hot water tank??

I have a 27fqbs and I found that it takes about 15mins to get warm
water out of the tank and it doesn't last very long at all.
Is this normal or should I be bringing the camper into the dealer
for them to look at it? This is my first camper and I don't
want to look stupid if this is normal. Please let me know you think...

Hi trail-runner,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

First, does this happen when on propane or electric or both? Also make sure the shower is turned off at the knobs, not button on shower head if equipped. If you have outside shower make sure both knobs are off and not just the button on the head. You could also have the water heater bypass valve in the bypass mode, so make sure the three bypass valves a in correct position.

Hope this helps. Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

Welcome Trail_Runner,

First, Asking questions is how we all learned, This forum is a great place to ask and receive some sage advice from others in the Heartland family who have figured it out ( or asked the questions already ).

The amount of time it takes to heat your water, 15 minutes is reasonable for warm water. I would let the heater run on propane until it shuts off then start testing. How long is "doesn't last very long at all"? And what are you running for HW? As Jim pointed out - make sure all showers are shut off at the valves not with the push button on the sprayer.

thank you for the welcomes, I think thats the best part about forums. This unit only has propane and valves are in the right spot, I just found that when we try to run a bath the the little ones the hot water runs out very fast. I think that there must be a small reserve tank on this camper or the water heater isn't working right.

I believe that model has a 6 gal water heater. Although it will recover fairly quickly, 6 gal is not a lot to fill a tub!

Trail Runners dont have an electric heating element ....just propane?

Bob&Patty said:

Trail Runners dont have an electric heating element ....just propane?

Click to expand...

that is correct

SJH said:

I believe that model has a 6 gal water heater. Although it will recover fairly quickly, 6 gal is not a lot to fill a tub!

Click to expand...

and combine that with the fact that the tub mixing valve is going to regulate the temp of the water as well - My old SOB (some other brand) trailer had a 6gal tank and I could take a shower no problem - but my wife needed to practice water management when she would shower - or she would get a cold shower in the end ... you may want to run the water slower to see if the WH will keep up or shut off and wait some to allow it to recover.

I do recall my wife taking a bath once in our SOB - I boiled a POT of water on the stove and added that to the bath water - because she could not get it hot enough..

Just some thoughts - It does not seem like a problem unit - but a capacity issue.

Kevin

Make sure you read (Jimtoo's) post again as the Inside/Outside shower valve positions can bypass hot water sending it to the cold water side.

We have the same water heater system as yours in our Sundance and have plenty of HW for 2 showers in a row.

I'm taking the camper out of storage next weekend, Ill look to see how the valve sits and I'll let you know...