American appliance 6 ARV water heater

[CarPfn]

Hi everyone!
We just purchased a 1977 dodge Edson motorhome, spent the entire month gutting/repairing leaks and putting it all back together. We’re now trying to figure out the water heater. I attached pictures of how it’s hooked up and the only valve running to it. We can get it lit, and after 30-40 minutes of having it lit (with the valve open) we still don’t get hot water. Why would this be? Is it even hooked up? We are rookies at this. Any help or insight is appreciated!

[John in Santa Cruz]

I dunno, but I think I'd pull that 42 year old water heater out, measure it, and try to find a modern RV propane heater you can install in its place.

but, looking at that picture of hte plumbing behind the heater, it looks like its been bypassed, and isn't connected at all. the pipes at the bottom are probably the cold water and no longer connect to that T sticking out of the bottom of the heater, while the fitting on the top right might well be the output.

are you getting cold out the hot tap on the sink, or not getting any water at all?



warning, running the heater burner without water in the heater tank likely WILL burn up the heat exchanger tubes inside.

I'd track down all the plumbing and draw a diagram.

[John in Santa Cruz]

btw, with a working system, you turn the pump on, run the cold faucet only until it stops spitting air, then shut off the cold, turn on the hot faucet and let it run til it too stops spitting air, then shut the hot faucet off, and THEN turn the water heater on, and wait for the burner to finish heating the water and shut off. NOW you can get hot water from the tap(s).

[CarPfn]

We would love to get a new one, but have spent so much restoring this thing that it will have to wait another season, just thought it would be nice to see if this worked in the meantime.

I was thinking maybe it wasn’t hooked up, I wasn’t sure what “A” is on the back of the heater. However there is water getting into it, as I tested and emptied it outside. We are only getting cold water from the taps.

[John in Santa Cruz]

well, a water heater needs two connections, cold water 'in' and hot water 'out'. I only see the one connection at your 'A'

[CarPfn]

Thank you, we will trace our plumbing and hopefully get an answer until we can find a new tank.

[John in Santa Cruz]

someone pointed out to me, that "A" connection, thats the gas. the black "O" is probably the hot water output, the T at the bottom is probably the cold water input, and both of these have been replaced with a seperate T connector with water pipes all connected to it, so the cold water runs through the hot plumbing bypassing the heater entirely.

this was undoubtedly done because the heater leaked... yuo need a new water heater, you really should disconnect the gas, and remove that heater before you start a fire.

[CharlesinGA]

Over on iRV2.com there is a Vintage RV forum, those folks are probably best equipped to help you.

iRV2 and this forum are both RV Life forums so I think the log in is the same.

Here is the link to the Vintage RV forum

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f65/

Charles