No hot water in your RV? If this video doesn't solve your problem, check out our blog post for more RV water heater troubleshooting tips: www.thervgeeks.com/no-hot-water-in-rv/
yep, that's what it was. I left the outside shower on. Although the handle was off, the knobs were still turned on. It reduced water pressure, and lowered the water temp. Glad I watched your video..... Thanks again!
Just bought a 2005 keystone 5th wheel. This video saves people money not having to call a professional to come diagnose the problem. Thanks alot brother.
Thank you! We just had a washer & dryer installed in our RV yesterday. Left the dealership, and couldn’t get the water hot. Watched your video & told my husband to check that. We hadn’t used the outside hose, but maybe the installers had. Sure enough, that was it. You saved us untold hours and inconvenience, not to mention the cost of a service call.
Thanks so much for this! You saved me I'm living in my RV right now due to covid19 and living situation. Took a cold shower today but sink water was hot. I watched your video and it fixed my problem. I had just dumped my rv tanks and used the outdoor shower to clean up the area and sure enough left the water valves on. You saved me more than you know. Thanks so much for this video!
Boy, that is one of those tricky lessons you have to learn the hard way. In hindsight I guess it makes sense. I would have been stumped too. Good one! Thanks P for sharing.
We still laugh about that one. Not so easy to laugh about the newbie mistakes that cost a lot to fix though, like backing into a power pedestal or something like that (which, for the record, we have never done). lol
Just when you think you know it all....I did not know about this little mistake. Been RVing all my life and thought I knew all the pitfalls. You're never too old to learn something!
Thank you for the video. I just spent 2 days taking lukewarm showers. I did the exact same thing you did. Just checked my outside shower, Duh. You saved me a service call.
@@jerometruitt1452 They come in handy at times, especially if you have a dog with you that has rolled in the mud , or even for yourself if you have gotten muddy. Clean up outside the RV no mess inside.
This video is still helping people. I decided to get a “y” for my washing machine and later that day I found that my hot water tank wasn’t working. That was also the problem leaving both valves open there. Closed the hot water valve and all kinds of hot water. Thanks for saving me the money!
Thank you for your video! We made the same mistake in our Bounder and had an evening of lukewarm showers. The next morning, the problem persisted, but your video saved us from more cold showers and having to call the repair guy!
Thanks for the video our mistake was basically the same thing, also we are newbies and when we bought ours off a couple, they told us we needed a new battery. Well we replaced the battery thinking it was running great as we are hooked to hydro as well. When we got to our camper the next weekend as we own our own Camp ground site, the fridge was dead no hydro! The outlets worked but the lights didn't and we had no heat and it was chilly. When I plugged in the coffee maker the light over the kitchen sink would flicker any how we had a repairman that does regular visits in the park look at it and of course the converter was gone he told us it was an old type model that he hadn't seen in a long time as they didn't make that type anymore. Well that was our experience so if you are told that it needs a new battery make sure it is't the converter , check it first.
I'm on my third RV, so not a newbie. But I made this same mistake today...! Shut off my shower wand in the wet bay but not the faucetts, intending to shut them off after I was done washing down the wet bay...then forgot!!! Then I spent three hours decalsifying my Truma water heater then spent another two hours trying to figure out why I still couldn't get hot water. I'll remember this from now on though. Lucky I found this video. Thank you....
We purchased a new 2024 Georgetown 31L5 and found that we have warm hot water. On the third trip out I watched this video, showed my husband, he turned off the valve and WOW, we have HOT water. Thank you so much for this posting!!
Never to old to learn new tricks....Thank you..I fixed a friend's hot water problem and I was not completely sure of what I did as far as having the valves set in the right direction. You just confirmed that was probably all that was wrong luckily I only replaced the valves and the cost was minamel.
I cannot thank you enough for this video. I have been so frustrated. I replaced the thermal couple, the fuses, the mother board, cleaned the tubes, tested and re tested everything. Low and behold, my outdoor valves were open, since I de winterized my RV in the beginning of May. I shut them, and now I can take a hot shower. thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
I had a similar simple mistake after install. The thermostat was behind a sticker and turned down too far. I just assumed they came fixed to a good hot temperature. So easy to fix once you know...
These videos are very helpful. I'm a newbie & the former owner did give me the books on the RV, they have absolutely NO pictures, diagrams, or idea of what item they're describing. I even contacted the mfg & they sent me the same papers I have. So you guys are my goto helpers! Thanks!
Thanks so much! It’s always great to hear we’ve been helpful. We appreciate your taking the time to let us know. If it’s any consolation, no RV documentation is any good!
Thank you!!! After hours trying to diagnose why my water heater still didn't work after replacing the thermal cut off (which was blown), this video solved the mystery of why I still didn't have hot water. While de-winterizing a few days ago I'd opened the valves to the outside shower to bleed air from the line - but I'd never closed the valves again. I'd just released the trigger. You saved the day.
Watching several of your video's I have discovered that I don't have a lot of the gadgets on my trailer that you do on your MH. So, I glean from your information and improvise for my purposes. The info you have shared is great. Yes, I subscribed and will go through all of your videos. Very informative. Thanks for sharing your experiences with the rest of us. Happy Trails.
