Hot water pressure

[rpaling]

I have a 2016 Reflections 5th Wheel trailer model 337RLS with an issue on the hot water pressure. We are camping in Arizona and I noticed this morning I didn't have a lot of pressure with the hot water. We are hooked up to city water and have been hear a month. Cold water runs at full pressure, hot water about 25% full pressure. It is above freezing so temperature is not the issue. So far, I have drained all the lines and reconnected to see if it might be an air lock. No results, I've filled the fresh water tank and tried running it on dry camping. Here I get no water at all, either hot or cold. I have the Nautilus P1 valve system with the five colored valves for switching between city water, dry camping, powerfill etc. I believe it might be an issue with one of the valves sticking in the wrong position. Does anyone have any suggestions. It would be greatly appreciated.

[JeffC]

Unfortunately those systems are known to eat their o-rings and stop flow. I can't help you with the fix but that may be your problem.

[TucsonJim]

Good afternoon Rpaling. Welcome to the GDRV technical forum.

First, let's figure out if the problem is on the inlet or outlet side of the hot water tank.
1. Set your Nautilus Panel for city water.
2. Check your water pressure one more time using the kitchen sink first, then the bathroom sink.
3. If the water pressure is still reduced, then rotate the red knob on the Nautilus panel to the sideways position instead of up.
4. Check the water pressure on both faucets again to see if there is an improvement.

This bypasses the water heater and associated plumbing and sends water directly from the panel to the faucets. Let me know your results and I can guide you towards further steps depending on the outcome.

Jim

[rpaling]

Jim. I switched the red knob as you suggested and the the pressure is now equal on both the hot and cold

[TucsonJim]

Jim. I switched the red knob as you suggested and the the pressure is now equal on both the hot and cold

Okay, that isolates the problem to the hot water side of things and shows that your valve is most likely functioning correctly. Do you have a plastic or metal drain plug on your water heater?

Jim

[rpaling]

We have a plastic drain plug on the water heater

[TucsonJim]

We have a plastic drain plug on the water heater

Okay, that tells me that you have an Atwood style water heater. The low flow is probably caused by one of two things.

1. A pinched line in the water heater system. You can remove the back panel of your basement storage area and look for a pinched line.
2. A sticking check valve on the outlet side of the water heater. This will also require removing the back panel to get to it. I'm attaching a video of a check valve replacement. It's not too tough a job. You can usually order a new one off of Amazon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMqm_dPme8k

https://smile.amazon.com/product-rev...ews-filter-bar

I believe the second link for Amazon is for your check valve.

Please let me know how things turn out.

Jim

[rpaling]

Hi Jim. Yes our hot water heater is an Atwood heater. I'll take the panel off and have a look for a pinched line. However, since this just started happening out of the blue I suspect it might be the check valve as you stated. I'll let you know how I make out. Thank you very much for your expertise and guidance so far. Its really appreciated.

[lobsters]

A suggestion would be to replace the check valve with a brass one, if your current one is plastic--as I think most are.

[rpaling]

Hi JIm I removed the cover panel and checked for pinched lines. Everything looks good from the water heater to the panel. There are two lines running into the water heater, a white one near the bottom and a red one near the top. The red line runs back to the Control Panel. Attached is a photo of the red line connection to the water heater. It appears to be a plastic connection. The video link you sent show a brass check valve but I don't see one here. Any thoughts.

[rpaling]

Hot Water Pressure Update. I removed the red line connection from the hot water tank and there was a small plastic Tee shaped valve inside. Removed it completely and now have full pressure on both hot and cold water. I will get a brass one tomorrow and replace it so we can winterize when we get home. Thank you to TucsonJim and Lobsters for their advise and knowledge. This saved us a lot of time and an expensive trip to the rv dealer. Happy RVing

[TucsonJim]

I'm very happy we could help. Please share the word about this forum during your travels. Happy RVing to you too.

Jim