No hot water in shower and sink

[TX Harley Rider]

We purchases a used 2008 Fun Finder X230DS about a month ago and took it for a trial run this weekend. For the most part things all went pretty smooth thanks to advise I had received from the forums and random you tube videos. My main issues was with the hot water and stereo not working (outside speakers or DVD player) but I will do a separate post for that one.

The biggest issue is that I could not get hot water to the shower or bathroom sink, it was only cool. My hot water heater worked good and the kitchen sink had hot water but that's it. I followed the plumbing under the kitchen sink and there is a "bypass" valve between the cold water in and hot water out but it was closed.

I also found a type of relief valve under the bathroom sink that if you pulled up on the round metal hook it would dump water outside of the camper. I'm not sure what these are for but I bleed some hot water out thinking I may have an air bubble in the line or something. After doing this I would get hot water for about a second then it would go cool again. The relief valve for the cold water seemed stuck and I could not lift it to drain off water so im not sure if that means anything.

Any help from anyone who might have an idea of what the problem might be would be much appreciated.

 

[John_C]

We purchases a used 2008 Fun Finder X230DS about a month ago and took it for a trial run this weekend. For the most part things all went pretty smooth thanks to advise I had received from the forums and random you tube videos. My main issues was with the hot water and stereo not working (outside speakers or DVD player) but I will do a separate post for that one.

The biggest issue is that I could not get hot water to the shower or bathroom sink, it was only cool. My hot water heater worked good and the kitchen sink had hot water but that's it. I followed the plumbing under the kitchen sink and there is a "bypass" valve between the cold water in and hot water out but it was closed.

I also found a type of relief valve under the bathroom sink that if you pulled up on the round metal hook it would dump water outside of the camper. I'm not sure what these are for but I bleed some hot water out thinking I may have an air bubble in the line or something. After doing this I would get hot water for about a second then it would go cool again. The relief valve for the cold water seemed stuck and I could not lift it to drain off water so im not sure if that means anything.

Any help from anyone who might have an idea of what the problem might be would be much appreciated.

Here should be a bypass valve that bypasses the hotwater for winterizing I had the same problem, but can't say for sure that is your problem and that the valve is in the same place... my valve was a RED valve at the HW heater... If set correctly. the HW discharge will flow to the water system... And make sure you are getting water to the HW heater ... Another valve, mine was at the HW heater and was black... it needs to be set to allow water to the HW heater,,, again, your system may be different...
Good luck...

 

[TX Harley Rider]

Thanks for the info John, I have the same valve between the hot and cold water lines going in the hot water tank and its in the closed position which seems correct to me. Maybe the next time I take it out I will open and close the valve a couple times just in case it's not seating all the way closed.

Again thanks for the advise.

 

[John_C]

Thanks for the info John, I have the same valve between the hot and cold water lines going in the hot water tank and its in the closed position which seems correct to me. Maybe the next time I take it out I will open and close the valve a couple times just in case it's not seating all the way closed.

Again thanks for the advise.

Mine are under the bed way to the left which make it difficult to get to.... If I recall, the black (cold water side) either turn the water on or when in the other position shut off the water and allow the pump to suck in anti-freeze (I have the bypass kit that appears to have included a small hose for winterizing. The red valve sounds like the one that opens the hot water ... and because you didn't have water running out the HW heater access door, the anode must be back in... I'll see if I can get a pic tomorrow of the valves and post them for you...

 

[TX Harley Rider]

Thanks John

 

[John_C]

Hi Harley,
Here are the pics I promised... The yellow arrows show correct direction of water flow based on the current valve positions.

Black Valve...In Line with water flow...Normal Operation...
HWHeater Water Bypass Sys-BLACK Valve_Located on lower CWater Line_ turned ON to force CWater Into HWHeater... Opposite to winterize -> Forcing Anti-Freeze suction into water lines, and prevents Anti-Freeze entering HW Heater.

