water heater extraction

[SebastianBill]

What is the proper procedure to extract a water heater from a 16 ft Scamp model 4?

[redbarron55]

Chainsaw?
No really I think that the outside frame is caulked and the front pan is screwed into framework that is on the inside.
The water connections on the the back and then the gas comes through a pass through into the part accessed from the door side outside.
Take the cover off and look for fasteners holding it in.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by SebastianBill

What is the proper procedure to extract a water heater from a 16 ft Scamp model 4?

Funny you should ask.. I have been pondering doing exactly that for some time since I never use the blasted thing. I don’t know about a “proper procedure” but it seems like it would be pretty easy to do.

You can use a plug on the gas flair fitting. In fact my Scamp 16 model 4 came with an unused copper propane line about 1-2 feet long, with a plug, right next to the water heater. The gas line came off a tee that also had gas line feeding the water heater and fridge on the starboard side. I assume it was a pre-made multiple gas line that was designed to also connect to the stove in campers that had one on that side, but I really don’t know why it was there. The same plug would work in the gas line for the heater, after it is removed from the heater. No cutting would be needed although the pipe should be well secured and of course leak tested.

The plumbing can just be cut and capped off on the supply side. As it happens, I did just that (cut and capped the inlet water pipe because I had a leak in the shutoff valve). I don't think a plug would be needed on hot (red) side since the hot water piping would then be unused. But just to be safe in case I would plug it. There might be a chance that the shower faucet could develop an internal leak from the cold to the hot side.

I guess the “proper” way would be to use a Propex expander with a plug and Propex ring. I just used a Pex plug with copper ring that I got at the local hardware store. You need a special crimper for that but they are much more common than the Propex expander and you can likely rent one if you don’t want to buy on. Both tools are hard to use in the tight space but once the water heater is out there would be plenty of room.

The water heater frame is riveted to the body (shell) along its perimeter. Just need to drill the heads off the rivets and remove them. The heater sits on a board on top of the wheel well and should come right out.

Now my question is, what do you plan to do with the resulting ~18x14 inch hole in the side of the camper? You could patch it with fiberglass, or add a hatch door. I found that standard size marine hatches don’t fit so you would need to deal with that by enlarging the hole or making it smaller. Or you can buy a custom sized hatch door that would require careful measuring of the hole, but no fiberglass work, unless the curve of the shell is a problem. Its not cheap however.

[Timber Wolf]

Huh, I just happen to know this one, as I did it a couple of months back. I had never used the heater on my 1988 Scamp and finally decided to remove it when the cover flew off somewhere along the highway on a trip back in February of this year. Anyway, I drilled out the rivets, disconnected and capped the gas, and re-did the water hoses (standard hose on my old Scamp). I re-did all the water lines just without the water heater, if that makes sense, so everything still works like it did, just not hot. I did it that way as I intend to plum in a remote, portable water heater on the other side of the Scamp someday. As to the resulting hole, I just happened to have thought ahead and had a suitable sized RV cargo door on hand. I had purchased it on EBay a couple of years ago in anticipation of this event (and was actually able to find it).

[redbarron55]

Quote :
I just happened to have thought ahead and had a suitable sized RV cargo door on hand. I had purchased it on EBay a couple of years ago in anticipation of this event (and was actually able to find it).
So often I have NOT been able to find those things I was smart enough to buy ahead of time just for whatever!
At least until I have finished the job I needed them for!

[Doug in Sacramento]

We love having the water heater in our 16 foot Scamp, Layout 4. We wash dishes and take showers using the hot water. Different strokes...

[Raspy]

Probably the best way to deal with the hot and cold lines at the water heater, is to simply couple them together. Plugging them is also OK, but they both must be plugged if you plan to leave the hot faucet, or single handle faucet, at the sink.

If you connect the hot and cold together, the single handle faucet will work better, even if it only puts out cold.

I simply love having hot water in the trailer for showers. It's even nice for washing dishes, but not necessary.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Probably the best way to deal with the hot and cold lines at the water heater, is to simply couple them together. Plugging them is also OK, but they both must be plugged if you plan to leave the hot faucet, or single handle faucet, at the sink.

If you connect the hot and cold together, the single handle faucet will work better, even if it only puts out cold.

I simply love having hot water in the trailer for showers. It's even nice for washing dishes, but not necessary.

As we all know, YMMV is the mantra on this forum...

My 2015 Scamp has no single handle faucets (neither sink nor shower) and just capping off the cold inlet to the water heater has worked fine. Unless there were already some other cross connection between the cold and hot side, I don't see any benefit to to connecting the hot and cold IN MY TRAILER.

For me (and my milage), a tea kettle on the stove heats water for dishes just fine. The shower so small and hard to keep water tight that I have yet to use it.

[Raspy]

Gordon,

The only reason I suggested coupling them is to prevent backfeeding from the cold to the hot, that will then pour out the unplugged line at the water heater. Since you don't have a single handle faucet, this won't happen from that situation. But if you accidentally turned on the hot faucet and then the cold, the cold will likely backfeed through the hot because of the restriction at the aerator. Then it will leak at the cut off hot line where it used to connect to the water heater.

Or, if they are connected, you can use the hot faucet and it will feed cold water, instead of nothing, which can cause it to get left "on". It might even be easier to use the hot faucet if something is in your right hand.

No big deal, and no reason to go back and change yours, just a thought, and it might actually be easier to just connect them, than plug both of them, for anyone doing this in the future.

[Kevin K]

If you need to remove some rivets, use a COUNTER SINK BIT.
Just drill enough to remove the head of the rivet.