I was a licensed plumber and found this two times in houses also. The first time was when some kitchen remodelers were gutting a kitchen. They removed the kitchen sink and had no valves to turn off but they did have a way to cork off the hot and cold water pipes by just connecting the two together. The people called next day for a water heater repair. I found water heater full of hot water but it wouldn’t make it to the faucets as the cold pressure was stronger. Same thing found several times over the years when people thought they could avoid repairing a shower faucet by putting another valve up at the showerhead and just shutting it. Hot and cold would begin mixing through the leaky shower valve and would cause problems other places in the house
Oh my gosh, I’m so happy to have finally figured out why after changing out my water pump, the temperature never got warm. I changed the t-stat and controller board on my water heater with no change. I checked my outside facet and found both hot and cold on from when I purged the line after upgrading the water pump. Thanks so much for this video. ❤️👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
that must have drove you nuts ,trying to figure that out.when something goes wrong,we always think big and miss simple solution. thanks for the tip.it is nice how most RVers are willing to help.
Great vid, yes, any faucet will do this, including the interior shower. But turning off the shower head, it forces cold water back into the HW tank. It dilutes it causing the HW to run out faster. You can install one way check valves in the line, just cut the line, and slip them on, and it will stop this.
I did this many years ago after I built my house, some 22 years ago. I built in a shower pull mixing head for my garage hose bib connection. This provides hot water to be used out side for car washing or other wash needs. If left on, does the same thing creating a loop effect. This is so familiar. I figured it out in about an hour. To prevent others in the house from committing the same error, label that fixture to "turn off immediately after use". This helps prevent a repeat.
Thats how we learn. We make mistakes. Its best to back track everything when experiencing a problem. This can be anything. If you didn't have a problem before, then you can go back to where you were before the issue began. Many times I find it was something I did wrong.
God bless YOU! I have had several problems to figure out. Quite a few, before my refrigerator quit working and the RV repair guy, who had just installed a new board, said the "no cold" error message meant it was finally giving up and I would need a new one at the cost of around $3500! But a friend said it could need resetting and sure enough, it worked! BUT immediately after that the water stopped getting.as hot as it used to and I was so upset! Seemed to be one thing after another! I googled it and found no easy solution so have just lipved with it for a couple months, but kept thinking if it was still getting warm, it must not be a failing hot water heater, so tried rewording my question and found your video! I thought I remembered messing with the outside water faucet and wondered if it could be something so simple! It's almost 12 midnight but rushed out to check and SURE enough the cold water was on! Turned it off and WALLA.! Piping hot water again! All I can say is... "I love you!"
This so cool. I had tahe same issue with the hot water. Spent all day working on the tank, new element, temp gauges and still no hot water, just warm. Turns out ther are four shut off valves in the back of the water tank. One of them blends into the cold water and was open. I closed it based on your story and BANG! Hot water. Thank y9ou so much for posting this. I was about to replace the whole tank!
I just made this mistake..before seeing this video. I was wondering why my outside shower head was leaking, come to find out, both water faucets were on. Oh the joys of being the newbie.
Thanks for the great advice we have a new camper and the outside shower was turned on. Not sure why because we haven't used it yet. But that corrected the hot water problem.
Again, thank you. I was having this issue, googled the problem, found your video, saw that my outside faucets were on, turned them off. 5 minutes later, scalding hot water. Did my dishes and heard the gas heater turned on. All good.
Thank you so much that’s exactly what I did. I have hot water now and no trip to the repair shop. Wish I would’ve watch this video before I took a freezing, cold shower.
On our first trip with our new TT (two years ago) I had a similar problem. It wasn't the outside shower. Both valves to and from the hot water tank were open and the bypass was too. With the bypass open both hot and cold water mixed before it traveled to the faucet. The bypass (for winterizing) was also open on the water pump which meant the fresh tank never pressurized. With the lack of quality control in RV's we also had a big problem when the trailer underbelly flooded. They didn't install a clamp on the water line leading into the water heater. When the hose heated up and became more flexible the hose came off. The water flowed under the cabinet until it found the opening for the propane line. It flowed into the underbelly and finally burst through the sealant. This is one of the reasons why we don't leave the city water valve open when we leave the trailer.
Funny... we had the our stick home do the same thing, lol. It was days before I found out the problem in the master shower. Thanks, Happy travels! Stay safe have fun!
Omg thanks for posting this video I been showering with cold water the last 3 days and I didn't know if it was broke or what was the problem thank you I really thank you :)
Thank you. I just did the exact same thing and thought the exact same thing. I just went out and turned off the water at the outdoor shower. Hopefully, it will be hot enough for a shower this evening.
I had to smile watching your video. Too late as it had happened to us also. We had the motorhome for less than a year when it happened. Stressful for us to as we did all the same troubleshooting as you did. My wife had the good guess about the outside shower that I had messed with earlier. Thank you for all of your videos as I love watching them.
