I need HELP!!!: Water hot in heater but barely lukewarm from taps

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Water hot in heater but barely lukewarm from taps

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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14093
Printed Date: 25 May 2025 at 7:02pm
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Topic: Water hot in heater but barely lukewarm from taps

Posted By: Tim and Barbara
Subject: Water hot in heater but barely lukewarm from taps
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 7:44am

WE have a 2016 176-T. Used it all of July and everything worked great. Took it out this October and all the hot water taps deliver only tepid water. WE know heater working - we removed pressure relief valve and water is definitely hot. Bypass valves are in correct position. We did have to replace the outdoor shower taps in September as they were leaking but we didn't touch any hoses, etc. Any ideas?

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Tim & Barbara, Ontario

Replies:

Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 7:53am

Make sure the outside shower valves are turned fully off. Both the hot and cold water valves. If they are not fully closed this will allow luke warm water to come to the other water faucets in the trailer. Hope this helps.

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Jay

179/2019

Posted By: Tim and Barbara
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 12:09pm

HI Jay. Outside shower 'valves'? Do you mean the handles on the faucets? WE weren't aware of any valves to the shower.

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Tim & Barbara, Ontario

Posted By: Tim and Barbara
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 12:20pm

We just went out and held both faucets of outdoor shower snugly closed while running sink tap. Water still tepid. It always has half a second of hot water every time we check, then becomes tepid.

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Tim & Barbara, Ontario

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 1:57pm

Please double-check the bypass valve. It really sounds to me like the center valve is set wrong.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 2:00pm

This definitely sounds like a case of having the bypass set wrong. Your water is NOT going thru the h/w heater. I hope theres water IN the heater

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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding

Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 2:15pm

I only have 2 bypass valves so make sure those valves are fully open...if they are only partially opened that could cause the same problem.

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Jay

179/2019

Posted By: Tim and Barbara
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 3:31pm

Thanks everyone. Yes the water heater is working. As I said original post, when we open the release valve it comes out hot and the red tube coming from heater is hot. We have re-checked the valves numerous times. They are set correctly. Fully open. Could it be that the new outside shower faucet has a small hole? it has what appears to be a small vent and when we checked it just now, it drips water. Or could insect have crawled in the month we were waiting for the new faucet part to arrive? I took a photo but don't know how to upload photos in this forum.

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Tim & Barbara, Ontario

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 3:40pm

Hello Tim and Barbara,

To upload photos, you need to used he advanced editor. Look for what appears to be two overlapping boxes with an arrow pointing to the top-right corner. Click on that, and it will take you to the advanced editor. There is an icon there that looks like a tree. Click on that and you will have a dialog box that will let you upload photos. One suggestion is to use an image editing program such as the GIMP program to resize your photos to 800x600. That will reduce the size of them and they will still be clear enough for people to see what you are trying to point out. If necessary, you cold go to 1024x768, but much larger may not show up because of the size.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 9:01pm

Originally posted by Tim and Barbara

Thanks everyone. Yes the water heater is working. As I said original post, when we open the release valve it comes out hot and the red tube coming from heater is hot. We have re-checked the valves numerous times. They are set correctly. Fully open. Could it be that the new outside shower faucet has a small hole? it has what appears to be a small vent and when we checked it just now, it drips water. Or could insect have crawled in the month we were waiting for the new faucet part to arrive? I took a photo but don't know how to upload photos in this forum.

When you say "fully open"...do you have 3 valves? if so, the center one should be fully closed. The middle being open, gives exactly the symptoms you are describing.

The other possibility is at the outside shower.. remove the shower head. Open both taps, flow water, close both taps.

The hot water system is like a DC circuit, if a valve is open in the wrong place or order, it can "short"..

Also... Make sure the inside shower is not "on".. Same thing, make sure that the shower head isn't "off", and the valves on... Happens.

Posted By: crankster78
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2020 at 8:36am

Greetings:

I don't use the water heater at all, I have it bypassed. I heat water in a large pot on the stove. It heats up just what i need in a short time and saves water.

Crankster78 R-179

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Crankster 78 R-179 2015

Posted By: Tim and Barbara
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2020 at 8:45am

Thank you Furpod. This is helpful. Yes the third valve is closed. The system worked fine in July - it was after we changed the faucet on outside shower that it stopped working. So that must be the problem! Your explanation of the DC circuit is helpful. Didn't know that. We think the faucet is flawed - it doesn't close properly. So we're going to replace it again with a better one.

Thanks everyone!

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Tim & Barbara, Ontario

Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2020 at 8:55am

Before replacing the faucet you might want to just disconnect the faucet and plug the water lines then try your system and see if you get hot water in the sinks. Just a thought.

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Jay

179/2019