Red Valve...Cross to pipe, but in line with water flow...Normal Operation...
HWHeater Water Bypass Sys-RED Valve turned OFF to force HW to Trailer Sinks and Showers...Opposite to winterize -> Forcing Anti-Freeze to bypass HW Heater.

I hopes this helps more than confuses... Good Luck and again, I do not know if your is exactly the same, but if you have the bypass kit installed, it should be close....

 

[TX Harley Rider]

Actually the plumbing and valves look like the ones on my trailer so thats very helpful. The valves are all turned in the same directions as the ones shown in your pictures so if that is the "normal" position for them during use then I must have mine right.

Thats a good thing I guess but bad since I still couldn't get hot water to the bathroom...pretty bizarre.

Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate you taking the time to post the pictures for me.

 

[John_C]

Actually the plumbing and valves look like the ones on my trailer so thats very helpful. The valves are all turned in the same directions as the ones shown in your pictures so if that is the "normal" position for them during use then I must have mine right.

Thats a good thing I guess but bad since I still couldn't get hot water to the bathroom...pretty bizarre.

Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate you taking the time to post the pictures for me.

Glad the Pics helped Harley,
But since the problem still exists... ???
It appears, in my trailer anyway, that a bunch of hoses go through the bathroom in the back of the cabinet. You need to be a mole to get back there and see what's there...

Since you had a by-pass valve in the kitchen water lines... Are there any Hot Water valves under the bathroom cabinet in your trailer?? Maybe a cross-flow, by-pass, or mixing valve between the HW and CW?? Just asking. (I'll crawl under mine in a couple days and see what I have, but it's raining here and the ATV is still loaded).

You may have to get someone to check it out for you...???

By the way... thanks for getting me to get those pics for you, I am starting to shoot more pics and adding them to my "Trailer Book" for future reference, cause I'll probably forget which way and which valves to turn when it comes time to winterize and de-winterize...

If you don't have one already, it will be a big bene for you to build a "Trailer Book"... Mine, in the example pics, contains documents for the trailer, along with appliance mfg docs, instructions, etc., and now I am starting to build pic files...
Good luck Harley and if I can help, let me know...

 

[TX Harley Rider]

The book sounds like a great idea, I took a lot of pictures last weekend since it was the first time I was able to spend any time with it. There are water lines along with fittings under the sink in the bathroom but it all seems to be in the correct positions. I plan on spending some time this weekend doing some routine maintenance and I will take a look at thing closer again then.

If can figure out how to up load a picture I may try and post them and see if you see anything I dont.

Thanks again John

 

[John_C]

The book sounds like a great idea, I took a lot of pictures last weekend since it was the first time I was able to spend any time with it. There are water lines along with fittings under the sink in the bathroom but it all seems to be in the correct positions. I plan on spending some time this weekend doing some routine maintenance and I will take a look at thing closer again then.

If can figure out how to up load a picture I may try and post them and see if you see anything I dont.

Thanks again John

See if this helps any...
--1st_ Open the Manage Attachments window...
--2nd_ Notice that pics need to be a max of 1600 pixels on the long side... I use simple Paint (a freebie when I bought the computer) to crop and re-size as necessary.
--3rd_ Select the attachments and then upload.
--4th_ When all are uploaded, close the window at the bottom.

Give it a try and I hope I dodn't leave out anything too important... BTW, the pics in this post are 600 pixels on the long side...

Good luck...

 

[brackenlip]

Hey Texas Harley, it sure sounds like cold water is getting blended in with hot, so first thing I would double check is the valve there that John "circled" in yellow. Make sure it it turned completely to "off" ( 90 degrees oriented from the direction of the pipe ). If any cold at all gets blended in with the hot, then the flow at the faucet will feel cold.
If that is right, there just about has to be another bypass valve ( although I can't imagine why there would be ) somewhere in the lines.