Thanks Rick! Honestly, we weren't even sure this same thing would happen in our current RV. But when we ran up the water in the kitchen sink to check the temperature, bingo! I bet they all do it!
Outdoor shower? PFFT! I am lucky to have an indoor shower.You are giving my 5th wheel a complex. I opted for simplicity. too much to fix on the newer ones. i changed my refrigerator to an automatic LP or 120v, changing my water heater to DSI so i can just flip a switch, adding 500w of solar panels, and i am wayyyyyyyy out in the south Texas country. in a year or 2 i will build a house on my property.
Tx for the great advice. It was exactly my problem and fixed quickly once I shut off the outside shower head. I was minutes away from ordering a new element and I stumbled upon your video. Tx again.
We started RVing one year ago with a 38 footer and everyday I learn something new. You just picked up one more follower. Tx again and happy travels. Kevin
Thank you so much. I had this very problem. Previous owner showed me it was working but as soon as I got it and parked it, it stopped. I remember he also showed me outside shower but forgot to shut it off.
When we first started 12 years ago the first trip after winter I forgot to switch my water heater from winterize bypass. Basically the same mistake. Luckily I figured it out after bout an hour or so. Thatnks for the tip!
Wow, this saved our bacon. My hot water heater just quit working half way through camping trip. Did the same thing you did checked everything and couldn’t get it to come back on. Figured my igniter went bad. Then I thought I would search TH-cam and found your video. That’s exactly what happened to me. I use my outside shower for the first time and the valves were left on, turned them off and voilà, water heater ignited 2006 arctic fox camper is my unit.
Thank you for this video. I’ve been struggling with my water heater all weekend. It wasn’t the same exact issue with the shower but I had the wrong valve turned on my water heater and the hot and cold were mixing. All better now.
Seems to me that the RV should have one-way valves in or near the faucets to avoid this problem of unwanted mixing of the hot and cold water within the RV's plumbing.
Thank you! Doing a flow test this afternoon comparing city water pressure to water pump pressure and haven't had more than lukewarm water since. Yep, indoor shower valves were both open, flow cut off at shower head.
I wouldn't have thought of that either. Makes perfect sense though, once you found the problem.lol...Great Tip! Please keep them coming and thanks for putting all the hard work into putting all of them together and sharing them with us...You guys are time, hassle and money savers for sure... Thanks Again!!!
This was never explained to me when I recently bought my trailer. In fact, the door was pointed out, but never opened. Now I'll know to always make sure the knobs are closed should I ever use the outside shower!
BRILLIANT! Thank you. as newbie RVers *about* to purchase our first ever RV, we are devouring everything we can to be RV smart. I find many RV videos online are over our newbie heads, but this was explained perfectly so it was easy to follow. Thank you very much for such an informative video.
Wow. I just spent the last hour at 4 in the morning trying to troubleshoot my hot water heater and couldn't come up with anything. Clicked this video had all the same symptoms and what do you know😂 I made the same mistake 😂😂 thanks so much
This video was a lifesaver I unhooked my water line and drained all my lines with a hard freeze in Florida the next day I drained all the faucets including the outside showed and yes I left the faucet valves open and shut it off by the dial. I returned a couple days later hooked up the water line and purged the system but no not water I didn't know what to think I looked at all the lines under the rig and then turned to TH-cam and don't you know the second video was yours I watched it and said could I have done that and yes I did I shut off the valves and twenty minutes later NOT WATER THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO
I haven't got my RV yet but this is good to know. Before setting out for a trip or parking for a stay, I am going to use checklists like a pilot. I do this for a lot of things as my memory sucks.
Good info, I never use my outdoor shower. I use a wye fitting at the water connection and a second hose pipe and sprayer. I use that same second hose as my black tank wash hose too. The wye fitting has a valve on each outlet which is handy too.
Great Tip! Thanks much. We're rather new, 2 years. Just upgraded to newer RV. Having trouble with the Water heater working at all. Didn't know even the basics, This video showed me a lot I didn't know and now I can test it out when I get home. Thanks!!
Congratulations on your new RV, Jeff. Another related problem that can cause your water heater to "fail" is having the bypass valves turned to the "bypass" position, thereby taking the water heater out of the plumbing line completely. One thing.... while troubleshooting your water heater be sure to NEVER turn it on when it's drained. No faster way to burn out an electric water heater element than turning it on with an empty tank. Thanks for the comment. :)
Jeff Jarecki Yes, it will still flow. What the bypass does is simply allow cold water to flow directly to the hot water faucets, "bypassing" the water heater.
RVgeeks Where would I find the bypass? Thanks to your video btw, I found out why my hot water heater wasn't working though I haven't yet tested it. There was an on/off switch out on the heater, it was switched to off. =) But where would I look for the bypass?
Jeff Jarecki Every system has their own plumbing layout, but if you check out this video, you'll see us clearly showing how ours looks, and how we use it: th-cam.com/video/jEepug8N-aE/w-d-xo.htmlm6s
Wow I'm an engineer and would've never thought that was the problem! (My original thought was one or more of those winterizing shut-off valves in the wrong position!) Thanks for sharing!!
