leaking water heater on 3055 rl

[57chevyconvt]

I seem to recall that a faulty check valve results in cold water going into the top of the hot water when the water is shut off. A person normally experiences this when they are in the shower and temporarily turn the water off to soap up. When the water is turned on again, you get cold water out of the hot water outlet. You will notice this immediately.

If my memory is correct, your friend will experience this.

Also, if you see anti-freeze running out of your hot water heater when the anode is removed during winterization, you will know why the check valve is there.

The main purpose, as I have been told, for the check valve exit the HW heater is prevent anti-freeze solution from going back into the HW tank when winterizing. As to the cold water mixing with hot water, the only way for this to happen is when both hot and cold water valves in the show are in the open position and the valve at the show head is turned off. I installed an in-line brass (here we go again) check valve in the PEX hot water line directly under the HW valve in the shower, plus insulated the hot water line from the HW heater up to the check valve. This modification stopped the instantaneous cold shower when opening the shower head valve.

 

[danemayer]

Lead contentTo enhance the machinability of brass, lead is often added in concentrations of around 2%.

You just never know what you're going to learn on this forum
.

 

[patrick1945]

I wonder how many other manufacturers have conjured up this CERTAIN TO BE A PROBLEM AT SOME POINT design.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Patrick, can you use a wide blade scaper to remove the mat from the floor?? At least the section to repair the floor. It's worth a try before you have to order a new one. There are products on the market to loosen glue. Take a deep breath and try it. We all support you with this drama....but....it could be worse.

 

[patrick1945]

Bob, thanks you are absolutely right-it could be a lot worse....I leave my FW cabled to a concrete pad in Florida. I use to keep it next to my shop in NE where I have all the necessary tools.

It could be much worse: I think of the guy on this forum who pulled his Bighorn to Alaska on the fishing trip of his dreams. His wife complained that the living room slide carpet was wet. He checked out everything on the roof of his slide and found nothing. He told his wife that someone spilled something???? He saw a thread here about the rotting slide floors that were caused by thoroughly inadequate trim at the outside bottom of the walls. He contacted the mfg. and they told him was out of warranty. Meanwhile the floor needed to be replaced. Last I knew he was looking at $thousands to replace 1 or 2 floors.

Luckily for me (and several others here) found the same trim situation and for a few hundred$'s I repaired the floor and replaced the inadequate trim.

I will take a deep breath and settle for less than I should have to.

Patrick, can you use a wide blade scaper to remove the mat from the floor?? At least the section to repair the floor. It's worth a try before you have to order a new one. There are products on the market to loosen glue. Take a deep breath and try it. We all support you with this drama....but....it could be worse.

 

[danemayer]

Well, I've read about enough people who's water heater check valves leaked, flooding the basement. Today I replaced the plastic check valve with a brass valve. Also replaced the plastic Pex fitting with a brass fitting so it's metal on metal instead of plastic on metal. The only thing I didn't like was that I couldn't find a brass swivel fitting in 1/2" to replace the plastic fitting. I had to add a union in the middle. Sticks out of the water heater a bit further than it used to.

The plastic check valve came out without any problem, but I did have a nipple extractor tool handy just in case it didn't.

 

[Burtonair01]

So I filled my new to me 2011 3814 Cyclone 5er full of water yesterday, we are headed out in a couple of days desert camping so I filled it as full as it would fill. I left for the day and when I got home early evening there was a puddle of water under my 5er right below the hot water heater. There was no water coming out the front of it and it was getting dark so I didn't have time to see where exactly it's coming from, I put my hand in the compartment where my valves are located to drain the tanks and it is all wet. So my question is, the check valve you are all refering to, where is it and do I need to pull out the hot water heater to gain access to it? Ideas?

 

[GOTTOYS]

The check valve is located on the backside of the water heater near the top. You will have to open the panel in your storage compartment to see it. There will be a hose connected to it. Also check the hoses at the pump and at your changeover valve. Any of them could be leaking. You may even have more than one leak. I use a blue paper shop towel to blot the areas around each hose. Easy to see a leak on the towel. You do not have to remove the water heater to change the fittings...Don

 

[danemayer]

The water heater has 2 hoses attached: one for cold water going in and the other for hot water coming out. The hot water line is at the top. The hot water line has a Pex Swivel Elbow fitting that attaches to the male threads of the check valve which is in turn screwed into the water heater.

Before starting, turn off the water heater and let the water cool down. Shut off the city water/water pump and open the pressure relief valve to release any pressure. You should probably also drain at least some water before starting to avoid a mess.

You can easily unscrew the Pex Elbow fitting. Then carefully unscrew the plastic check valve from the water heater. If it comes out cleanly, you can proceed to install replacement parts. If part of the plastic stays stuck in the threads of the water heater, you'll need to clean them out. A nipple extractor tool may help. Home Depot may carry this although when I tried to find one there they had no idea what I was talking about.

If you replace the check valve with a brass valve, depending on what you find, you may also need a male-to-male nipple. Finally, you should replace the plastic Pex fitting with one that has a brass nut. All of these parts are 1/2" diameter. Use teflon pipe tape on all threads.

The check valve has an arrow stamped on its side indicating the direction of water flow. If you install it backwards, you won't have any hot water.

Finally, when replacing the Pex fitting, you'll need specialized Pex accessories to attach the hose to the fitting securely. I use the metal crimp rings, but they require a pricey crimping tool. I think there are alternatives but I've not used them myself. Depending on whether there's enough slack in the pex hose when replacing the elbow, you might find it handy to have some additional pex hose on hand.

This may seem complicated, but once you have all of the parts in front of you, and you're looking at the water heater, it's actually pretty simple.

