Low hot water pressure.

[Adedeluk]

Why would my brand new 2020 GD 310GK first time using RV have low hot water pressure in all faucets and shower ?? Cold water pressure is good. Someone told me to check the outside nautilus faucet to make sure it’s off and it’s off.

[boyscout]

Why would I have low hot water pressure in all faucets and shower ?? Cold water pressure is good. Someone told me to check the outside nautilus faucet to make sure it’s off and it’s off.

It would help people to help you if you included information about which GD trailer you have.

One guess is that the "check valve" at the outlet from your hot water heater has failed. It's unfortunately not uncommon for the plastic valves to fail.

The video at the following link is about a non-GD trailer but is informative.

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

Most people replace the valve with a brass one. The one at the following link might be what you need.

https://www.campingworld.com/12-bras...mpt-95194.html

Good luck.

EDIT: P.S. when the outside Nautilus faucet is left on the symptom isn't usually poor hot water pressure but low hot water temperature.

[Adedeluk]

My RV is a brand new first time out 2020 GD 310GK.

[Country Campers]

Adedeluk

An easey way to check to see if it is the hot water heater check valve is to put the Nautilus panel into hot water tank bypass. Turn off water supply and release water pressure inside the RV. Change the Nautilus panel valves to winterize , this will bypass the hot water heater. Turn on the water supply and check the flow of hot water at the fixtures. If you have plenty of pressure then the culprit could be the hot water heater check valve. If you see no difference in water pressure you may have another issue. Do not forget to change the Nautilus panel to city water after you try this.

Brian

[howson]

My RV is a brand new first time out 2020 GD 310GK.

Pure speculation on my part, but one possibility is the cold water line from the "T" off the main line into the water heater may be plugged with debris or is pinched.

Since all of the hot water taps have low pressure, the output line from the water heater could also be plugged with debris (from the build) or that line could be pinched, too.

GD uses soft hose to/from the hot water heater so a line being pinched is not uncommon. (I found one on my 315RLTS.)

boyscout gave you some great input, too, in that valve can be a failure point.

Please follow up and let us know what you (or a repair person) finds.

Howard

[boyscout]

My RV is a brand new first time out 2020 GD 310GK.

Not a great start - too bad. The cheap plastic check valves usually don't fail first time out - they often fail after a year or two - so perhaps yours is defective. However before you run around to replace it, look for a couple of other things.

The first I should have mentioned in the previous post; didn't think of it. The red lever in the Nautilus panel controls the water supply to the hot water tank. It should be pointed straight up. Even if it is already there it's worth checking it by moving it back and forth, but before moving it it's safest if you release water pressure in the trailer to reduce strain on the seals in the valve there. Remove the city water supply (or turn off your pump if dry camping) and release the water pressure in the trailer using the low point drains at the bottom right of the water closet. (There's no need to drain all the water, just release hot and cold for a few seconds each.) Then move the red lever back and forth through its 90-degree travel and leave it pointing straight up before reconnecting the city water supply (or turning on the pump if dry camping).

The second is more involved, but necessary: check the hot water supply hose for kinks or for collapse.

Your area of interest is in the basement behind the back wall of the basement pass-through storage compartment. The angled portion of the back wall is designed to be easily removed - six screws hold it in place - and taking it down provides access to the mess of utility-related plumbing, wiring, and equipment.

The hot water tank is the large styrofoam-enclosed box on the street / driver's side of the trailer. Hot water comes out an outlet on its back near the top of the tank. There's a red hose there, several feet long, made of soft braided material. Check the length of that hose for any deformity - kinks or any sign of collapse. That red hose is infamous for failing and you'll want to replace it (and most/all of the soft braided hose in the trailer) someday but for now just make sure of its condition for allowing free flow out of the tank.

If it looks OK, then the check valve (or some foreign matter stuck in it) is the most likely problem.

EDIT: Howard posted while I was typing, and since he writes some of the same things I'm going to say his advice is great input too!

[howson]

Adedeluk

An easey way to check to see if it is the hot water heater check valve is to put the Nautilus panel into hot water tank bypass. Turn off water supply and release water pressure inside the RV. Change the Nautilus panel valves to winterize , this will bypass the hot water heater. Turn on the water supply and check the flow of hot water at the fixtures. If you have plenty of pressure then the culprit could be the hot water heater check valve. If you see no difference in water pressure you may have another issue. Do not forget to change the Nautilus panel to city water after you try this.

Brian

That's a super-smart idea, Brian!

Adedeluk -- the diagram below gives you a visual on what Brian's stating. Note that city water is sent to both hot and cold water faucets but bypasses the hot water heater.

[Chuck48]

Have the exact same issue with my hot water faucets. Low volume of water coming out. 2020 Solitude 2930. I did as suggested above, I put Nautilus in Winterize mode and pressure is same now as cold water side. I’m going to “rap” it a few times to see if it breaks loose. If not, I’ll have to replace

[Chuck48]

I ended up replacing check valve (back flow preventer) at back of water heater and this fixed the problem. I now have equal pressure on both cold and hot faucets 2020 Solitude 2930

[Adedeluk]

Country Campers I tried what you said and the water pressure is higher with bypassing the hot water tank.

[howson]

Country Campers I tried what you said and the water pressure is higher with bypassing the hot water tank.

To tag Brian, use the @ symbol followed by his forum name like this: Country Campers

I'll let him, Cate&Rob, or another knowledgeable forum member advise you on further steps--I'm still learning this plumbing stuff.

Howard

[Cate&Rob]

Country Campers I tried what you said and the water pressure is higher with bypassing the hot water tank.

Hi Adedeluk,

I'll answer for Brian because he might just be out camping . . . what a novel concept in these trying times.

You have just done the "test" that Brian described and the problem is almost certainly a partially plugged check valve on the output side of the water heater. These are plastic valves with a relatively high failure rate. A replacement brass valve should function properly for a long time.

BTW . . . this check valve is there to prevent back flow into a drained water heater when winterizing. This is its only function. A bit of trivia . . . those of us with the older Kantleak (rather than Nautilus) water systems don't have or need this check valve.

Rob

[howson]

BTW . . . this check valve is there to prevent back flow into a drained water heater when winterizing. This is its only function. A bit of trivia . . . those of us with the older Kantleak (rather than Nautilus) water systems don't have or need this check valve.

Odd, when to isolate the hot water it's as easy as rotating the red handle in the other direction (as the diagram depicts). Why have an additional valve the performs the same function?

[Cate&Rob]

Odd, when to isolate the hot water it's as easy as rotating the red handle in the other direction (as the diagram depicts). Why have an additional valve the performs the same function?

The valve controls the input to the water heater. The check valve in question stops back feed through what is normally the output from the water heater.

Rob

[Country Campers]

Another thing that the check valve does is keeps hot water in the line and stops cold water from going back down the line into the water heater. This is great when using the shower , keeps hot water right at the shower when you turn off the water while taking a shower to conserve water. This is what I was told at some point. It does an ok job at this.

Brian