Funny thing (ok, no - not at time!!) is, this happened to me in my HOUSE! I had a fancy little hands free faucet installed on my shop sink... so I wouldn't have to get it all goopy when washing my hands. Thought the T-stat on my near new water heater had gone south. Turned out it was the same thing, where it was causing a loop back/through effect, and I only ever had warm. Lost the gadget, fixed the problem!
Mine stopped working and would NOT heat the water at al. All circuits were good ,swithes were on inside the camper, full propane tanks. As it turns out the 6 gallon Suburban water heater has an On/Off switch on the outside behind the burner tube accessible through the outside cover. That switch was bad. Easy fix once I found it. Worked like a charm after that. Without that switch working , it won't do anything in either propane , electric or both.
Thanks for this video, per you content, I was having problems with my water heater, and low and behold this was my problem. I went outside, found the external valves open, I closed them and the problem went away!
It should be noted that some RV's can have this problem and not have an outdoor facet at all. I have a 79 Honey with a self contained bathroom. If you turn on the shower head and then turn it off by the wand, the cold water can backfeed into the hot and cause it to be cool. It can also cause the cold to become warm.
Such a common mistake I had a 4 story office building do that because housekeeping left a fitting on a faucet with both sides open til I found it and corrected the issue.
I used to repair and maintain fire trucks. Many operator reported issues were like this. So many valves to keep up with and so many different people playing with them.
@@RVgeeks I have bookmarked MANY of your how to videos. I used to tow vehicles longer than RV's back in my military days but your driving 101 video saved my skin many times again. I even show them to my wife so she can remind me of stuff should I forget. It comes with age!!!! ☺
Thank You so much for the info, this same "over-sight" often happens in a Buildings plumbing system in a High-Rise. Cold goes to Hot just as it does in refrigeration. Then, You have to run all over the Building looking for a Two Handle faucet that has been turned off at the water Outlet just as You mentioned.Invaluable info, very much appreciated!!
No hot water in your RV? If this video doesn't solve your problem, check out our blog post for more RV water heater troubleshooting tips:
www.thervgeeks.com/no-hot-water-in-rv/
They're both working now I just had to play with the toggle switch in between the two propane thank you
yep, that's what it was. I left the outside shower on. Although the handle was off, the knobs were still turned on. It reduced water pressure, and lowered the water temp. Glad I watched your video..... Thanks again!
Just bought a 2005 keystone 5th wheel.
This video saves people money not having to call a professional to come diagnose the problem. Thanks alot brother.
Thank you! We just had a washer & dryer installed in our RV yesterday. Left the dealership, and couldn’t get the water hot. Watched your video & told my husband to check that. We hadn’t used the outside hose, but maybe the installers had. Sure enough, that was it. You saved us untold hours and inconvenience, not to mention the cost of a service call.
That is so awesome to hear! Thanks for letting us know. You just made our day. 😄
Thanks so much for this! You saved me I'm living in my RV right now due to covid19 and living situation. Took a cold shower today but sink water was hot. I watched your video and it fixed my problem. I had just dumped my rv tanks and used the outdoor shower to clean up the area and sure enough left the water valves on. You saved me more than you know. Thanks so much for this video!
That is absolutely awesome to hear! You just made our day. Stay safe out there.
Boy, that is one of those tricky lessons you have to learn the hard way. In hindsight I guess it makes sense. I would have been stumped too. Good one! Thanks P for sharing.
We still laugh about that one. Not so easy to laugh about the newbie mistakes that cost a lot to fix though, like backing into a power pedestal or something like that (which, for the record, we have never done). lol
Just when you think you know it all....I did not know about this little mistake. Been RVing all my life and thought I knew all the pitfalls. You're never too old to learn something!
+Stephen Hurlbut Us too! We learn new things all the time!
Thank you for the video. I just spent 2 days taking lukewarm showers. I did the exact same thing you did. Just checked my outside shower, Duh. You saved me a service call.
Awesome Bill! (the fact that we could help... not your having had two days of lukewarm showers). lol
Yeah you just saved me tons of money if that were to happen to me. Thank you!
outside showers are dumb
@@jerometruitt1452 They come in handy at times, especially if you have a dog with you that has rolled in the mud , or even for yourself if you have gotten muddy. Clean up outside the RV no mess inside.
@@daivdash yeah I wouldnt have a dog in an RV in the first place.
Super helpful video I couldn’t get my heater to run hot water and it turned out to be this exact issue
Glad it helped, Andrew! It's such a relief when there's an easy solution to a problem! 😉
This video is still helping people. I decided to get a “y” for my washing machine and later that day I found that my hot water tank wasn’t working. That was also the problem leaving both valves open there. Closed the hot water valve and all kinds of hot water. Thanks for saving me the money!
That’s great, Dale! Thanks for letting us know. 😄
Thank you for your video! We made the same mistake in our Bounder and had an evening of lukewarm showers. The next morning, the problem persisted, but your video saved us from more cold showers and having to call the repair guy!
