valve, even once, while the trailer water sytem is pressurized will ruin the valve seat and cause it to leak. I can't stress that point enough. Make sure you bleed off any pressure in the trailer's water system first before changing its position! You don't need to drain anything, just depressurize it.

Also, just an aside, although it might seem easier to access if the valve was reversed, Don't Do It,!!! or it won't work. It is not a simple on/off valve. It is a three-way valve internally, and it sits in there, oriented that way for a reason. Don't reverse it.

It sounds like you would greatly benefit from Eileen's A-Z Casita guide. It would answer many of your questions, and well worth the investment. I was also one of her contributors as to information in it, and no I get nothing for recommending it, but it's well worth the money. It has answers, (and pictures and diagrams, etc.) of everything and anything relative to Casita trailers. A very handy reference.

https://www.amazon.com/Casita-Travel.../dp/1887780084

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by LauranRob

Hello Donna,
I did check to see it there was water in the heater by pulling on the pressure release valve and hot water came out. I tried looking for a "bypass" switch with no luck. I could not find a bypass switch on my unit and never touched anything like that in the past and had no issue switching on the heater and having hot water? Looked on Youtube and the videos I came up with had units that did NOT look anything like ours. I've attached a photo of our hot water heater unit for you to see.
This is very puzzling to me...again...as I've never messed with this other than to flip the little toggle switch (on/off) to turn it on?
Any suggestions are certainly welcome and appreciated.
Rob & Laura
2018 Casita

It's not the front, gas control area, that you should be interested in, as that has nothing to do with water flow. Look at the tank and the water connections going to it. There should be two hose connections to the tank, and a valve placed between those two pipes as a bypass. If you have a bypass system, the valves on the hoses connected to the tank should be open, and the valve on the line that connects the two hoses, should be closed. Simply having a full tank, does not mean the water will flow through the tank. It is not a "switch" you are looking for. Electrical switches do not control water flow. Look at the valves on the connecting water hoses.

[LauranRob]

Thank you very much for the input and the suggestion about obtaining the Casita guide. I will look into that upon our return home tomorrow.

[LauranRob]

Thank you

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by LauranRob

This is very puzzling to me...again...as I've never messed with this other than to flip the little toggle switch (on/off) to turn it on?
Any suggestions are certainly welcome and appreciated.
Rob & Laura
2018 Casita

And the cure for having to go outside to flip the breaker from off to on, or vice-versa, is another mod I did long ago. Casita could have installed an inside electric element control switch, but I guess saving $5 was worth more to them than convenience for the owner. I don't have to go outside anymore. I just leave the little breaker on the water heater in the on position all the time and use my regular after-market wall switch with pilot light that I installed under the rear bench of the side dinette. The pilot light will show you if your electric element is energized or off at a glance. Especially handy if you forget to turn the power off before draining the water heater reservoir and frying your heating element, (which only takes about a minute with no water in the reservoir.) Much handier and convenient, and best of all, I don't have to go outside anymore, especially if the weather is crappy outside.

[LauranRob]

The interior element switch is an excellent modification.
Thanks for the advice and input.
Rob & Laura

[LauranRob]

Right! I get it. It's the bypass valve that I have to check into.
Will be looking into it more this week now that we're back home and I have access to anything I may need (tools?) to play with this thing and figure it out.
Thank you again
Rob & Laura
2018 Casita Independence

[jgilliam1955]

Let us know what you find.

[LauranRob]

Will do once I figure it out. My next question will be….what if the bypass is in the correct position and I still have no hot water flowing to the faucets? What then??
We’ll see what happens…

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by LauranRob

Will do once I figure it out. My next question will be….what if the bypass is in the correct position and I still have no hot water flowing to the faucets? What then??
We’ll see what happens…

Doubtful that it is not what you'll find. My money is on the bypass valve being closed. Don't second guess yourself until you actually check the position of the bypass handle. If you have water pressure and you have hot water when you lift the T&P valve, there's little else that would cause the "no hot water" problem other than that valve is closed.

[jerrybob]

Sounds like the valve to me as well.....my question.....if you never touched it as mentioned and you had hot water in the past.....how did it get closed??? BTW.....if it is the valve.......leave it open.....I never open/close our valve.....when winterizing.....drain the tank.....blow out the lines....leave the valve alone. Good luck.

[Air Doug]

I had a similar problem this January when de-winterizing our Snoozy for a trip. I winterized by blowing out lines with air, then pumping RV antifreeze in. Dewinterizing was just draining antifreeze and flushing with fresh water.

Turned out several of the valves got crud in them and plugged up. I removed the faucet and ran water through it the opposite way. Problem solved. I'm not sure where the crud came from.

So if the hot water heater diverter valve is the problem, you may want to consider a plugged water valve.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Air Doug

I had a similar problem this January when de-winterizing our Snoozy for a trip. I winterized by blowing out lines with air, then pumping RV antifreeze in. Dewinterizing was just draining antifreeze and flushing with fresh water.

Turned out several of the valves got crud in them and plugged up. I removed the faucet and ran water through it the opposite way. Problem solved. I'm not sure where the crud came from.

So if the hot water heater diverter valve is the problem, you may want to consider a plugged water valve.

If you pump antifreeze into the lines you need to have the valve closed to prevent it from going into the hot water heater. Our Casita actually came with a winterize kit before the pump so the pump can do the job. So easy and no worry of not getting the antifreeze into any low laying areas.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by LauranRob

Hello,
We are on a camping trip with our 2018 Casita and after hooking up our water supply there is no water coming out of the "Hot" faucet handle. We do have water coming out of the cold handle...but nothing is coming out when turning the "Hot" water handle.
Any input or suggestions are gratefully accepted.
Thank you
Rob & Laura

Did you have it winterized by someone? If so they most likely turned the bypass valve on the water heater found behind the pipe (tube) on the inside of it. So it is behind the tube on the tank side under the bench seat inside. Should be able to just turn it easily by hand. Make sure to take all pressure off of the lines before you try to turn it though.