Water Heater Question again..

ALANSD · 07-07-2004, 03:28 PM

The Atwood water heater in my MH was upgraded with an electronic control board, and has no adjustments for thermostat that I see.
It light fine, give a nice blue flame, and stay lit quite awhile, but the water comes out hot for a few seconds and then gets cool again.
I opened the pressure/temperature release valve as the manual says to do once a year ( I had not done this before) and hot water came out for a few seconds also.
Any ideas on what is going on? The water pressure is fine, there are no leaks..and the flame as I said is adjusted correctly.

thenewkid64 · 07-07-2004, 04:29 PM

Alan,

Is this happening on city water or on the pump?

The only thing I can think of is that the heater has gotten blocked on the output. If you run 100% hot what happens?

Safari Tim · 07-07-2004, 04:55 PM

Are your water heater bypass valves set correctly?

I would drain it via the drain plug and then run all the hot water taps until they run smooth and try again.

**jcanavera** · 07-07-2004, 05:11 PM

I would concur with Tim. Someone on the forum had this problem and it did turn out to be the bypass.

Jack

ALANSD · 07-07-2004, 05:50 PM

I thought I had checked it, with city water connected, and heater on, I turned off the two bypass valves, one at a time, with the hot water tap open in the kitchen. The water stopped flowing each time I turned off one of the valves. One is at the entrance to the water heater, the other is on a bypass hose. So you think I should open the drain valve and see if it is flowing?

**jcanavera** · 07-08-2004, 07:55 AM

Somebody help me here, but if the bypass is active, water will still come out of the hot water outlets, it just the fact that the heater is being bypassed. When you only turn one valve at a time, you are now using the water heater but with the other valve set, the flow stops. My thought is to heat the water, now turn both valves instead of one. My gut feeling is you will now get hot water.

Jack

74Argosy24MH · 07-08-2004, 09:19 AM

I agree with Jack. The bypass valve should be closed, the ones into and out of the water heater should be open for normal operation. Reverse to winterize.

John

ALANSD · 07-08-2004, 07:51 PM

Makes sense. My problem I guess is one of the handles for the valves is broken off so its hard to tell which is the right way to turn it. I must have screwed up when I first de-wiintrerized. So I probably should turn one of them and see if I get hot water. Funny how something so easy can be a bugger. Meanwhile I have cleaned all the hot water heater parts, and have a great flame going.