Thanks for the video our mistake was basically the same thing, also we are newbies and when we bought ours off a couple, they told us we needed a new battery. Well we replaced the battery thinking it was running great as we are hooked to hydro as well. When we got to our camper the next weekend as we own our own Camp ground site, the fridge was dead no hydro! The outlets worked but the lights didn't and we had no heat and it was chilly. When I plugged in the coffee maker the light over the kitchen sink would flicker any how we had a repairman that does regular visits in the park look at it and of course the converter was gone he told us it was an old type model that he hadn't seen in a long time as they didn't make that type anymore. Well that was our experience so if you are told that it needs a new battery make sure it is't the converter , check it first.
I'm on my third RV, so not a newbie. But I made this same mistake today...!
Shut off my shower wand in the wet bay but not the faucetts, intending to shut them off after I was done washing down the wet bay...then forgot!!!
Then I spent three hours decalsifying my Truma water heater then spent another two hours trying to figure out why I still couldn't get hot water.
I'll remember this from now on though. Lucky I found this video. Thank you....
We purchased a new 2024 Georgetown 31L5 and found that we have warm hot water. On the third trip out I watched this video, showed my husband, he turned off the valve and WOW, we have HOT water. Thank you so much for this posting!!
So happy to hear you have hot water now! And thanks for letting us know we were helpful. Always great to hear. Happy New Year and safe travels!
I just put a new H W H in my mother’s rv and this video has saved me from going INSANE lol. Thank You.
And it never occurred to you to put a check valve on the line to avoid such problems?
I’m positive the reason I’ve never done this is because I watched this video over two years ago! Thanks for the evergreen content!
Awesome! Great to hear 😊
Never to old to learn new tricks....Thank you..I fixed a friend's hot water problem and I was not completely sure of what I did as far as having the valves set in the right direction. You just confirmed that was probably all that was wrong luckily I only replaced the valves and the cost was minamel.
Great to hear! Thanks. 😄
I cannot thank you enough for this video. I have been so frustrated. I replaced the thermal couple, the fuses, the mother board, cleaned the tubes, tested and re tested everything. Low and behold, my outdoor valves were open, since I de winterized my RV in the beginning of May. I shut them, and now I can take a hot shower.
thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
So great to hear it’s been solved! Happy showering!
Thank you so much I was freezing and just wanted to take a shower, you saved the day
I had a similar simple mistake after install. The thermostat was behind a sticker and turned down too far. I just assumed they came fixed to a good hot temperature. So easy to fix once you know...
The only thing that seems to erase the frustration of simple problems like that is how easy to solution ends up being in the end. :)
These videos are very helpful. I'm a newbie & the former owner did give me the books on the RV, they have absolutely NO pictures, diagrams, or idea of what item they're describing. I even contacted the mfg & they sent me the same papers I have. So you guys are my goto helpers! Thanks!
Thanks so much! It’s always great to hear we’ve been helpful. We appreciate your taking the time to let us know. If it’s any consolation, no RV documentation is any good!
Thank you!!! After hours trying to diagnose why my water heater still didn't work after replacing the thermal cut off (which was blown), this video solved the mystery of why I still didn't have hot water. While de-winterizing a few days ago I'd opened the valves to the outside shower to bleed air from the line - but I'd never closed the valves again. I'd just released the trigger. You saved the day.
You just made OUR day by letting us know that our video helped you out! Thank you so much and enjoy your hot shower! 👍😊
Watching several of your video's I have discovered that I don't have a lot of the gadgets on my trailer that you do on your MH. So, I glean from your information and improvise for my purposes. The info you have shared is great. Yes, I subscribed and will go through all of your videos. Very informative. Thanks for sharing your experiences with the rest of us. Happy Trails.
+Floyd Lenhart Thanks Floyd! Don't feel bad... the more gadgets, the more things there are to go wrong! lol
I was a licensed plumber and found this two times in houses also. The first time was when some kitchen remodelers were gutting a kitchen. They removed the kitchen sink and had no valves to turn off but they did have a way to cork off the hot and cold water pipes by just connecting the two together. The people called next day for a water heater repair. I found water heater full of hot water but it wouldn’t make it to the faucets as the cold pressure was stronger. Same thing found several times over the years when people thought they could avoid repairing a shower faucet by putting another valve up at the showerhead and just shutting it. Hot and cold would begin mixing through the leaky shower valve and would cause problems other places in the house
Oh my gosh, I’m so happy to have finally figured out why after changing out my water pump, the temperature never got warm. I changed the t-stat and controller board on my water heater with no change. I checked my outside facet and found both hot and cold on from when I purged the line after upgrading the water pump. Thanks so much for this video. ❤️👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Awesome! Great to hear!
We haven't done this...YET, but I'm sure this just saved us a lot of head scratching! Thanks guys! Informative as always!
If we've saved even one person from our DOH! moment, mission accomplished! :)
This is one of the best recommendations for hot water in the rig. Thank you.
Thanks! I've been taking cold showers for 2 weeks! Understanding this helped me to troubleshoot the problem.
