Need Help, I'm in Hot Water!

[coolmont]

I seem to have the opposite problem of everyone else here.

I drove the very rough rattling road yesterday from Dawson City, Yukon to Tok, Alaska over the Top of the World Highway. All was good the day before, but about a half hour after I plugged in in Tok I heard the peaceful sounds of a waterfall close by. It slowly dawned on me that I was in an RV park in a very flat plain, so I stepped out and saw hot water pouring from my water heater relief valve. A LOT of water.

I switched off the electric hot water switch, made sure the gas hot water switch was off, let the hot water drain for a while, then drained the rest of the water heater. I though at first I had disrupted the air bubble so I went through the procedure to refill the water heater. A half hour later it started pouring out again.

I drained the water heater again, but this time left the water heater switch(es) off. Long and short, it keeps heating the water and it keeps pouring out. I've now shut off the water heater (master?) switch on the electrical panel, which seems for the moment at least to keep the waterfall at bay.

I'm thinking all the rattling yesterday caused some sort of permanent connection in the switch. The switch in the bathroom appears to be working correctly, in that it moves and the little light does blink when I switch it on an off. Should I just replace that switch anyways? is there another switch I should look at? Any other ideas??

Thanks for any guidance!

Coolmont
2015 Eddie Bauer 25' FB

p.s. And the shower door fell off.

p.p.s Girlfriend was driving!

[rmkrum]

Ok, that sounds like the thermostat has become stuck, is overheating the water, and the relief valve is dumping due to overheating or over pressure. The switch on the wall is probably not the issue. Check the water heater electronics and temp sensor. One may have come off the tank, letting the board think it’s not getting hot, then overheating enough to trip the temperature/pressure relief valve.

Do not, for the love of god, even joke that it’s the girlfriend’s fault. As a survivor of 47 years of continuing marriage, that’s a deadly crash landing...blame it ONLY on road conditions. Unless you are into serious pain.

[RandyNH]

The circuit boards, in the heater, are well known for going bad

[OTRA15]

The pressure relief valve [PRV] may have some grit stuck in it, from bad water during your trip IMO. Happens all the time.

Water heater electric and propane systems off at the switches.

With no water pressure, flip the PRV up and down 10-12 times. If water comes out, your water heater has too much water in it -- drain some off. Leave PRV down so no air can escape.

Turn on city water and fill the system [hot and cold] until no air comes out of ANY faucets/showers/toilet valves etc.. As you are doing this fill, listen carefully at the PRV for air escaping, which may become bubbly as the tank fills.

Do NOT lift the PRV during the fill, as the air head inside the water heater needs to be intact during heating.

If no leaking from PRV, and all air is out of the H/C lines, turn on the water heater heating system of your choice, and monitor, at a convenient faucet like the bath sink, the rising temp of the hot water. You will need an accurate thermometer for this. If the temp rises above 150 F, turn off the water heater switches and check the PRV.

Not sure how hot the water is supposed to get, but anything over 150 F may raise red flags IMO. Water gets "too hot to touch" at around 125 F, so you can do this monitoring without a thermometer at first.

Report back please.

Good luck!

Peter


PS -- edit -- most water heater PRV's are standard items in almost every hardware store. Get a couple of spares and some plumber's dope [not teflon tape IMO] to install a new one. Just need an adjustable crescent wrench. Easy repair for "On The Road Again" [OTRA]!

[coolmont]

Thanks! How do I check the temp sensor?

[coolmont]

Thanks! Is this a do it yourself repair or something that has to be special ordered by an RV repair shop?

[OTRA15]

The PRV flush-out, or a new one, is a quick and easy do-it-yourself repair which might solve the problem IMO, so you might want to try that first ASAP. All the other possible causes are still logical, but doing the PRV will cross that one of the list real quick.

Good luck,

Peter

[quietguy]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

The PRV flush-out, or a new one, is a quick and easy do-it-yourself repair which might solve the problem IMO, so you might want to try that first ASAP. All the other possible causes are still logical, but doing the PRV will cross that one of the list real quick.

Good luck,

Peter

Yup. Pressure relief valves can go bad. The ones on my home boiler and hot water heater go every so often. Flushing them as has been mention helps too...though it sounds like yours has had plenty of flushing. Sometimes just tapping the center post with a hammer lightly and firmly will reseat the valve properly too. As mentioned, easily replaced and may be purchased at any big box hardware store or local mom and pop hardware store.

Start there first. Then move on to control boards, overheating etc.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Never rule out the external- you have high pressure coming into the trailer from the campsite. That sort of thing can come and go as the main water pump for the site cycles. If your main pressure regulator (assuming you have one) is on the firtz, you get the dump valve thing happening.

AS in their infinite wisdom put a higher pressure regulator on the outside than on the water heater in some trailers. More or less i have a very large rolling campsite water pressure tester. (and a $10 solution from Camping World ... and a pressure gauge to read things out ...).

Bob

[coolmont]

Thanks again for all the responses. I replaced the temp gauges today. On of the plugs on the thermostat appeared to be fused to the wire. I had to cut it off and tie the wire on (until I can get to a hardware store.). Even so I thought this would work as I thought the fusing indicated that I had found the source of the overheating. No such luck- it overflowed again 20 minutes after I flipped on the electric switch.

Hint - I turned off the electric heater, let it cool, then turned on the propane heater. So far (2 hours) and it has not overflowed yet.

Maybe my bad connection where I had to tie the wire to the new thermostat rendered the thermostat ineffective?

[cwf]

Our 1999 has 2 sets of heat sensors.. one set electric, the other gas.. the gas are on the outside.. so does your heater have the single set?

[coolmont]

I believe they changed the system in 2000 or so. There are now 2 sensors on the outside. One is the temp sensor, the other the emergency cutoff. I'm not certain if the temp sensor does both the electric and gas, but I am told the emergency cutoff is for the gas.