 

[John_C]

Hi gmw photographics,
The thing that bugs me is that Harley says that the galley faucet and shower have Hot water. It definitely sounds like a mixing valve in the line to the bathroom sink. See attached pics of Bathroom Sink/Shower Plumbing... I do not see any other valves, check or mixing, except the shower/Bath sink selector...???

Hey Harley, check the shower again and with the shower running, try selecting the shower off and back on at the sink and see if that makes any difference (See Sink Pic Below)... this appears to be the only so-called valve that may function as a mixer valve IF not completely turned on or off... or is malfunctioning... I'm just guessing mind you, but because you said all else is working, I would start there??? ... If this shower water on/off selector valve is malfunctioning, I would think the shower would also fail to work properly...

BTW... I don't know how hot your hot water is, but the HW in mine is really HOT... Doing dishes and rinsing in hot water will burn if you leave your hand in the water more than a few seconds...

I HAVE to try and do something with the rat's nest under my bath sink... there are absolutely no reasons for such shabby workmanship except lazy and cheap that any production system would be plumbed like this!!!... SCREW-TOGETHER HOSES...

 

[brackenlip]

Hi John and TX Harley,

If I were there actually trying to diagnose it, what I would do is run the water at the galley sink for a good solid two minutes. If it runs really HOT for two solid minutes at the galley, then good. Then I would go the sink in the head....same thing....run it there for a good solid two minutes. What do I get ?

If it's really hot at the galley for two minutes, but gets cold at the sink/shower in the head, then there is a mix occurring somewhere downstream of the water heater region itself.

I'm not saying Texas Harley has not done good diagnosis so far.... I'm simply saying if it were me, I'd start from the beginning again with a fresh set of eyes.

 

[TX Harley Rider]

I am hoping to do a little preventive maintenance on the camper this weekend and plan on doing just that. I will take your advice and start from one end and work my way to the other. The water in the kitchen is very hot only after a few seconds and stays hot. The water in the bathroom is cool at best so I would agree that somehow they are crossing. Hopefully I will find out more tomorrow.

Thanks for the advice gmw.

 

[brackenlip]

Well it sure sounds then like maybe there is a shutoff ( maybe two, one for hot, one for cold ) in the lines going to the head. It's like the cold valve is open, and the hot valve is just barely open, leading to just slightly warm water there. I ca'nt imagine why they would have put separate shutoff valves just for that room though. but hey....stranger things have been installed !

 

[TX Harley Rider]

I have attached some pictures of my plumbing so I hope they actually come through. I labeled the pictures to show what the lines are and where they come from. I really am not able to test the system because my camper is at the storage place and my fresh water tank is pretty low. I figure I will be able to do more detailed trouble shooting on my next outing. Maybe by looking at the pictures you will see something that maybe i am missing. The shower and sink both have individual water knobs so you would think that they cant mix there.

 

[brackenlip]

Well I have to say you have me stumped as to why this is not working correctly. It looks to me from what you show there, you should be getting the same temp water to the bathroom as the kitchen. Those you are calling relief valves appear to be your low point drains.
I would suggest when you next get it all hooked up like to city water or fill the fresh tank, fill the water heater and let it completely cycle so it's hot. Then go to the bathroom, and open the hot faucet only, and let run for a good solid minute or two. Report back what you get.

 

[TX Harley Rider]

Thanks for clarifying the low water drains, makes perfect sense. I will be sure to spend a little more time trying to figure out the hot water issue the next time I take it out. Once I get it all worked out I will be sure to share my findings and hopefully put an end to the mystery.

 

[TX Harley Rider]

sorry its been a while since I have been on the forum but I did want to share that I did find the problem with the hot water. It turns out that the previous owner had an issue with the out door faucet so they looped the hot and cold lines together to bypass it. I only discovered this because when I went to use the out door faucet for the first time it did not work. while trying to figure it out I found this. Just wanted to take a moment to close the loop and thank everyone again for their help.