Thanks! Always great to hear we’ve been helpful.
that must have drove you nuts ,trying to figure that out.when something goes wrong,we always think big and miss simple solution. thanks for the tip.it is nice how most RVers are willing to help.
See how easy that was to make a simple mistake like that.... Glad you guys found someone that didn't take advantage of the situation.... 😊
Great vid, yes, any faucet will do this, including the interior shower. But turning off the shower head, it forces cold water back into the HW tank. It dilutes it causing the HW to run out faster. You can install one way check valves in the line, just cut the line, and slip them on, and it will stop this.
I did this many years ago after I built my house, some 22 years ago. I built in a shower pull mixing head for my garage hose bib connection. This provides hot water to be used out side for car washing or other wash needs. If left on, does the same thing creating a loop effect. This is so familiar. I figured it out in about an hour. To prevent others in the house from committing the same error, label that fixture to "turn off immediately after use". This helps prevent a repeat.
Thats how we learn. We make mistakes. Its best to back track everything when experiencing a problem. This can be anything. If you didn't have a problem before, then you can go back to where you were before the issue began. Many times I find it was something I did wrong.
God bless YOU! I have had several problems to figure out. Quite a few, before my refrigerator quit working and the RV repair guy, who had just installed a new board, said the "no cold" error message meant it was finally giving up and I would need a new one at the cost of around $3500! But a friend said it could need resetting and sure enough, it worked! BUT immediately after that the water stopped getting.as hot as it used to and I was so upset! Seemed to be one thing after another! I googled it and found no easy solution so have just lipved with it for a couple months, but kept thinking if it was still getting warm, it must not be a failing hot water heater, so tried rewording my question and found your video! I thought I remembered messing with the outside water faucet and wondered if it could be something so simple! It's almost 12 midnight but rushed out to check and SURE enough the cold water was on!
Turned it off and WALLA.! Piping hot water again!
All I can say is...
"I love you!"
So happy to hear we were helpful!
This so cool. I had tahe same issue with the hot water. Spent all day working on the tank, new element, temp gauges and still no hot water, just warm. Turns out ther are four shut off valves in the back of the water tank. One of them blends into the cold water and was open. I closed it based on your story and BANG! Hot water. Thank y9ou so much for posting this. I was about to replace the whole tank!
So glad it helped, Stephen.
Life saver! We were taking lukewarm showers for days and this video spared a huge amount of frustration. Thanks!
That is awesome!! Great to hear. 😄
I just made this mistake..before seeing this video. I was wondering why my outside shower head was leaking, come to find out, both water faucets were on. Oh the joys of being the newbie.
Thanks for the great advice we have a new camper and the outside shower was turned on. Not sure why because we haven't used it yet. But that corrected the hot water problem.
Again, thank you. I was having this issue, googled the problem, found your video, saw that my outside faucets were on, turned them off. 5 minutes later, scalding hot water. Did my dishes and heard the gas heater turned on. All good.
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know that we were helpful. :)
Dude, you're turning into my RV Yoda!
+Studa Baker RVers we are. 😉
Thank you so much that’s exactly what I did. I have hot water now and no trip to the repair shop. Wish I would’ve watch this video before I took a freezing, cold shower.
Did not know this fact about the outside shower. Thanks.
Good info. I don't have an outdoor shower (that I know of), but maybe on the next RV? It seems like a great feature.
Thanks for this video I've been working all morning trying to get my hot water working and this is almost exactly what my problem was thanks again
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know. Always great to hear we've been helpful. 😊
Thank you for your support in knowledge for us full time RV 'ers!!! 😁
On our first trip with our new TT (two years ago) I had a similar problem. It wasn't the outside shower. Both valves to and from the hot water tank were open and the bypass was too. With the bypass open both hot and cold water mixed before it traveled to the faucet.
The bypass (for winterizing) was also open on the water pump which meant the fresh tank never pressurized.
With the lack of quality control in RV's we also had a big problem when the trailer underbelly flooded. They didn't install a clamp on the water line leading into the water heater. When the hose heated up and became more flexible the hose came off. The water flowed under the cabinet until it found the opening for the propane line. It flowed into the underbelly and finally burst through the sealant. This is one of the reasons why we don't leave the city water valve open when we leave the trailer.
Thanks for this ! after a couple days of no hot water and assuming the worst ..🎉This instantly fixed it
Awesome!!
2022 Grand Design Solitude here and this still applies! Thank you so much!
Funny... we had the our stick home do the same thing, lol.
It was days before I found out the problem in the master shower.
Thanks,
Happy travels! Stay safe have fun!
Omg thanks for posting this video I been showering with cold water the last 3 days and I didn't know if it was broke or what was the problem thank you I really thank you :)
So glad we could help! :)
Thank you. I just did the exact same thing and thought the exact same thing. I just went out and turned off the water at the outdoor shower. Hopefully, it will be hot enough for a shower this evening.
I had to smile watching your video. Too late as it had happened to us also. We had the motorhome for less than a year when it happened. Stressful for us to as we did all the same troubleshooting as you did. My wife had the good guess about the outside shower that I had messed with earlier. Thank you for all of your videos as I love watching them.