 

[Boca_Shuffles]

If the plastic part breaks off, leaving part in the water heater, you can get an extraction tool at Home Depot. It is in the in-ground irrigation section. The tool is used to extract broken sprinkler heads from the in=ground pipes.

 

[Burtonair01]

I found my leak, it was the water filter had loosened up and was leaking like a sieve!
Next task is the check valve, I hope I can handle doing it! I usually break something and it ends up being a major pain in my ***.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Not all the check valve fittings are plastic. Mine was a May 2010 build and it's brass. On the other hand the fittings on the changeover valve where the hoses attach are plastic. One of those went on me this Winter...Don

 

[JayG]

My 2009 3250TS has leaked from that plastic fitting in the hot water heater tank also. I replaced mine with a brass one too. My camper leaks so much, I told the salesman" I'm going to sand off the Big Country name and repaint Titanic on it". My basement floor has ripples from the numerous water leaks. The line in the top of the water heater is pushed to the side from the drain pipe pressing against it. Making it difficult to get the line on the check valve straight. Either cheap plastic fittings , clamps stripped or loose, one leak after another. I paid way too much money for this quality.

 

[Gaffer]

Well the dealer service guy just left telling me the problem was a plastic back-flow preventer on the hot (outflow) of the water heater. There was a small crack on the bottom of the nipple/preventer and the water was running down inside the insulation. He said that he had never seen anything but brass on "this" level of Fifth Wheel and especially with so many other connections that close to the heater. All these connections placed downward stress on the plastic fitting. He went on to say that the brass cost about $2 more and "oh by the way it evidently has been "seeping" for some time and now you will have to replace a portion of the floor in the basement." So Heartland saved $2 and I paid $102 for the replacement with brass AND now I have to pull the rubber up to see what rot awaits me. My compliments to Heartland. I hope I don't soon find another "sorry about that."

I think mine is now leaking as well. Can't see where it is coming from but turning off the water heater and turning the winterizing valve to bypass seems to have stopped it. So my question is .....can I take the check valve out with it in bypass and leave the rest of the water system on or will the disconnected piece be pressureized from another source (back fed)? (Need to be capped while I get parts)

 

[patrick1945]

I think mine is now leaking as well. Can't see where it is coming from but turning off the water heater and turning the winterizing valve to bypass seems to have stopped it. So my question is .....can I take the check valve out with it in bypass and leave the rest of the water system on or will the disconnected piece be pressureized from another source (back fed)? (Need to be capped while I get parts)

I don't know the answer to your question but someone else here will. Good Luck. As a follow up my BIGHORN is fixed but I would be embarrassed to tell you what saving Heartland $2 cost me. I have shared a link to this thread with many. GOOD LUCK

 

[chasdvorak]

PJ,

I think you're going to get pressure on the system and water flow when you attempt to remove the faulty check valve. My suggestion would be to shut down the hot water heater and bleed the cold and hot water lines by turning off your water supply (pump or city water) and opening the faucets, toilets and outside shower. That should get most of the water out of the lines. The check valve is located on the high side of the water heater but you might get some minor drainage from the system when you remove the valve. A towel and small container should keep things dry in the basement. Be sure to recharge your water lines when you have completed the project before you turn on your hot water heater so you do not damage the hot water heater. Just run all the lines until the sputtering of air stops and you get a consistent flow of water.


This topic has been discussed in the past and here's a clip from Dan Mayer that provides very helpful advice:


HOT WATER TANK CHECK VALVE REPLACEMENT


Yes, the hot water heater output line (top) has a plastic check valve that screws into the water heater. The pex line then attaches to the check valve via a swivel elbow fitting. You're lucky - when they fail, it can be that the plastic cracks resulting in a leak in the basement. If your luck holds, the plastic fitting will come out in one piece. If it falls apart, you may find a nipple extractor tool helpful.

You should replace it with a brass check valve like this, along with a close nipple to correct the gender, and get a brass swivel elbow to replace the plastic elbow.

And of course use teflon pipe tape or comparable product on all the threads.

Nipple Extractor

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100203404/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=nipple+extractor&storeId=10051#.UG2ad2t5mK0

Brass Check Valve

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EDUTN6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Close Nipple

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FMZ3YG/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00

Brass Swivel Elbow

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ZURN-PEX-PEX-Elbow-10A539?Pid=search


I have a 2009 BH3580RL that I plan on replacing the plastic check valve in the Spring. My configuration does not require the 90 degree elbow and I've attached a picture for your reference. I also attached a copy of the diagram which shows the water/winterization flow in my coach. I'm not sure if you have the same configuration, but felt it might help with your planning.

Safe travels,

Chuck
View attachment 22018
View attachment 22019

 

[Gaffer]

Thanks for the reply. From the picture, it looks like I could drain some water from the hot water tank, disconnect the check valve, insert a 1/2" NPT plug into the connector, Then I can turn the water back on for the DW while I work on removing and replacing the check valve.

 

[danemayer]

There's been some prior discussion regarding the use of a plastic check valve instead of brass. As I recall, it came down to most brass fittings having a tiny amount of lead which the State of California finds objectionable.

I think there are some lead-free brass plumbing fittings on the market, at even higher cost, but I don't know if that includes 1/2" check valves. I haven't found one.

 

[Gaffer]

As someone else mentioned, a tiny amount of lead in the brass is nothing to worry about. No one drinks from hot water anyway. I don't hear any talk about brass hose fittings, pressure regulators, manifolds, hose splitters etc on the cold water supply side either.

 

[boatdoc]

PJ, According to Calif. wacko's I should have been dead 30 years ago!!!! See you & Karol just after Xmas.
Gary