Thanks Rick! Honestly, we weren't even sure this same thing would happen in our current RV. But when we ran up the water in the kitchen sink to check the temperature, bingo! I bet they all do it!
That was subtle - I don't imagine I would have thought to check the outside shower taps either. Thanks for the tip!
Outdoor shower? PFFT! I am lucky to have an indoor shower.You are giving my 5th wheel a complex. I opted for simplicity. too much to fix on the newer ones. i changed my refrigerator to an automatic LP or 120v, changing my water heater to DSI so i can just flip a switch, adding 500w of solar panels, and i am wayyyyyyyy out in the south Texas country. in a year or 2 i will build a house on my property.
Tx for the great advice. It was exactly my problem and fixed quickly once I shut off the outside shower head. I was minutes away from ordering a new element and I stumbled upon your video. Tx again.
Excellent! Thanks for letting us know, Kevin. 😊
We started RVing one year ago with a 38 footer and everyday I learn something new. You just picked up one more follower. Tx again and happy travels. Kevin
Thanks Kevin! Great to have you here with us! 😊
Congratulations boys. 11 years and still learning? No wonder we need your expertise. Thank you.
Thank you so much. I had this very problem. Previous owner showed me it was working but as soon as I got it and parked it, it stopped. I remember he also showed me outside shower but forgot to shut it off.
When we first started 12 years ago the first trip after winter I forgot to switch my water heater from winterize bypass. Basically the same mistake. Luckily I figured it out after bout an hour or so. Thatnks for the tip!
Wow, this saved our bacon. My hot water heater just quit working half way through camping trip. Did the same thing you did checked everything and couldn’t get it to come back on. Figured my igniter went bad. Then I thought I would search TH-cam and found your video. That’s exactly what happened to me. I use my outside shower for the first time and the valves were left on, turned them off and voilà, water heater ignited 2006 arctic fox camper is my unit.
Awesome! That is do great to hear!
The best guys OUT THERE!!! and also the Smartest, and nicest!!
We love you Barbara! ❤️❤️
that's a good one. Im a residential repair plumber and came across this a couple of times.
Thank you for this video. I’ve been struggling with my water heater all weekend. It wasn’t the same exact issue with the shower but I had the wrong valve turned on my water heater and the hot and cold were mixing. All better now.
That’s awesome, Jason! So great to hear. Thanks for letting us know.
Seems to me that the RV should have one-way valves in or near the faucets to avoid this problem of unwanted mixing of the hot and cold water within the RV's plumbing.
Thank you! Doing a flow test this afternoon comparing city water pressure to water pump pressure and haven't had more than lukewarm water since. Yep, indoor shower valves were both open, flow cut off at shower head.
You just saved me HOURS! Of work thank you!
Thanks for letting us know, Paul!
I wouldn't have thought of that either. Makes perfect sense though, once you found the problem.lol...Great Tip! Please keep them coming and thanks for putting all the hard work into putting all of them together and sharing them with us...You guys are time, hassle and money savers for sure...
Thanks Again!!!
Thanks for the comment Dave. Glad we've been able to help. :)
Never would have thought of that. Thanks.
Thank you so much for the video! I am getting ready to buy a travel trailer and i can tell you that would of puzzled me big time. Great channel :)
Thanks and congrats!!
This is a fantastic video. It's really well shot and extremely clear. I wish more creators followed this example.
Thank you so much, Troy! 😊
This was never explained to me when I recently bought my trailer. In fact, the door was pointed out, but never opened. Now I'll know to always make sure the knobs are closed should I ever use the outside shower!
Thank you for making this video. Fixed our problem real quick.. Thank you
BRILLIANT! Thank you. as newbie RVers *about* to purchase our first ever RV, we are devouring everything we can to be RV smart.
I find many RV videos online are over our newbie heads, but this was explained perfectly so it was easy to follow.
Thank you very much for such an informative video.
Congratulations on your upcoming RV purchase!
Wow. I just spent the last hour at 4 in the morning trying to troubleshoot my hot water heater and couldn't come up with anything. Clicked this video had all the same symptoms and what do you know😂 I made the same mistake 😂😂 thanks so much
Love it! (Not that you had a hot water problem, but that we could help, and that the fix was free and easy)! 👍😄
Thanks for the tip. We are new to RVing and appreciate the help of others.
This video was a lifesaver I unhooked my water line and drained all my lines with a hard freeze in Florida the next day I drained all the faucets including the outside showed and yes I left the faucet valves open and shut it off by the dial. I returned a couple days later hooked up the water line and purged the system but no not water I didn't know what to think I looked at all the lines under the rig and then turned to TH-cam and don't you know the second video was yours I watched it and said could I have done that and yes I did I shut off the valves and twenty minutes later NOT WATER THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO
That’s great, Michael! So good to hear it helped. ☺️
Video was very well thought out and presented.
Man, that was way more interesting than it should have been. Great video!
LOL Thanks! :)
I haven't got my RV yet but this is good to know. Before setting out for a trip or parking for a stay, I am going to use checklists like a pilot. I do this for a lot of things as my memory sucks.
Good info, I never use my outdoor shower. I use a wye fitting at the water connection and a second hose pipe and sprayer. I use that same second hose as my black tank wash hose too. The wye fitting has a valve on each outlet which is handy too.
Good bit of info there. I just bought my first RV with an outside shower. I'll remember this.
Congrats on your new rig!
Hey hey! this video just solved my hot water problem on my fifth wheel!
NEVER would have thought that would be the cause of that! WOW! Thanks.
Great Tip! Thanks much. We're rather new, 2 years. Just upgraded to newer RV. Having trouble with the Water heater working at all. Didn't know even the basics, This video showed me a lot I didn't know and now I can test it out when I get home. Thanks!!
Congratulations on your new RV, Jeff. Another related problem that can cause your water heater to "fail" is having the bypass valves turned to the "bypass" position, thereby taking the water heater out of the plumbing line completely. One thing.... while troubleshooting your water heater be sure to NEVER turn it on when it's drained. No faster way to burn out an electric water heater element than turning it on with an empty tank. Thanks for the comment. :)
Would water flow the the hot faucet if the bypass was enabled?
Jeff Jarecki Yes, it will still flow. What the bypass does is simply allow cold water to flow directly to the hot water faucets, "bypassing" the water heater.
RVgeeks Where would I find the bypass? Thanks to your video btw, I found out why my hot water heater wasn't working though I haven't yet tested it. There was an on/off switch out on the heater, it was switched to off. =) But where would I look for the bypass?
Jeff Jarecki Every system has their own plumbing layout, but if you check out this video, you'll see us clearly showing how ours looks, and how we use it: th-cam.com/video/jEepug8N-aE/w-d-xo.htmlm6s
Wow I'm an engineer and would've never thought that was the problem! (My original thought was one or more of those winterizing shut-off valves in the wrong position!) Thanks for sharing!!
THANK YOU!!!! I was about to spend $600 on a new water heater! This fixed the problem! I can’t believe what a terrible design flaw this is.
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know. It’s always great to hear we’ve been helpful.
I would have never of thought this! I know my RV has a outside facet so I will make sure I do it correctly. Thanx.
Funny thing (ok, no - not at time!!) is, this happened to me in my HOUSE!
I had a fancy little hands free faucet installed on my shop sink... so I wouldn't have to get it all goopy when washing my hands. Thought the T-stat on my near new water heater had gone south. Turned out it was the same thing, where it was causing a loop back/through effect, and I only ever had warm. Lost the gadget, fixed the problem!
Never would have thought of this! Excellent information!
Mine stopped working and would NOT heat the water at al.
All circuits were good ,swithes were on inside the camper, full propane tanks.
As it turns out the 6 gallon Suburban water heater has an On/Off switch on the outside behind the burner tube accessible through the outside cover.
That switch was bad.
Easy fix once I found it.
Worked like a charm after that.
Without that switch working , it won't do anything in either propane , electric or both.
Thanks for the additional info. Glad you got it fixed. Nothing more frustrating than a simple, but elusive problem.
same. idk how to wiring.
Just found your video -- thanks for sharing it! You've probably saved a lot of people from making the same mistake!
Thanks for this video, per you content, I was having problems with my water heater, and low and behold this was my problem. I went outside, found the external valves open, I closed them and the problem went away!
That's awesome, David! Thanks for sharing that! 😄
It should be noted that some RV's can have this problem and not have an outdoor facet at all. I have a 79 Honey with a self contained bathroom. If you turn on the shower head and then turn it off by the wand, the cold water can backfeed into the hot and cause it to be cool. It can also cause the cold to become warm.
Mine was flipping the hot water bypass when I was packing up for a move. A week of cold showers when I got settled again.
Such a common mistake I had a 4 story office building do that because housekeeping left a fitting on a faucet with both sides open til I found it and corrected the issue.
I used to repair and maintain fire trucks. Many operator reported issues were like this. So many valves to keep up with and so many different people playing with them.
Had that happen to us last year but I had remembered your video and it saved us big time.
Great to hear, Dany! Thanks for letting us know. 😊
@@RVgeeks I have bookmarked MANY of your how to videos. I used to tow vehicles longer than RV's back in my military days but your driving 101 video saved my skin many times again. I even show them to my wife so she can remind me of stuff should I forget. It comes with age!!!! ☺
That is a great video! I never made that mistake but I will remember if it does happen to me thanks
Simple and yet...i'm 100% sure I would make that mistake. Spending so much time studying effective ways to dump the tanks..😝Thanks👍
+Joe Garagozzo Thanks Joe! 😊
Great tip…Didn’t know this issue.
You guys are awesome to post this video. I'm a newbie and this helped a lot. Thank you so much.
Thank You so much for the info, this same "over-sight" often happens in a Buildings plumbing system in a High-Rise. Cold goes to Hot just as it does in refrigeration. Then, You have to run all over the Building looking for a Two Handle faucet that has been turned off at the water Outlet just as You mentioned.Invaluable info, very much appreciated!!
Good tip. Thanks for sharing your experience with me!
Glad it was helpful!